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“The Frog and The Nightingale is Satire on Modern Society”. Explain.

“The Frog and The Nightingale is Satire on Modern Society”. Explain.

1 Answer

  1. The poem The Frog and The Nightingale written by Vikram Seth describes a short story in the jungle. A frog which has no talent in singing keeps croaking every night irritating all other animals. He has confidence and thus he doesn’t pay heed to the pleas of other animals.

    One day, a nightingale appears whose songs are quite sweet and are loved by other animals. The frog feels insecure and offers the nightingale to teach him how to sing better. Nightingale being less experienced and unconfident accepts the proposal gladly.

    Being jealous of Nightingale’s voice, the frog asks him to work harder and harder. The nightingale loses the joy which it once had. Ultimately it dies one day and the frog gets back it’s the old position.

    The poem symbolises the condition of our society. The frog that keeps making noise by croaking can be compared to people who have a secure position in the society but don’t have much talent. The nightingale represents those with talent but no confidence.

    The former leaves no stone unturned to keep their position secure. As soon as their rivals (here nightingale) appear, they try to throw them away.

    The poet thus advises us to be confident and enjoy rather than allowing others to interfere in our lives. One can live his life only when he believes in himself and does everything that he likes.

    Read the summary of the poem here.

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