Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold (COADF), both traditional literature novels set in the 1900’s explore the im0pact internal and external influences have on character development of young protagonists who challenge the discriminatory values of the intolerant public society and ideologies of their families. Both authors explore the impact of the problematic socio-cultural environment on the protagonist and the variations of human nature when influenced by society in relation to one’s sense of self by highlighting social issues within the community as well as the strict cultural values of family.
A Fine Balance and COADF both explore how internal and external influences impact the character development of their respective protagonists by skilfully positioning the audience in different character perspectives to represent the discriminatory values of the community. Mistry presents the inequality within social class and the intolerance lower caste members have to endure, by placing readers in a young child’s perspective. He utilises repetition in the quote, “I want to be able to drink from the village well, I want to worship in the temple, I want to walk where I like,” to express the child’s innocence and obliviousness when confronted with the restrictions of being in the bottom social class. This additionally emphasises the purity of a young mind through the use of a child’s first perspective and their exposure to the oppressive caste system of the external world. Mistry also presents the strict cultural values prevalent in the community show in the quote, “He had turned cobblers into tailors…Crossing the line of caste had to be punished with the utmost severity…Catch them all – the parents, wife, children.” He demonstrates the impact of being influenced by one’s sense of self rather than by the community through Om and Ishvar, two men who refused to conform to society by choosing to be tailors rather than cobblers and as a result, got cast away.
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Similarly, Marquez’s COADF highlights the impact of the problematic socio-cultural environment on character in relation to one’s sense of self to represent the prejudiced values within the community. Marquez demonstrates the lack of responsibility and the ignorant attitude of the members in society through the perspective of a police officer as shown in the quote, “The truth is I didn't know what to do...My first thought was that it wasn't any business of mine but something for the civil authorities.” This proves that the so called “authoritative” figures in the community are unreliable by struggling to rise above cultural prejudices as well as choosing to disregard warnings of a severe event that consequently led to the murder of an innocent man. The challenge of rising above cultural preconceptions is also prevalent in Mistry’s A Fine Balance where the community refuse to accept the change of profession of two young men resulting in the cruel death of their relatives.
Mistry’s A Fine Balance and Marquez’s COADF both demonstrate how internal and external influences impact the character development by placing readers in various perspectives to represent their attitudes towards the strict cultural ideologies of their families. In A Fine Balance, Nuswaan, the protagonist’s brother uses manipulative power to pressure her into marrying his choice of a wealthy man. Instead, the protagonist’s rebellious nature challenges the values of her family defies her brothers wishes by marrying a simple chemist who she loved. The protagonist, Dina’s bold actions against her family’s beliefs furthermore demonstrates how one’s sense of self impacts the development of character. Mistry additionally represents the impact of external influences on character development by placing readers in the perspective of a young boy, Om who is subjected to following the stringent ideologies of his family. This is revealed in the statement, “Sons were expected to run their father's feet when they were relaxing after work”, further emphasises the challenging principles accustomed within the family. The author utilises the perspective of a child to present the involuntary ritual-like principles imposed at a young age and the extent to which society honours the firm teachings of the community’s values.
Likewise, Marquez’s COADF explores how personal and public worlds have an influence by positioning the audience in the perspective of a courageous character who challenges the harsh morals of her family while simultaneously struggling to gain acceptance and respect. The affect family has on character development and how the way they perceive specific subjects such as love is especially shown in the quote, “Angela Vicario only dared hint at the inconvenience of a lack of love, but her mother demolished it with a single phrase: Love can be learned too.” Her mother is presented as a dominating character who greatly influences the protagonist, Angela Vicario by pressuring her to get married but not for the sake of love, convincing her she can simply learn it. Throughout the novel, Angela Vicario finds that she is in fact in love with the man she is compelled to marry and begins to obsessively write love letters to him however “the longer he went without replying, the more she went crazy for him.” Angela’s infatuated blind letter writing takes the form of a ritual, unlike the customs adapted by her family and the community, as it doesn’t arise from societal expectations but instead, her own sense of self. The manipulative power of family and how one’s internal influences can affect the character development is likewise evident in Mistry’s A Fine Balance where the protagonists in both novels experience similar challenges.
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