The story 'The Lost Child' at every step teaches human beings. How can you say so? Discuss.
Answers
‘The Lost Child’ is one of the famous stories of Mulk Raj Anand. This story shows the working of the child’s mind. It shows that a child has great love for his parents. In this story, a child goes to see the village fair in the company of his father and mother. He is attracted by different things in the fair. He asks his parents , again and again, to buy him something or the other. But they don’t buy anything for him. By chance, the child gets separated from his parents. He starts He runs here and there shouting for his parents. A kind man sees him. He tries to console the child. He takes him to different shops. But the child goes on weeping. Now he has lost interest in everything. He only cries, “I want my mother, I want my father!”
MESSAGE⇒
The story conveys the message that children love their parents unconditionally. The lost child thinks of his father as a strict person when he demands toys from him. He does not press his parents for sweets or garlands etc because he accepts that they will never grant him his wish. However, he gets scared when he realises that he is lost. He cries inconsolably for his parents and forgets all about his cravings for sweets, garlands, snake-charmers show, and even the ride on a roundabout. This message of the story makes the reader understand the worth of parents in the life of a child.During childhood, we long for so many things we see in day-to-day life. The child is attracted towards so many things he comes across. But very often he does not understand the true value of his parents and take them for granted. The significance of parents is only realised when they are out of sight and we start longing for them. We realise that we cannot carry on without the help of our parents. This is what the child realises once he got lost in the fair. In the fair, the child comes across many things he wants to buy. But is refused by his parents. Finally, he is attracted by the roundabout and goes near it. He gets separated from his parents and suddenly misses them. Though a man tries to calm the child by offering many things, the child wanted only his parents.