In “Only we children still chatted and laughed till gradually we too learned to be silent,” the narrative captures the emotional conflict within the family. Initially, the children’s “chatted and laughed” reveals their natural love for their father and resistance to societal rejection. The shift introduced by “till gradually” highlights the painful, unnatural process of cultural conformity, where even children are pressured to disown him. The use of “learned” underscores how this behavior was not instinctive but imposed, suggesting the unnaturalness of rejecting familial bonds.
