Character Analysis Of The Companion By Syed Muhammad Ashraf

‘The Companion’ by Syed Muhammad Ashraf ‘The Companion’ was originally published in Urdu as ‘Saathi’ in Shabkhoon in 1998 by Sahitya Akademi Award-winning writer Syed Muhammad Ashraf. The mimetic realism and simple story-telling by Ashraf depicts how the tenor of social life had undergone a drastic change in the decades post independence. The story, written from the point of view of the highly educated and respected protagonist, Anwar, shows how in the wake of the urban setting with the invasion of satellite television into drawing rooms, the gradual breakdown of joint family system and the consequent emergence of the nuclear families has affected social intercourse and our most intimate inter-personal relations considerably. The changing social and personal scenario of the time had implications for the conventional value system and social morality that had altered the charm, intimacy, ineffableness and complexity of the human relationships. Anwar lives with his wife and two children, and theirs is a family who share the same roof over their heads, but lack the closeness and understanding that family members share. Ashraf keeps the dialogues at a bare minimum, which reflects the bare minimum communication in the family. In an exchange of dialogues between Anwar and his wife, the reader gets a glimpse of the kind of relation they share, when the wife says, “Get up, ‘close up Antakshari’ is about to start”. Anwar responds, “I am reading something very interesting, please