The male orphan figure

The female orphan figure was seen as one who fell outside the model of society; one who had to make her place in society in order to become familiar with the terms, “home, belonging and community”. And the bildungsroman of the female orphan is clearly depicted in both Jane Eyre and Humsafar. Dhoop Kinaray introduces the figure of the male orphan. Now, the male orphan of the drama, Ahmer, has known stability, he has had a home and a paternal figure in his life but, upon the death of the professor, he has to understand what it means to be an orphan again. He may have known what home felt like but, he does not anymore as he tells Mian Jee, “Yeh acha ghar nahin, acha makaan hai”.

The male orphan figure has stability. He has the education and respect which enables him to provide for himself. Yet, he too faces the same feeling of not belonging once, he is faced with orphanhood again which makes him question his identity, “Main kaun hoon? mujhe kahaan sai ukhaar ke lagaya gaya hai yahaan?” Which seems to hint that despite, gender and social status, orphanhood leaves each of its member having to go through the similar feeling of not belonging.

Jane and Khirad, who were both taken into households in which the female figures were not accepting of them. Had Jane’s and Khirad’s uncles survived, their lives could have turned out very differently. Ahmer, on the other hand was raised in a house with no female but, where a paternal figure was present and his future turned out very differently. It was the loss of the paternal figure that put his life in disarray. This indicates how important the absence or presence of a paternal figure can be for an orphan.

Another interesting thing to note is that, while, Ahmer, the orphan got the books from the Proffesor, it is the actual descendant who gets the property. So, the place the orphan called home is also taken away from him and it can be said, that he is left homeless. Yet, his saving grace of this male oprhan, is the education he has received and the noble profession he is in through which he can provide for himself however, the emotional support of a parent and the feeling of belonging the Proffesor provided cannot be replaced