Literature Posts

Literature Essay

1. In your opinion how important is parent-child relationship to Vinod's inevitable end?

I think that the relationship between Vinod and his parents are one of the main reasons for Vinod's downfall. Therefore it was vital that Vinod must have a good relationship with his parents as they could have prevented his suicide. In (Act 2 Scene III) Vinod's parents make him see psychiatrist, who does not help in any useful manner towards Vinod's illness. They also force Vinod to see a theraphist in hopes of forcing Vinod to change his views and thinkings of not wanting to attend university. This could show that Vinod's parents still do not accept his illness, he needs to have continual support/motivation from his parents who are repetitively absent from the play.

They only do things behind his back, like sending him overseas without his knowledge. "My parents are sending me away, Saloma. In January...I have to go to the states to study. I don't want to go. They stabbed me. They stabbed me." (pg 134) Vinod's parents do not really care about Vinod feelings. They do not seem to consider his opinions worth listening to. Since his parents do not give him love. He turns to Razali as their guardian and their 'bapak'. But is angry when Razali decides to leave Vinod's void deck to work somewhere else.This is one of the reasons that utimately lead to his downfall.

2. 'Vinod's high expectation of himself caused his downfall'. To what extent do you agree with this analysis of Vinod's predicament.

Vinod's most important expectation is to take care of Saloma. From (Act 2 Scene III) "Saloma had become the stray kitten he found in the middle of the expressway. He had to look after her, shield her from the cruel world." [pg 63] Vinod wanted to take care of Saloma because she had become Vinod's centre. When Saloma is afraid Vinod will take her away from the thing she is afraid of. Saloma has become Vinod's object of being preoccupied. He tries to educate her and change her way of thinking. During the robbery scene (Act 3 Scene III) Vinod was not able to protect her and when the robber demeaned Vinod to be a coward, he brokedown. (pg 96) Later on, Vinod expected Saloma would need him to be by his side so that Vinod would feel needed by Saloma. But the reverse effect was that Saloma was the one that was stronger and tried to console Vinod. She went to the police station to report the case. By then Vinod started feeling worthless as Saloma was starting to become independant.

3. Discuss the reasons for Saloma's transformation in the play.

Saloma's progress into a stronger person is clear as we progress throughout the play.. "No, no I dont't want to jump. I don't want... I am good. I never do. Don't talk to me. Don't I don't want to hear. Why you disturb me? I don't want. ok, ok, I will beat [she starts hitting herself on the head and body] I will beat." Quoted from (Act 1 scene III) when Vinod and Saloma goes out to a resturant to celebrate their three month aniversary and Saloma breaks down due to her self-conscience that the people there are staring at her and laughing at her mental state. This tells me that Saloma does not like to go out and prefers to stay at home where she is guarded by the watchful eyes of her mother. After the robbery at (Act 5 scene I), there was an obvious change in Saloma. "Last time I scared. But this is wrong. [slight pause] Vinod, tomorrow we go out ok? I must go POSB. Because I must apply for Cash-on-Line card. I must go SGH to take application form. See Vinod... I write everything I must do. Number 1, number 2, number 3-" Quoted from Act IV scene I after the robbery. (pg 112)

As we can see that Saloma is starting to reliease that what she is doing is wrong (which is staying at home) and she must venture out into the outside world to experience how does it feel. By doing this not only we see that she has changed from the shy, fragile girl to a more confident and open-minded woman, she is showing these changes due to her regular taking of her medicine and it is quite obvious that she is recovering from her mental illness. Therefore these are the reasons for Saloma's transformation in the play.

4."Through a minor role in the play, the character of Razali is key to the plot of Off Centre" To what extent do you agree with this assessnment?

The character Razali appears in Act II scene III, whom Saloma comes to regard him as a father figure, has some link to the plot of Off Centre. He narrates Vinod's depression and frustration as Vinod slips deeper into his depression. Razali may be Vinod's sub-conscience as he speaks what Vinod himself does not, even dare not, talk about. "you wake up at two, three in the morning and feel very depressed...you can't sleep...your heart hurts...you want to die...you have to die." Quoted from (Act 2 scene IV) when Razali speaks Vinod's mind. (pg 77-78) He relates it to Vinod's frustration and why Vinod could not get enough rest. He tells the truth about why Vinod's heart hurts due to to his parents' lack of love(Act 2 scene III) towards Vinod.

For Saloma who regard Razali as her father, Razali to her is precious and he remind her of her real dead father. She often view him as a wise person, someone who can resemble a father as to Saloma a father is someone who they can rely on to take care of them (Saloma and Vinod), and she trusts him. She know that Razali understands them and will advice them " [to Saloma] He wants a hug...I will hug you... He wants someone...to tell him that everything would be okay..." Quoted from Act II scene III. This tells me that Saloma knows that what Razali says is true and she will do whatever Razali wants. She trusts Razali since she regarded him as her father and knows that Razali will not make her do things which are not suppose to be done. Therefore even as a minor role, Razali plays a part in the plot of Off Centre.

5."Datta, Dayadhvam, Damyatta" means to "Give, Sympathise, Control". How did the major characters in the play exert control in their enviornment and/or their lives? Support your ansmwer with evidence from the text.

Major characters like Vinod and Saloma do exert control in their enviornment and/or their lives.
Firstly, Vinod do exert control throughout the play. He and Saloma are suffering from mental illness, an illness that many normal people are afraid of, therefore in order to melt into the society without the normal people noticing that they are mental patients, they have to exert control of their mental state to make sure that they don't break down in the middle of a public place eg. resturant. (Act 1 scene III) "they watch movies together, they ate together." and when they are in a resturant and its a public place to them. they must be extra careful so not to show the normal people about their mental disability.

Secondly, Saloma also exerts control. As for her, she has to control herself not to listen to the 'voice', a symptom of schizophrena, who say bad things about her. So in the resturant trip with Vinod in (Act 1 scene III), "...He stare at me. Other people also." Quoted from (Act 1 scene III) when Vinod and Saloma was ordering their food. Saloma and her self-conscience seem to tell her that other people are staring at her. She thought normal people has the power to tell mental patients apart from them even though they'd try their best to hide their mental disability from the normal people. This 'hiding' of their mental disability is part of exerting control. Saloma has to control her self-conscience and tell it that other people are not staring at her nor is the waiter. But since she is rather weak and its not natural for her to go out into the public, she needs Vinod's help to cope with her surroundings and therefore she did exert control over her mental disability.

6.Based on the text Off Centre, discuss how peer acceptance and family support are vital to social status and mental well-being.

Peer acceptance and family support are both vital to social status and mental well-being as both play a huge part in Off Centre and it mainly affects towards the major charcters, Vinod and Saloma.

Vinod has major issues on both peer acceptance and family support, which indefinately affects his social status and mental well-being in public. He needs Saloma to accept him as "to him Saloma was like a lost kitten he found in the middle of the expressway.". Vinod needed Saloma to accept him so he has a purpose in life and not to commit suicide so early. Family support for Vinod is essential as Vinod desires love and warmth from his parents, but his parents are power workhorses and their status are so high that they don't have time to spare a thought for Vinod. They only know how to make use of Vinod's intelligence to help him in his future. Therefore without a single thought of how their son feels about the way they treat him, Vinod evenutally has mental disability. This is partially caused by the lack of understanding and family support.

Saloma has problems with family support. Mak is very strict to her leaving the house and wants Saloma to rest. Saloma hates to be confided at home the whole time, but she is afraid to go out and is more then willing to exchange freedom for security. Saloma will recover faster if Mak had let her venture out to places that is not too far from her home. This way Saloma can peacefully go out and not worry about dangerous things that may happen to her. Due to Mak being her only family member (her father had died) she trusts Mak and whatever Mak said to her will directly affect how she reacts in the outside world. Therefore if Mak has chosen to let Saloma go out, Saloma will eventually recover faster due to family support.

posted by Invisible @ 7:28 PM