An Astrologer's Day Group

Question:

vijayalaxmi
vijayalaxmi
Student
College - Junior

Why does the man not recognize the astrologer? There are a number of reasons. State all of them.

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Posted by vijayalaxmi on Monday November 9, 2009 at 8:20 AM and tagged with an astrologer's day.

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  1. ask996 Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    In the story, "The Astrologer’s Day" by R. K. Naraya, there are several reasons why the astrologer was not recognized. One very obvious reason were the intervening years between leaving the man for dead and the moment the man showed up at the astrologers stall. The astrologer had also grown long whiskers and had a turban wrapped around his head. Chances are he did not look that way as a younger man. The astrologer’s stall did not have its own lighting, so the dim lights of the surrounding stalls did little to chase away the shadows caused by the deepening night or the smoke of fires and gas lamps. The marketplace was even darker when the man arrived because many vendors had already left for home. My favorite reason why the man did not recognize the astrologer was the power of suggestion. The man eventually believed the veracity of the astrologer, and consequently when the astrologer told him that the man for which he looked was dead, the man believed him. The power of suggestion was strong, since the astrologer "divined the truth" and then gave the man answers.

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    Posted by ask996 on Monday November 9, 2009 at 12:46 PM