Prakash

Prakash is a secondary, flat character in the short story “English Babu” by Vijay Medtia. His characterisation is constructed mostly indirectly, through dialogue or the narrator’s description of his attitude.

His outer characterisation informs us that he is Ramesh’ youngest son, who was born and raised in Britain and who plans to marry Rebecca, an English girl.

Inner characterisation

A brief inner characterisation is conveyed directly by the narrator, Ramesh, who is Prakash’s father. Ramesh describes him as “stubborn and in love” (l. 5), willing to lose his family because of Rebecca: “Either we bless the union or we lose our son. He’s stubborn and in love; he’ll go ahead and marry the girl.” (ll. 5-6).

However, most of Prakash’s inner characterisation is conveyed in the second half of the story, through direct speech, when the character presents his views and opinions directly.

The grandmother comments on the fact that Rebecca is too pretty and too good for Prakash (l. 120) and argues that he is “rude” (l. 123). Her attitude suggests that the family views Prakash as the ‘black sheep’, probably because he is not as traditional as they are. Prakash’s attitude towards the grandmother suggests that...