MALAYSIAN SHORT STORY No Visitors Allowed - John Machado

This short story "No Visitors Allowed" by John Machado is listed under the theme of 'The perceptions of children in the multi-cultural environment'. In John Machado's stories, the part played by memory is all- important. There is a wish to retrace one's steps to look back at the child one was, to assess without sentimentality where the meaning lay.

This story recounts emotionally the stages in the dying of the father of a household. The 17-year old narrator's scrupulous attention to the wild cat outside his house which he wants to shoot, and to life in the rubber estate where he briefly worked, serve as a mask for the confusing emotions regarding his father's impending death. Machado here, letting the details of actions totally unconnected with the father's dying become the vehicle of emotion. But as death approaches like the night, Machado skilfully allows his narrator nostalgic memories of past incidents in which father and son enjoyed each other's company. 

THEMES

Filial Piety

Sub themes

 ü  Love between father and child

 ü  Responsibility of a son

SETTINGS

·         Place

1.      government quarters (pg180)

2.      hospital ward

3.      estate (the monkey died)

4.      school (mother’s working place)

·         Time

1.      Day and night weekly

2.      During pre-independence era

·         Community

1.      Educated community

2.      Loving community

3.      Responsible community

4.      Community where family is the priority

MAIN EVENTS

        i.            Machado visits his parents in the hospital. Father tells him that he has a slight pain in his chest and also feels a little dizzy.

      ii.            Back home, he read “Bonjour Tristesse”. He thought that he would get the tom cat that night. He thought of the greenhouse first, then the green eyes. He also thought about the old man who owns an estate, countless rocks and an oversized bull frog in his museum.

    iii.            The next morning, Mother calls and tells that Father is unconscious. Machado didn’t believe it. Father was just asleep.

    iv.            Machado shot a monkey at midnight then asked his mother if she heard anything last night. He was also looking forward to spend some time with his dad.

      v.            Machado finds out his father has aortic stenosis from his father’s old friend.

    vi.            Later after Christmas, Machado’s dad passes away.

CHARACTERISATION

CHARACTER	CHARACTERISTICS AND TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
Narrator	·         Loves his father. He is always caring for his dad like how he rushed to the hospital when he found out his dad is sent there ·         Never gives up on his father. He visits his father every day without fail ·         Responsible. He helps his father in the hospital like aiding him to pee ·         Brave. ·         Observant. ·         Impulsive. He shot the monkey at midnight for no particular reason ·         Optimistic. ·         Smart.
Father (in the hospital, has aortic stenosis)	·         Sickly. He is diagnosed with aortic stenosis, needs a breathing machine to helps him breathe.   ·         Secretive. ·         Optimistic. He is always convincing his son that he feels better and he tries to be at his best even though it is hard. (pg 192)
Mother	·         Always worried. She refused to go back and wants to stay by her husband’s side. She finally give in and went back after being cajoled by narrator. ·         Caring. She stops teaching to aid and accompany her husband and gives calls to her son to update him about the Father’s condition ·         Religious. She wants to call the priest to pray for her husband’s health.