A Question of Dowry

Summary A Question of Dowry is about an Indian girl named Sivasothie was going to be engaged and married to a young man named Thiruchelvam that was chosen by her family. In the beginning, Sivasothies parents were preparing dowry, whereby a sum of twenty thousand and a necklace as to give it to the bridegrooms family, when they wanted to give away their daughter to get married. Then, the problem arises when Sivasothies father Mr. Ramachandran told his wife that they cannot afford to give the dowry they agreed to give because of the disvalued of his wifes piece of land to sell, which given as dowry when she got married to Mr. Ramachandran. After that, the future son in -law came to their house when Mr. Ramachandran telephoned him to come. As Thiruchelvam come, Mr. Ramachandran told him the truth about the dowry matters. Then, it ended up Thiruchelvam reject the marriages with his daughter because couldnt give the dowry promised. Sivasothie feel sad and hurt because she has to forget him to become her husband after while she liked him so much. Theme - A man is on top of the family pyramid in Indian society. Plot Exposition Sivasothie is getting married to Thiruchelvam and the family of Sivasothie is busy preparing the dowry. Rising Action Mr. Ramachandran told his wife to return the gold necklace. Climax Mr. Ramachandran reveals that they actually dont have enough money to pay for their daughters dowry to be given to Thiruchelvams family. Falling action Mr. Ramachandran explains the details of the land, mentioning that the land is too marshy for house-holding. Resolution Mr. Ramachandran told the truth to his son-in-law and the son-in-law just dump his daughter. Conflict Man vs Man Mr. Ramachandran & Mrs. Ramachandran arguing about the details of the dowry. Man vs Society The dowry is a custom, however Mr Ramachandran couldnt afford to pay much dowry. Therefore, he is going against the custom of the Indian culture. Settings a) Place Kitchen, Mr. Ramachandrans room and the house hall. b) Time Present c) Social condition In india, they have dowry practices which is the amount of money or property the groom demanded from the brides family. Dowry is a form of insurance to protect the daughter to be mistreated by the in-laws. d) Mood Beginning (Happy and enthusiastic), Middle (Shocked and surprised), Ending (Acceptance) Characters and characteristics Main character Mr. Ramachandran (Rational, practical and reasonable), Mrs. Ramachandran (Showing off, pride) Others Sivasothie (Obedient and shy), Thamby (Happy go lucky), Dr. Thiruchelvam (Impatient, marry for status/dowry)

Group Members Tristan Brendon Tann, Goh Wei Ziee, Goh Kar Khoon, Nicholas Ngui Yew Loong