“A Fellow Traveller” is a short story written by English author A.G. Gardiner. The main themes of “A Fellow Traveller” are freedom, compassion, equality, and uncertainty.
A Fellow Traveller By A.G Gardiner
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Summary of A Fellow Traveller By A.G Gardiner
When you travel by bus or train, there are many other people with you. The narrator is traveling by train, and there is another passenger on the train with him who is very special. The story begins with the narrator saying, “I don’t know who came on that train first. I think he must have been there before me, but maybe I didn’t notice him.”
I’m traveling on a train from London to Midland City. It’s a nonstop train that stops at every station and moves slowly. The train is very boring because it takes a long time to get from one place to another. Our narrator noticed that the train stops at every station, and at each station, some passengers get off. At the end of the journey, the narrator was the only person left on the train, or perhaps he felt like he was the only person left on the train.
The narrator says that being alone on the train gives him freedom; he can do whatever he wants. No one can see me, no one can judge me, and no one can stop me. The author gives examples of what you can do if you’re alone on a train. He says you can talk loudly because no one will hear you, you can joke around and laugh at your own jokes. You can roll on the train floor without worrying about the dust staining your clothes.
You can stand on your head and no one will see you. You can sing, dance, play golf, or play marbles on the train floor. No one will see you, no one will hear you, and no one will judge you. You will have complete freedom to open or close the train window; it’s your choice. When we travel with people, many people suggest closing or opening the window. Since you’re alone on the train, you can close and open the window as you wish.
But the author says, “I didn’t do any of these things on the train that day.” I didn’t do this because I didn’t remember doing any of these things on the train. The author did the usual thing when he was alone on the train: he put his newspaper aside, lay down on the seat, and started looking out the windows. After that, I started reading the newspaper again while smoking a cigarette. After a while, the author realized that he wasn’t alone on the train; there was another passenger with him.
That passenger flew and sat on the author’s nose. Now you can understand, if it’s sitting on the nose, it means it’s an insect. Here, the author is talking about a mosquito. As soon as the author touches his nose, the mosquito flies and keeps flying around the train compartment. The mosquito circles the compartment, this time it lands on the author’s neck. The author touches his neck and shoos the mosquito away with his neck. The mosquito flies again, circles the compartment, and this time it lands on the author’s elbow.
The author becomes angry. “There’s a limit to everything. I gave you two warnings, but now you’re overstepping your bounds. I’m wearing a black cap, which means I’m the judge of this compartment. So, as a judge, I sentence you to death. You’ve committed many mistakes, and there’s ample evidence against you. Evidence that you’re disturbing public peace and traveling without a ticket. You don’t even have a meat coupon, which means you have no right to drink people’s blood.
The punishment for your crimes is death.” The author then attacks the mosquito with his right hand, but it immediately flies away. “I was ashamed because I couldn’t kill a mosquito. I decided to kill it anyway, because now it’s a matter of self-respect.” The author stands up, wraps his newspaper, and tries to shoo the mosquito from one seat to another. Wherever the mosquito goes, I chase it, trying to kill it, but every time it escapes for its life.”
It was all in vain because I couldn’t kill a mosquito, but I’m sure the mosquito was enjoying me because I couldn’t kill it. After a while, my anger towards the mosquito subsided. The author says, “The mosquito kills the superiority in me. I’ve decided not to kill this mosquito anymore.” Later, I put my newspaper on the table, and the mosquito flew in and sat on it. I told the mosquito, “You’re sitting in the wrong place because if I fold this paper, you’ll die in it.”
But now I won’t kill you because I like you. I feel like you’re my younger brother. You and I are both fellow travelers and will travel together to our destination.” While the author was talking to the mosquito, he heard a voice from the window, and it was the porter who wanted to carry the author’s bag. At the end of the story, the author picked up his luggage and started to exit the train, but before leaving, he looked back to check on the mosquito once again. The mosquito was still flying around a lamp.
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