For this assignment I focused on Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga, which follows an old man’s day in Mumbai. The man, Masterji, reflects and encounters a number of different people throughout the story so I knew any graph I made would like result in his being as the center of all connections.
The network graph I ended up creating draws connections between the characters based on who they know. Though obviously Masterji is at the center of the chart, I thought it was interesting how the graph was able to reveal the influence of Sonal, Masterji’s daughter-in-law, in his life. This is especially significant since Sonal acts as the would-be antagonist in some ways since Masterji dislikes her, and he seems somewhat disappointed in her raising of his unnamed grandson. The chart is limited in that it fails to define the relationship that connects the characters. Having read the story I can see that the chart clearly divides into Masterji’s family and then his acquaintences and neighbors. Something I had trouble with was deciding whether Masterji’s dead wife Purnima would have had all the same connections as he did in terms of neighbors, etc. and though its more than likely she did, I felt it best not to assume since it wasn’t explicitly stated in the text. Assuming she did know all those people the chart would shift to Purnima being just as central as Masterji, signifyng just how devasting her loss was to Masterji’s everyday life which is a central point in the story.