Question

How does Dilip Chitre in the poem, Father Returning Home, highlight man's estrangement from a man-made world?

Answer 1

Hint: The poem, Father Returning Home is based on the themes of estrangement and alienation faced by the old people in their twilight years. Dilip Chitre pays attention to his own father’s loneliness and isolation from the man-made world.

Complete step-by-step answer:

 The poem is a Dramatic Monologue, that involves dramatic speech presented by a person to his own self or presented by someone else to reveal the opinion of the writer.
Dilip Chitre was a famous writer, painter and filmmaker of Post-Independence India. His poem, Father Returning Home talks about an aged man, who is left in isolation by his family members in a modern city. The aged man is forced to live in the modern world, even though he reflects his traditional values and roots. You can understand Chitre’s explanation of the aged man’s estrangement from the man-made world by looking at his daily routine; The aged man wears a black coat but chooses to wear traditional chappals even in the rainy season, he carries a bag full of books and travels locally by the train. He doesn’t share much happiness with his children and remains immersed in his books and radio. One thing you can understand by his schedule is that he tries to keep himself distant from the man-made world and is lost in his own misery and loneliness. He doesn’t share the same ideas or the modern world as his children.

Note: Dilip Chitre highlights the daily routine and schedule of his father to portray the isolation and suffering hiding inside his father. His father remains isolated from both, the family and the man-made world.