Character Sketch of Mr Gupta from 'Price of Flowers'

Maggie is the central character of the story "The Price of Flowers" written by Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay.  Her full name is Alice Margaret Clifford. She lives with her widowed mother in a poor neighbourhood of London.

Mr Gupta, the narrator of the story meets her at a vegetarian restaurant in London.  Her interest in him makes him curious.  He makes friends with Maggie and comes to know more about her.  

Maggie is in her early teens but she works as a typist in a Civil Service store.  Her clothes reveal her poverty.  She is shy and reserved but Mr Gupta gradually makes her open up.  Her only brother is in India serving as a British soldier.  But they have not heard from him for a long time. They are worried about him.

During their conversation Mr Gupta asks her whether she likes her work.  She says she wants a job that is not mechanical.  This shows that she is ambitious.  She is bold and courageous at this tender age despite her respectful and courteous behaviour. 

When Mr Gupta visits her house Maggie plays a song on the violin.  From her mother we learn that she had no formal training in music because they could not afford music classes.  She is naturally talented.  Her devotion and love for her mother and brother are truly exemplary.  When her mother falls sick she brings Mr Gupta home and asks him if he could tell a lie to save her life.  When she says "please forgive me if it is very very wrong," the reader is touched by her innocence and feels sorry for her helplessness.

On the day of Mr Gupta's departure, Maggie comes to meet him.  She gives the hard earned one shilling to him to buy flowers for her brother's grave.  Her supreme sacrifice out of the love for her brother is aptly reflected in the title of the story "The Price of Flowers".  Those flowers are truly priceless.