IGCSEEnglish LiteratureCambridge (CIE)Revision Notes1. Poetry & ProseStories of Ourselves Volume 2No.30 The Gold Watch

No.30 The Gold Watch (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature): Revision Note

Exam code: 0475 & 0992

Sam Evans

Written by: Sam Evans

Reviewed by: Nick Redgrove

Updated on

The Gold Watch analysis

In the exam, you will be asked to answer one question from two options. Both questions will be on a different text from the selection of ten texts in Stories of Ourselves Volume 2. 

Because there are so many text options, make sure you read through the exam instructions carefully, and look for the questions on Stories of Ourselves. 

The following guide to The Gold Watch by Mulk Raj Anand contains:

  • Plot summary

  • Themes, ideas and perspectives

  • Writer’s methods

  • Key quotations

Plot summary of The Gold Watch

Mulk Raj Anand, born in 1905, is the influential Indian author of short story The Gold Watch, which depicts the influence of the British Empire in India. 

The protagonist, Srijut Sudarshan Sharma, is a dispatch clerk who works for the “Marmalade Empire of Henry King & Co.” in Bombay. A loyal and polite worker for 20 years, he plans to stay five more years before he retires. 

One day, one of his British bosses, Mr Acton, comes to tell him that he has something for him, and that he will get it on Monday. Sharma is surprised. Usually his boss ignores him and the other workers. He remembers the odd look on Mr Acton’s face, and worries that his boss is about to give him a retirement gift. 

When he finds out from Mr Acton that the gift is a gold watch with a special inscription, he spends an anxious weekend at home, concerned he will not be able to provide for his family. He tells his wife and son about it, and gives his son his own silver watch.  

On Monday Mr Acton presents him with the gold watch as compensation for an early retirement. Sharma is distraught and drops it (although his boss says it still works, Sharma finds out later that it has been broken). Furious that he is being forced out, but unable to protest, Sharma says nothing and leaves. His colleagues admire the watch and comment on Mr Acton’s generosity.

On the long journey home, Sharma reflects that it does not matter if the watch is broken since, now he is retired, he will not need to know the time.

Examiner Tips and Tricks

In order to answer the question in Section B of the CIE Literature in English Poetry and Prose Paper 1, it is best to have a thorough knowledge of the story’s plot. This will help you to form a structural analysis, which means you will be considering how themes and characters develop (or not) through the story. 

Themes, ideas and perspectives in The Gold Watch

For top marks, you need to form a critical understanding of the text’s themes and ideas. This is best when it includes personal judgements and evaluations of the themes, ideas, and perspectives of the text. Here are some of the key ideas you will need to understand in Mulk Raj Anand’s The Gold Watch. 

What are the key themes in The Gold Watch?

Theme 

Analysis

Exploitation 

  • The story illustrates the vulnerable status of Indian employees in a British company in colonial Bombay:

    • The protagonist, Sharma, is reliant on his job to support his family and afford his retirement 

  • Anand shows a hierarchical system in the British company where Sharma works:

    • The British Mr West and Mr Acton are referred to with the title “Sahib” (Sir)

  • The workers, the narrator says, are generally ignored:

    • Only “twice or thrice a year” was he “called into the cubicle by West Sahib for a reprimand” 

  • Anand describes Sharma as submissive: 

    • “He withdrew in the abject manner of his ancestors” as if he was retreating from “feudal lords”

  • Anand shows how Mr Acton’s politeness covers up ageism:

    • The watch is presented as a reward, so Sharma feels obliged to accept early retirement without protest 

Disappointment 

  • Anand creates pathos to evoke reader sympathy for Sharma, and, thus, for all elderly Indian employees

  • Anand builds suspense through the promise of a special gift:

    • This presents Sharma’s sense of insecurity and powerlessness as a result of his poor treatment

  • Emotive language exemplifies Sharma’s doubt in himself:

  • He is “trembling with trepidation, pale and completely unsure of himself”

Writer's methods in The Gold Watch

How does Mulk Raj Anand present his ideas and perspectives?

In his short story The Gold Watch, Mulk Raj Anand highlights oppressive colonial influence by presenting a sympathetic, elderly dispatch clerk who is forced to graciously accept early retirement from a British marmalade company because he is given a gold watch.

Technique 

Analysis

Symbolism

  • Anand uses the symbol of a special gift, an inscribed gold watch, to represent the imbalance of power in a British-run firm in India:

    • The story’s protagonist, Sharma, is emotionally manipulated by the gift: its “inscription” will “please you”, his boss says

    • That the watch is broken when he leaves is symbolic of the broken contract between British authority figures and Indian citizens

  • Anand represents the British Empire through the “great Marmalade Empire of Henry King & Co”:

    • The name of the firm connotes to royalty and grandness 

  • Anand symbolises the wealth divide in colonial India:

    • The manager gets into a “polished Buick”

    • The Indian clerk, Sharma, must get a “train to Thana, thirty miles out where he had resided, for cheapness”

Omniscient narrator 

  • The omniscient narrator reveals Sharma’s inner turmoil, and how it is caused by imbalances of power:

    • He shows Sharma’s sense of anticipation at being singled out and possibly rewarded for his loyalty and hard work

  • As events unfold, the narrator shows the gradual diminishment of Sharma’s confidence and hope:

    • He writes: “He felt a pull at his heart. He paused for breath and tried to calm himself. The blood pressure! Or was it merely wind?”

  • The narrator illustrates how Mr Acton’s fake kindness reduces Sharma’s dignity: 

    • “These words hypnotised Sharma”

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Writers often highlight certain ideas because of the time and place in which their story is written. Examiners reward essay responses that explore the meanings of the text in their contexts, so this should inform your response. 

For instance, you could write about how, in the short story The Gold Watch, Mulk Raj Anand describes the oppressive influence of the British Empire in India. In other words, you should explore the text beyond surface meanings and show your understanding of the themes the writer is raising, and why they may have been raised.

Key quotations in The Gold Watch

The mark scheme for the CIE IGCSE Literature in English Paper 1, Section B asks you to showcase your knowledge of the story in the question. To do this, you should refer to the text through references and quotations. Remember, though, summarising, paraphrasing, referencing single words, and referencing plot events are all considered valid supporting evidence for your points. 

The best way to revise quotations is in connection to a theme. Below you will find explanations and analysis of some key quotations from Mulk Raj Anand’s The Gold Watch, arranged by the following themes:

  • Exploitation 

  • Disappointment 

Exploitation  

Anand highlights the impact of exploitative attitudes on a marginalised Indian clerk, and how it leads to his suffering.  

“The poor old dispatch clerk could not surmise the real meaning of the General Manager’s remark” — Narrator

Meaning and context

  • Srijut Sharma is an elderly “clerk” experiencing financial hardship

  • When the General Manager says he has a gift for him, Sharma finds it difficult to understand because, usually, the managers are known for their meanness 

Analysis

  • Anand introduces his protagonist as sympathetic: 

    • He is fifty years old with a family he works hard to support

  • Anand highlights the suspicion with which Sharma greets any kindness from his boss

“A morose, old Sahib, hard working, conscientious and a slave driver, famous as a shrewd businessman, so devoted to the job of spreading the monopoly of King’s

Marmalade” — Narrator

Meaning and context

  • Sharma calls his boss, Mr Acton, “Sahib”, meaning “Sir”

  • He is described as miserable, a good “businessman”, and focused on work

  • He insists on hard work from his employees because he is loyal to the British Empire

Analysis

  • Anand contrasts Sharma, who is focused on his family, with the boss, who is “devoted” to his work, to highlight different cultural values 

  • The description “slave driver” connotes to exploitative behaviour

  • Anand’s humorous description of Mr Acton’s desperation to “spread” the “King’s marmalade” alludes to making money for the monopolising British Empire

“Srijut Sharma tried to voice his inner protest in words which would convey his meaning without seeming to be disloyal” — Narrator

Meaning and context

  • When the boss gives Sharma a gold watch as compensation for early retirement, Sharma cannot speak up or “protest” even though he wants to

  • He is not sure how to turn down the gift without seeming “disloyal” to the company 

Analysis

  • Anand illustrates Sharma’s powerlessness to stand up for his rights

  • He is emotionally manipulated to accept poor treatment and injustice out of fear of punishment

Disappointment 

“But then Srijut Sharma was, in spite of his nobility of soul and fundamental innocence, experienced enough in his study of the vague, detached race of the white Sahibs by now" — Narrator

Meaning and context

  • Sharma is confused by Mr Acton’s smile at first

  • But, even though he is naturally tolerant and likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, he reminds himself that the “white” bosses (“Sahibs”) are “detached”:

    • Sharma has experienced their aloof, indifferent attitudes before

Analysis

  • Anand contrasts the callousness of colonial bosses with the “innocent” and noble Indian worker, Sharma

  • His description of the “white” bosses is sardonic, and suggests that, even someone who is forgiving and good-natured can become cynical 

“There was no other explanation. His doom was sealed” — Narrator

Meaning and context

  • When Sharma goes home, he reflects on Mr Acton’s promise of a gold watch with an inscription, but decides that the gift means he is going to be fired

  • Having thought about it, he concludes this is the only possible “explanation” 

Analysis

  • Anand’s omniscient narrator presents Sharma’s disappointment in two short sentences

  • The sense of pathos created by his resignation to his fate, or his “sealed” “doom”, shows the injustice of the situation, and highlights his lack of autonomy 

“In Jullunder, where time just stood still and no one bothered about keeping appointments” — Narrator

Meaning and context

  • As Sharma contemplates his future (his retirement in “Jullunder”, a city in Punjab), he realises he will not need a watch

  • When he is retired in Punjab, away from the city and without work, he will not need to tell the time nor keep appointments

Analysis

  • The story ends with a metaphor, “time just stood still”, which alludes to the broken watch and Sharma’s retirement

  • The sad ending suggests an obscure and meaningless future for Sharma

  • The irony of the redundant retirement gift illustrates the lack of care and interest offered to the company’s employees

Sources

Wilmer, M (ed.), 2018, Stories of Ourselves: Cambridge Assessment International Education Anthology of Stories in English Volume 2, Cambridge University Press.

https://www.ijfmr.com/papers/2025/2/42144.pdf.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4934845.

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    Author
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    Sam Evans

    Author: Sam Evans

    Expertise: English Content Creator

    Sam is a graduate in English Language and Literature, specialising in journalism and the history and varieties of English. Before teaching, Sam had a career in tourism in South Africa and Europe. After training to become a teacher, Sam taught English Language and Literature and Communication and Culture in three outstanding secondary schools across England. Her teaching experience began in nursery schools, where she achieved a qualification in Early Years Foundation education. Sam went on to train in the SEN department of a secondary school, working closely with visually impaired students. From there, she went on to manage KS3 and GCSE English language and literature, as well as leading the Sixth Form curriculum. During this time, Sam trained as an examiner in AQA and iGCSE and has marked GCSE English examinations across a range of specifications. She went on to tutor Business English, English as a Second Language and international GCSE English to students around the world, as well as tutoring A level, GCSE and KS3 students for educational provisions in England. Sam freelances as a ghostwriter on novels, business articles and reports, academic resources and non-fiction books.

    Nick Redgrove

    Reviewer: Nick Redgrove

    Expertise: English Content Creator

    Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.