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Analysis of the “Chinor” novella and Said Ahmad

Lessons 39–40 · 2 lessons · S. Olim, S. Ahmedov, R. Qo‘chqorov. Literature, Grade 8: textbook-collection, Parts 1 and 2. G‘afur G‘ulom publishing-printing creative house, Tashkent, 2014 (revised third edition)
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The novel “Chinor”: the torment of conscience and analysis

Textbook: Part 2, pp. 58–69
GoalAnalyze Akbarali’s torment of conscience, the statue scene and Ochil bobo’s words; explain the idea of the novella.
New words
torment of conscience · vijdon azobicourage · jasoratcowardice · qo‘rqoqlikstatue · haykal
Explanation

After the event Akbarali withdraws from his friends, speaks little, gives himself to drink and cannot tell his pain to anyone. Drunk, he tells his mother Sharofat xola “I caused a man’s death”; the mother advises him to go to the people of Shodasoy and admit his guilt, and before her death she asks to be laid in Shodasoy beside their ancestors. In Shodasoy, in the cemetery, Akbarali comes across a bronze statue bearing his own name: the plaque says that he died heroically saving his miner friends, because Bektemir had Akbarali’s document in his pocket, and the settlement was also named “Akbarobod”. The living Akbarali thinks of himself as a “coward” and nobody recognizes him; Ochil bobo says “a person who died for people is always alive”, while Akbarali disappears the next day and the novella ends in tragedy. The textbook calls him not a bad person but a decent young man: he did not kill Bektemir, yet because of a moment’s fear he did not go to help. The author’s idea: being good and well-mannered is not enough; in life’s test courage is needed too.

Worked examples
Example: the name Akbarobod and the statue are a symbolic detail: people honour a hero, but the one honoured is not the real hero, and this deepens Akbarali’s torment.
Example: Ochil bobo says “he was fragile” and adds “life is merciless, especially to the coward”: courage is needed to correct a mistake.
Class activity

Write Akbarali’s condition briefly in three stages (after the event; the talk with his mother; before the statue) and name one feeling in each.

Practice
1
Why could Akbarali not tell his friends and mother his pain at once?
2
What was written on the statue and plaque?
3
Why did everyone think Akbarali was a “hero who died”?
4
Why does the textbook call Akbarali a “decent young man” yet still link the tragedy to him?