Ramani

Ramani is the main character of the short story “The Free Radio” by Salman Rushdie. His outer characterization reveals that he is young: “he must fall for a thief’s widow before the hairs had time to come out on his chin, before his milk-teeth had split, one might say” (p. 17, ll. 9-11). Ramani is attractive, as “God had blessed him with God’s own looks” (p. 17, ll. 4-5) and he has “long and well-muscled legs” (p. 18, l. 6). After his parents’ death, Ramani drives a rickshaw for a living. Towards the end of the story, Ramani is married to the thief’s widow and moves to Bombay to become a film star. 

Ramani is characterized by his innocence, which is mentioned in the story’s opening sentence: “but the boy was an innocent, a real donkey’s child, you can’t teach such people” (p. 17, ll. 2-3). He is easily seduced by the thief’s widow, and, because he is in love w...