Such A Long Journey Essay -- Literary Analysis, Mistry, Character Anal

Rohinton Mistry’s â€Å"Such A Long Journey† is the story of turbulent life of Gustad Noble and his family, who lives in Khodadad Building north of Bombay. The story portrays the series of events such as his son Sohrab’s refusal to attend Indian Institution of Technology, hardships faced by his friends and family, political turmoil and chaos caused by the war between India and Pakistan. Gustad transforms from a stubborn, materialistic and awful person to an open-minded and more adaptive to circumstantial changes in his life. Ultimately, Gustad Noble journeys to a greater understanding of his role as a father, friend and citizen of India. In the story, Gustad is shown as a loving and caring father who is passionate about the future of his eldest son, Sohrab. He bears many grievances from past which have limited his possibilities of becoming successful in his life and wishes to fulfill his unaccomplished desires through his son. Sohrab’s intelligence and brilliance at home and school assure his parents that their son is very special and is capable of doing anything in his life. His father starts making predictions that someday his son is going to become an aeronautical engineer, architect or research scientist. In addition, Gustad is glad that his son also shows interest in family tradition of furniture building when he says â€Å"it must be in the blood, this love of Carpentry† (Mistry 65). He endures all the hardships and encourages his son to comprehend the idea to study at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). â€Å"And the Indian Institute of Technology became the Promised Land† (Mistry 6 6) indicates the extent of Gustad’s predetermination and resolution about the future of his son. The attempt made by Gustad to protect and save his s... ...andhi and Shiv Sena. Gustad learns that his friend is a profound thinker â€Å"It occurred to Gustad he had been doing his friend a grave injustice all these years, regarding him merely as a joker† (Mistry 74). Gustad plays with sentiments of Dinshawji and motivates his friend to help him in bank deposits as â€Å"the worse Gustad felt at having to dupe his sick friend who was now willing to break banking laws and jeopardize his job and pension this close to retirement† (Mistry 144). He blames Dinshawji for his provocative behaviour towards Laurie. He warns Dinshawji that if he doesn’t stop bothering Laurie, he will lose his job and pension but Gustad was more concerned about his deposit. Dinshawji shows great resolve and courage in withdrawing the money five days ahead of schedule, then collapses and dies in hospital. Gustad is apologetic to Dinshawji for exploiting him.