Question

Message come from the novel the room on the roof

Answer 1

Summary

This is a story of an orphaned boy, Rusty, from the Anglo-Indian descent, living in a European colony in Dehradun with his guardian Mr. Harrison and his wife, who wants him to stay away from Indians and groom him as a pure Englishman. However, in this process Harrison’s stringent behaviour perturbs Rusty’s flourishing teenage years. On the evening of Holi when Rusty returns home dirtily smeared in colours, the guardian begins beating him brutally, and then Rusty unable to control his pent-up frustration pays him back by assaulting his guardian violently.

A group of young local Indian boys helps him with small needs and he befriends all of them. While seeing many things about India such as customs, bazaars and diversity, he feels good about being in India. To sustain of his own, from the group, Somi arranges Rusty for a job in Mr. Kapoor’s house to teach English lessons to their son, Kishen. In return, he gets free food and a room on the roof to live in. Mr. Kapoor is a big-time drunkard and around twenty years older than his beautiful wife, Meena. There Rusty falls in love with Kishen’s mother Mrs. Meena Kapoor. However, when Meena dies Rusty becomes sad and alone and Kishen goes to Haridwar only to become a thief.