Language

Style of language

The short story “The Mark of Vishnu” by Khushwant Singh is written in a neutral style. The narration does not use abbreviations or contractions, but the vocabulary is not very advanced, using common words and phrases. For instance: “What the point was which Gunga Ram wanted to prove was not clear.” (p. 2, l. 22). 

There are a couple of Indian words in the text. For instance: “Kala Nag” (p. 1, l. 1) and “phannyar” (p. 2, l. 5), which refer to the snake. The Hindu deities are also mentioned: “the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva – the creator, preserver, and destroyer” (p. 1, ll. 25-26). This gives the narrative a local color. 

The text contains several instances of irony. The most important one is the snake biting Gunga Ram on th...