TWILIGHT IN DELHI

By

Mehwish Ali Khan

Lecturer
Sardar Bahadur Khan Womens University
Enrolled M.Phil American Studies (Quaid e
Azam University

TITLE
TWILIGHT IN Delhi
TWILIGHT IN Delhi, the title is symbolical as well as
metaphorical,symbolical in a way that it symbolizes the
downfall or deterioration not only of Delhi but ways of
Delhi as well ,peoples moral ,religious and social values
all were on the verge of death and metaphorical in a way
that the title not only refers to the twilight of Delhi but
also the Twilight of Mir Nihal
( you can elaborate this theme by emphasizing on the
given points)

Publication

Ahmed Ali wrote this book in 1939 and published it in

1940 by Hogarth press in London ,it was not an easy job
,he had to convince the English that this book is not
against anybody ,as many of the publishers were of the
view to eradicate Mir Nihals parts and the parts that
contained anti British material.
(Elaborate)

Genre

Ttragedy
psychological novel
Historical Novel
Transitional novel
Social criticism

 Novel is Psychological, Ahmed Ali probes into the mind of his

character, bilqueece, when is pregnant says out all her feelings
related to her child
Asghar,s love for her beloveds is also portrayed psychologically
and writer makes us realize that he is over indulged in self love
and self pity
Historical in a way that its a post colonial novel it portrays
some events of post colonialism eg George vis coronation
conditions of Delhi in twentieth century
Transitional novel in a way that its a novel of change , change
in the minds of people, change in the generation change in the
culture of delhi Change in the way of living
We see family life shifting from the hands of Mir Nihal in the
hands of Asghar.
Ahmed Ali being a progressive writer uses writing as a tool to
correct his society ,he criticizes the society

Plot

Story carries a well knit plot,story revolves around one

main story that is of Mir Nihal and his family ,there is no
subplot in the story though there are some incidents
mentioned time n again that also due to Ahmed Ali being
nostalgic but Ahmed ali never loses his grip on the story
Story has a proper beginning ,middle and ending as
mentioned by Aristotle

Literary tools

Similes similes are used in abundance give examples

Metaphors Mir Nihals character is metaphorical and there are many

other examples

Symbolism :

whole novel is symbolical ,writer through incidents and characters

symbolizes different issues like cats symbolize vulgarity ,and dancing
girls ,Dogs as uncultered man looking for offal or dirt ,Mir Nihal s
paralysis is symbolical to his being immobile in life and loss of power
begum Nihals blindness shows her faliure to see life through her eyes.

Realism

novel is based on sheer realist view ,writer has portrayed Delhi , muslim
life ,individuals feelings and emotions in a pure realist view he has not
over done it with his artistic pen nor has he delimited himself in being
connected with facts ,he has liberally discussed what he saw around him.
This is also one of his progressive characteristics that he portrays what
he sees nothing more and nothing less then that

 Irony
Amed Ali uses irony also abundantly as he is criticizing
the society , he uses irony as a tool ,he doesnt critisizes
directly all the time but uses irony instead e g when he
describes Nisar ahmed he says he is an excellent
MOAZZIN with a deep voice like hazrat bilal and he will
directly go to heaven despite of his being a shady
business man because his azan compensates for it

Humour
Ahmed ali,s criticism is not harsh ,its benign it stings
but doesnt bite ,he satirizes society in a light manner
,unveiling their dark pictures ,it is not wrong if one says
that the novel is a mirror to society
Language is clear and lucid ,he doesnt use difficult
vocabulary to show his mastery on language but his grip
on the language is visible ,he often translates Urdu
proverbs and sentences directly into English language ,
and he uses some urdu language words to give an Asian
effect to his novel

Themes
Degeneration of family

family of Mir Nihal withers like petals of roses

Asghars wife dies

Mehro lives an un happy life
Habibuddin dies
Begum jamal leaves ,destroying the personality of Mir
Nihal
Mir Nihal becomes paralysed ,gives away his authority
Begum Nihal also loses position Hence family is broken

Downfall
It is the time when Delhi had lost its grandeur and its position hence
its values
Ahmed ali portrays only muslim life in Delhi and through muslim life
he shows people loosing their religious values social norms
.humanity was considered an alien word during that modern
period.
Characters were shallow and empty from inside( examples of
characters and incidents)
Relations had lost their values, relations were made only to fulfill
social needs ,they were not considered important( asghar and
bilqueeces relation Mir nihal and begum Nihals relation
Loss of religious values could be highlighted by throwing a light on
shroud thieves ,merchants,
Selling expensive cloth for dead ones .

 Social values were lost if one sees ghafoor marriage with a

fourteen year old orphan girl ,she responsibility of society ,
Delhi had lost its cultural values too ,pigeon flying was
dying, kite flying had ended too, Joint family system had
also lost its importance people had started living in one unit
family system

Portrayal of Delhis culture

Twilight in Delhi is sheer portrayal of grandeur of Delhi
,Delhi the city of monarchs the city of poets as well as city
of beggars,
The things that are highlighted ARE
Delhi,s architecture

 Pigeon flying
Kite flying
Dancing girls
Poets & poetry
Beggars
Superstitions
Marriages
Births
Deaths

Females in the novel

Females nodoubt hold a subordinate place in Asian

homes but they are nevertheless backbones of Asian
families,men are emotionally
,physically.morally,financially dependent on their women
, this position is partially taken by dancing girls but still
it is always a woman mandatory for a man in Asian
culture and society.

 Females are of two types in the n ovel

House wives and dancing girls
dancing girls are not only part of Indian culture but also
ventilators for men who need an outlet of their
emotional and physical needs that is fulfilled by these
dancing girls
House wives like begum nihal are almost blind to the
needs of their husbands or like bilqueece who doesnot
identify the need of her husband n indulges in self pity n
destroys her self.

Modernism vs Conservatism
.
Mir Nihal was a strong personlity entirely displaying
India as a whole and in its composed form but he also
started to break when he started loosing his possessions
and asghar was one of themMir Nihal reluctant to
change and Asgahr eager to change into the modern
British ways of life
Asghar changes his way of life entirely ,n that influence
of british culture is still seen in the youth of Asia.

ARTISTRY OF THE WRITER

Ahmed Ali s mastery on his pen is evident in this novel

he pictures colourful and elegant Delhi as it is and he
doesnt hide anything. Portrays life as it is,
simultaneously highlighting the follies of society and
penetrating into hearts and minds of his characters, he
takes life on a larger scale one can see all the aspects of
life in one novel ,starting from birth ,marriage and
death,thus making the novel universal in its theme

 Hope it helps..