Handful of Dates

The grandfather is the primary authority figure in the narrator's life and chief antagonist. As a boy, the narrator loves his grandfather and believes he is his grandfather's favorite grandchild. The grandfather is very tall and has a soft white beard. But the narrator's high opinion of the grandfather is shaken when he learns that the grandfather has been steadily buying up their neighbor's land, exploiting Masood's propensity to accrue debt. Drunk with the power he holds over Masood, the grandfather is indifferent to Masood's suffering during the humiliating spectacle of Masood's date harvest being divided among his creditors. Having witnessed his grandfather's predatory nature, the narrator no longer idolizes him.