I want to know the characters in the short story "The Thief," written by Ruskin Bond.

In the
short story The Thief written by Indian writer Ruskin Bond the characters are the Thief and
Arun. The Thief is only fifteen years old upon his first meeting with Arun, who is about twenty
years old. They meet at a wrestling match and the Thief tries to gain the friendship of Arun so
as to eventually take advantage of him.

When Arun asks the Thief what his
name is, the Thief replies, lying, that his name is Deepak. The two proceed to watch the
wrestling match and Arun appears to have no further interest in the Thief. Arun leaves and the
Thief follows him and says he wants to work for Arun.

The Thief thinks he can
gain assets by locking onto Arun. Arun lets him know that he cannot afford to pay him. However,
the Thief feels it is worth it to pursue Arun if Arun can feed him. Arun indicates that he can
feed the Thief if the Thief can cook. He cannot. However, he lies again and says that he can
cook. Nevertheless, his cooking is horrible and Arun is ready to dispatch him to the
streets.

The Thief uses his boyish charm to prevent Arun from tossing him
out. They subsequently come to enjoy each others company and laugh and discuss things. Arun, in
a sense, takes the Thief under his wing. He teaches him to cook as well as write. This shows the
underlying compassion that is part of Aruns character.

The Thief enjoys being
part of Aruns life and cooking for him. The Thiefs shrewd character is shown in how he manages
to make a profit for himself in the shopping he does for Arun, as indicated in this
line:

I would tell Arun that rice was fifty-six paise a pound (it
generally was), but I would get it at fifty paise a pound.

Its
important to understand in this short story that deep in his heart, the Thief does want a
better, more truthful life. He says that once he learns to write properly it might be an
incentive to be honest. Therefore, there is somewhat of a moral compass
within him. He ends up stealing money from Arun, but in the end returns the money back to him.
The Thief is fond of Arun, and sympathetic towards him. The Thief wants to learn to be an
educated man and turn his life around. By the end of the story he is taking the first steps to
improve his lot in life.

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