South Asian Literature

Eshal Fatima
Roll no 279

The Far Thing

Introduction
Maki Kureishi is one of Pakistan’s pre eminent English language poets. She is considered the
first Pakistani female English language poet. She is known for her delicate and highly sensitive
poetry. Maki Kureishi was born in a Parsee family in India, Calcutta. She spent her early years
there but in her teen years she came to Pakistan with her family and stayed there even during
1947 partition. After completing her education she started teaching at the university of Karachi
and taught there for almost 30 years.
She holds an important place among Pakistani English writers due to her unique style of
depicting the poignant picture of sufferings of people , human emotions and nature, capturing the
imaginations of readers and also allowing them to see the world through her eyes and feel her
personal experiences. Maki Kureishi through her poetry which is crafted beautifully in
controlled free verse style, takes the reader into a different world which helps the reader in their
personal introspection.
The far thing is a collection of poetry by Maki Kureishi which was published posthumously
in 1997. She concludes her poetry collection with a separate poem titled as 'The Far Thing' Her
poetry is basically divided into 3 categories; Buddhist poems , reconciliation poems and
occasional poems. The 'Far Thing' falls into the category of the reconciliation poems.
Reconciliation here means to reconcile with the current situations or accepting the circumstances
as they are without grumbling but also not letting go the past or unfulfilled desires or dreams.
The 'far thing’ here symbolizes the unfulfilled desires, memories and holding on to objects which
are distant but we are connected to them for their significance.

Summary
The poem starts with a description of a Pine Cone. The narrator of the poem is poet herself. She
starts the poem by describing a pine cone which she had brought from a northern holiday to
show to her only child. But then she says that the pine cone has been sitting in her drawer for a
decade and thinks that she should throw it away but then suddenly she starts to describe the
beauty and appearance of the pine cone. She assumes it to be a wood sculptured flower which
even after a decade is still intact and if it were provided a proper environment it could have
grown into a towering conifer but as it has been brought away from its natural environment, it
cannot grow into a conifer.. She compares pine cone with the bronze charioteer for its readiness
for a far thing, then she compares the bronze charioteer with a mountain pine because of his
unchanging nature . She tells that even if the charioteer stands alone without the horses which
have bolted and the chariot which turned into dust, 3000 years ago , the charioteer still has a
hope for a change in his luck. She ends the poem with a note of optimism.

Analysis
The poem , The Far Thing is an autobiographical poem by Maki Kureishi. She was suffering
from arthritis and also she belonged to a minority and married a Pakistani Muslim so she also
suffered identity crisis in her life. She makes pine cone as a symbol of arrested growth,
potentiality and temporal opening. In the beginning of the poem she gives the description of a
pine cone which she brought from a northern holiday a decade ago and it is still intact and is
lying in her drawer. This pine cone which could not grow into a proper conifer shows also the
arrested growth of Maki Kureishi as she belonged to a minority and was also disabled in her life.
She says that it could have grown into a proper tree if it were provided a proper environment but
as it is in a perpetual weather which is very hard for its growth. She says that as the pine cone has
been brought away from its natural environment still it is intact but it could have grown into a
conifer. This description of pine cone also indicates the situation of Maki herself. She suffered
from identity crisis. She also bore many hardships still she thinks she could have a proper
opportunity for her growth which in this environment now she lacks.
She uses a simile and compares the pine cone with a Bronze Charioteer because she believes that
just like a bronze charioteer it is resistant to change and it also has a similar readiness for the far
thing. The bronze charioteer is also an allusion to Greek mythology. The bronze charioteer is
actually a Greek sculpture of a charioteer which was dedicated to Apollo of Delphi by Polyzalus
because he helped him in winning a chariot race. This sculpture was found in 1897 at the
sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. The bronze charioteer was placed at Delphi around 478 BC it
survived because it was buried under a rock fall which probably destroyed the site in 373 BC. It
was a part of a group of statues which included some horses as can be seen from the reins in the
hands of charioteer But they could not survive in the rock fall. The chariot is also gone and
turned into dust but the statue is still intact.
Maki Kureishi’s prolific use of Greek mythology in her poem shows her proficient grip over
language and her unique style. She compares her pine cone which has survived for a decade and
is still intact with the bronze charioteer because it also survived even after centuries of bearing
many climatic hardships. And also when she says that
“it has like the bronze charioteer a readiness for Far thing,”
The Far Thing here also implies the unfulfilled dreams or desires. The Far Thing for pine cone is
that it could not develop into a towering conifer because it was brought away from the natural
environment for its growth but it is still surviving on its own just like the bronze charioteer who
was also brought away from the place where it was a complete statue with chariot and horses.
She says
“-Although the horses
have bolted and chariot was dust
three thousand years ago,
he keeps a gambler's faith in his change of luck.”
It means that he still has a hope for the far thing to be achieved or his unfulfilled desires to be
completed. That’s why they both, pine cone and statue are surviving. They both are waiting for
something to happen to them. They both are resistant to change their nature. Both pine cone and
charioteer are non living things but Kureishi personifies them. She gives human qualities to them
as of waiting, surviving and hoping. All are qualities of human or more specifically it can be
said, are the qualities of Maki herself implying an autobiographical element. Because she herself
bore a lot of hardships in her life and wrote the poem while she was suffering from arthritis. And
she also had polio since childhood. She was also a Parsee which means belonged to a minority
but married a Pakistani Muslim so she also suffered identity crisis in her life. And now while
being sick she’s still holding on to some hope and her past which she survived and waiting for
her unfulfilled desires to be fulfilled. It can also be generally said about the human nature. They
have a natural tendency for perseverance and a capacity of survival and they can resist the
change. They can have a hope for Far Thing despite bearing many hardships.
Besides the interpretation of survival related to Maki herself and the persevering nature of
humans in general, this poem can also be related to culture and history of human beings. The
pine cone also symbolizes the culture. When Maki says that she brought it a decade ago from
northern holiday to show it to her child it means that she wants to tell her about the culture to
which she and they both belong. She thinks to throw it away but then compares it to a wood
sculptured flower and describes its beauty. The beauty of pine cone may also symbolize the
beauty of culture which has been abandoned by people but it can’t be abandoned completely
even if someone tries to be separated from it. She says that the pine cone could have survived but
it could not because now it’s not in that suitable environment. She compares it with bronze
charioteer because it also survived and can’t be separated from Greek culture and its past and
history. So the pine cone symbolizes the culture and Far Thing symbolizes that past, unfulfilled
dreams and desires and history from which human beings cannot be separated. She belonged to a
different culture before marriage and the pine cone may suggest her Parsee culture but now she’s
in a different culture after marrying a Muslim.
To put in a nutshell, Maki Kureishi’s poem The Far Thing can be interpreted in many ways. It
contains autobiographical elements. The Far Thing symbolizes the desires for something lost in
past, showing forbearance and potentiality for further growth.

Themes
Unfulfilled Dreams and desires
Culture
Human Survival and potentiality
Culture
Literary Devices
Imagery
Symbolism
Allusion
Similes