A Comparative Analysis Of Children Related Short Stories Written By Premchand And Martin Wikramasinghe

The main objective of this study is to carry out a critical analysis of short stories by Indian writer Premachand and Sri Lankan writer Martin Wickramasinghe to figure out how Children’s Problems are depicted. Many researchers have already been conducted on the works of Premchand and Martin Wickramasinghe separately. However, no comparative research has been found on the representation of children’s problems in their short stories. Hindi Language and Literature are taught as undergraduate subjects in Sri Lankan universities. Premachand's short stories encompass a part of such syllabi. Comparative researches on Premchand and Martin Wickramasinghe carried out in Sri Lanka or India are insufficient. Thus, another objective of the study is to widen the scope of knowledge on Premchand and Martin Wickramasinghe’s literary works. The main method of research in this study was textual analysis of Premachand’s and Martin Wickramasinghe’s short stories. In order to find out how Children’s Problems are portrayed in their short stories, the following steps have been followed, Reading Premchand’s short stories deeply, collecting data ; Reading of Martin Wickramasinghe’s Short Stories deeply, collecting data; Completing the Analysis and categorizing the data obtained; Comparing and making conclusions. Five significant short stories can be identified from Premchand, related to Children’s harassments. namely ‘Iid gaha’ (Iid Festival), ‘alagojha’ (Separation), ‘mritak Bhoj’ (alms in the funeral), ‘dudh ka dam’ ( value of Mother’s Milk) and ‘taintar’ (The girl who born after two boys). Three significant short stories discussing the same issue from the Sri Lankan writer Martin Wickramasinghe are also identified. They were ‘vinodasvadaya’ (The enjoyment), ‘Kuvenihami’(A name of a Woman) and ‘Budures’ (The Ray of Load Budhdha). One significant short story was selected from each writer related to the gentleness of Children. They were ‘budi kaki’ (The Old Grand Mother) by Premchand, and ‘Begal’ (fake) by the Martin Wickramasinghe.