What message is conveyed by Vikram Seth? In poem frog nd the nightangle.
Answers
The Frog And The Nightingale is a profound allegorical poem. It's a fable as animals here think, talk and act like humans and it conveys a moral. It's allegorical as it bares a truth through a story. Not the plain truth that can be easily stated but the complex truth that has many shades, that is intertwined with intricate thoughts, emotions and behavioural patterns. And it is conveyed to the reader in all its complexity through an alligory.
There are two characters which we can easily relate to. Frog, who could be anyone, the rival, the bossy HR, the lordly senior or the proverbial Indian (I don't know about other societies) mother-in-law of a young timid bride. Basically frog is a numro uno suffering from insecurity and tries to defend his position eliminating the more worthy rival.
Then there's the nightingale who is immensely talented, admirable, modest, has low self esteem and so gets easily influenced by frog's bursty demeanour.
Now frog feels threatened by the arrival of a rival who is more talented than him and by hook or crook he has to vanquish his competitor. How he does it is what forms the core of the poem. He is aware of his own inferiority and his first assault is on the moral strength of the nightingale. He works insidiously. He starts pointing to her flaws on the pretext of helping her. He never appreciates her art or acknowledges her talent. Constant criticism cuts through her confidence like a saw that cuts through the wood. And this is a tool that is used by many a frog around us.
This modus operandi is most successful when the victim is a nightingale who does not know her strength, who does not believe in herself and tries to emulate others. Had she been bold she could have given frog a run for money.
We should be confident in our decisions . Poet comments that one must recognize his own capabilities and should not try to emulate others.