Sohrabji's Moral Crisis

Chowringhee

This flow follows Sohrabji’s changing relationship to bar ownership as his daughter forces him to confront the harm surrounding his trade.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Boy in the Tavern A Boy in the Tavern from "Chowringhee". Learning the Business Necessity As an orphan with little education, Sohrabji finds work around Hafezji’s tavern.

A Boy in the Tavern from "Chowringhee". Learning the Business Necessity As an orphan with little education, Sohrabji finds work around Hafezji’s tavern.

Learning the Business Necessity As an orphan with little education, Sohrabji finds work around Hafezji’s tavern. He survives by serving customers and assisting women who need male companions to enter bars. Adaptation He is uncomfortable with the environment but accepts work because he has few alternatives. His later moral conflict has roots in this early dependence.

The Proprietor The Proprietor from "Chowringhee". Honest Management Enterprise Sohrabji becomes a bar owner, refuses to dilute drinks, and tries to keep the premises orderly.

The Proprietor from "Chowringhee". Honest Management Enterprise Sohrabji becomes a bar owner, refuses to dilute drinks, and tries to keep the premises orderly.

Honest Management Enterprise Sohrabji becomes a bar owner, refuses to dilute drinks, and tries to keep the premises orderly. He believes honest business can coexist with alcohol sales. Limits Drunken customers still quarrel and pressure him to serve them. His control over the bar does not give him control over what drink does to people.

His Daughter Enters His Daughter Enters from "Chowringhee". A Witness at the Bar Encounter Sohrabji’s daughter enters to surprise him and sees customers in various states of drunkenness.

His Daughter Enters from "Chowringhee". A Witness at the Bar Encounter Sohrabji’s daughter enters to surprise him and sees customers in various states of drunkenness.

A Witness at the Bar Encounter Sohrabji’s daughter enters to surprise him and sees customers in various states of drunkenness. The scene contradicts the respectable life her father has encouraged her to imagine. Question She asks whether the families of those men will ever forgive the people who profit from their drinking. Sohrabji cannot answer.

Selling the Business Selling the Business from "Chowringhee". An Attempt to Escape Decision Haunted by his daughter’s question, Sohrabji sells the bar and deposits the proceeds.

Selling the Business from "Chowringhee". An Attempt to Escape Decision Haunted by his daughter’s question, Sohrabji sells the bar and deposits the proceeds.

An Attempt to Escape Decision Haunted by his daughter’s question, Sohrabji sells the bar and deposits the proceeds. The bank collapses soon afterward, destroying his financial security. Reversal He must return to bar work to support his family and his daughter’s education. He becomes an employee rather than an owner, hoping that will lessen his responsibility.

The Unanswered Account The Unanswered Account from "Chowringhee". Guilt and Survival Confession Sohrabji tells Shankar that he cannot decide whether serving alcohol makes him responsible for the damage customers bring home.

The Unanswered Account from "Chowringhee". Guilt and Survival Confession Sohrabji tells Shankar that he cannot decide whether serving alcohol makes him responsible for the damage customers bring home.

Guilt and Survival Confession Sohrabji tells Shankar that he cannot decide whether serving alcohol makes him responsible for the damage customers bring home. His daughter’s judgment remains with him. Unresolved Duty He returns to work because his family needs support, not because he has resolved the moral question. His life becomes a conflict between livelihood and conscience.

In Sohrabji's youth, before he owns a bar

After Sohrabji establishes his own bar

Shortly before his daughter leaves to study abroad

After his daughter leaves for England

During Shankar's later conversations with Sohrabji