A Bit of a Smash in Madras (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Julian Maclaren-Ross
- First Published: 1965
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: Probably the 1940's
- Setting: Madras, India
- Principal Characters: Adams, Stanton, Shankran, Holt, Sir Alec, Dr. Menon, Krishnaswami, Turpin
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Racism, Prejudices or antipathies, India or East Indian people, Corruption, Imperialism, Great Britain, Drunk driving or drivers
- Locales: Madras, India
The Story
The flippant title of this story about an Englishman who seriously injures an Indian laborer in a drunken automobile accident is the first clue to its ironic social criticism. The very fact that the central character and narrator of the story calls such an accident merely “a bit of a smash” says more about the British arrogance and indifference to native Indians that led to the crumbling of the British Empire than do volumes of history or social commentary.
The story begins with the narrator's admission to his unidentified listener that he was so drunk when...
[The entire page is 1508 words long]
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