Trace the gradual changes in the character of the narrator in Ruskin Bond's The Thief.

Okay, I'm going to try and summarize this for you in the easiest way possible..... this is quite a question to pose for this forum-

Forst, we have the author. Ruskin's intent in this novel is to highlight the significance of trust in human relationships. Our story's narrator is a thief. He is manipulative and deceitful. When he introduces himself to Arun, he says his name is Deepak (the first lie), and then he asks for a job. Arun gives him a job as a cook (our narrator can't cook), but tells him that he hasn't any money to pay him so he'll give room and board in exchange for his services. This of course is acceptable because Deepak doesn't want a job........ he wants to rob him.

When Arun find out that he's a terrible cook, Deepak talks him into keeping him anyway. Arun then teaches him not only how to cook, but how to read, write, and count money as well. Deepak watches Arun hide money under the matress, and Arun even goes so far as to give him a key.

Suddenly, Deepak undergoes a change..... he can't make up his min whether he still wants to rob Arun. One of his given reasons, "He was the most trusting person I'd ever met." But on the other hand, Deepak also thought up all of the reason he should rob Arun;

-he's out of practice (thieving)

-if he doesn't take the money, Arun will just spend it on someone else

-he deserves it because he doesn't gat paid (he forgets the food and lodging)

Well, after looking at the pros and cons; Deepak chooses to steal some of the money that Arun has hidden away and catch a train to get out of town--- he actually pulls it off, but just when he was supposed to get on the train, he lets it leave without him and while trying to figure out what to do next starts thinking again;

-he misses Arun

-he misses conversation

-he wants to learn to write in whole sentences

Suddenly, the friendship becomes more important than the money; Arun's trust is more important than anything he can steal; learning a new craft is more important than practing the old (thieving.

He goes back to Arun's, replaces the money, and then admits to him what he has done. Then he realizes that Arun has known all along, that the money he replaced was wet from the rain the night before. Arun doesn't question him, but he lets him know he knows.

In the end, the trust of Arun changes the narrator's life. Something as simple as trust can change the world.