- parents choose patners
- bride and groom are forced to marry
- early decision, early wedding (e.g. Gandhi with 13)
- bride has to move in with her husband(‘s family)
ð suffering, mother-in-law rules
- often to be found in societies without equal rights for the sexes
- factors in the decision: – colour of the skin
- age
- appearance
- no meetings before the wedding
- financial situation
- family’s reputation, cast and social status
- often unhappiness follows
- there is a dowry involved
Traditional India:
- Ritu’s treatment
- Rule of mother
- Arranged marriage
- Interested in Hindu religion (believes in reincarnation)
Progress/Western influence:
- strong interest in science
- Rejection of hijras
- Superstitious
Major Minnies
- prevent disorder in Satipur on HWD -> duty: keep order
-> worried/ fear: afraid of losing control
Nawab (Muslim)
- tolerates the Muslim-Hindu riots in Khatm on HWD -> ruler without power
-> shows the British their limits
-> refuses to follow advises
-> has religious motivation
-> takes offence at Hindu worshippers taking over
his ancestor’s shrine
Narrator
- critical of festival
- does not take it serious
- does not see the sense
- it is not what she expected
- feels part of it; feels absorved
critisises:
- overcrowded
- noisy
- fair/pleasant cutring
- not religious anymore /lacks devoutness
- is accepted to be a art of the town => is different
- is not affected by the weather => ignorance
- meditates for hours => deep faith
- is chanting all the time => does not show consideration for the narrator and also Ritu
- does not wash himself => makes his own rituals
- does not take warnings serious => ignorance
- through things from the narrator without permission away => ignorance
- takes everything for granted e.g. the narrator’s room, her food, her money => no consideration or thankfulness
- is consistent concerning possession
pp. 49-61
- sattee (shrines) -> reminds at Romeo and Juliet
- the narrator, Inder Lal and his mother
- the Nawab and Douglas
- Inder Lal and his wife
=> arranged marriages
Analyse the different images of the Nawab by Olivia.
Support your results with quotations from the text (pp. 29-49) and present them on transparency.
p. 44, ll.18-19 => she is subordinated, she has to adapt to his mood
p. 44, ll. 27-32 => he is not considerate towards Olivia, she suffers, but he does not show sympathy
p. 45, ll. 13-18 => he has mood swings
p. 48, ll. 11-12 => he is selfish, seem unapproachable, egoistic, but at the same time charming
p. 45, l. 29 – p. 46, l. 2: => ironic comments on Douglas, thus others has to accept his opinion, also if it is hurtful
Read pages 24-28 verify or falsify the following statements by analysing the narrator’s behaviour. Quote from the text.
p. 25, l. 3: “odd trio” => sceptical
p. 25, l.18: is interested in their stories, but not pleased
p. 25, ll. 14-18: The English girl complains about the dirt in India and then the narraor
asks the trio why they came to India => Ironic
p. 25, l. 21: They have made so many bad experiences => Makes fun of them, why
they are still in India
p. 25, l. 18: If the narrator would not be interested, she would not write it in her diary
and would not ask the people why they are here, but these aspects have only a
meaning, because she is interested in their stories, but not in their personalities.
She makes fun of the English couple (look 2.) -> are overtaxed with life in India ->
are not able to survive much longer
p. 25, ll. 15-17: critical about the wave of Europeans who came to India to find
spirituallity, but get only disillusionment; force them back to England, because they
are not happy
On the one hand, they are different, because Olivia is a bit like the unprepared English
couple, who complains about their unhappiness. On the other hand, the narrator and
Olivia react at the graveyard both touchy as they see the Saunder’s baby grave (p. 28,
ll. 10-17).
pp. 24-28
- Bad experiences
- Huge disappointment in India
- Positive and negative aspects of India
ð The narrator just reflects the experiences of the others, but does not give her own opinion. Thus the reader has to form his own opinion.
Well, I will start with a little description of myself: my name is Steven Seeley, I am 25 years old.
For 10 years I live now in India, but my native country is England. I came to India in 1881 with my father. He was an important colonialist and he promises me that I will have a big future in India, so I followed him.
We lived in luxury. We had a big house with some servants and I also get in contact with some other politicians. But this luck should not long exist.
During his many journeys, my father was at home seldom and he began a relationship with his Indian secretary. Later he left my mom, my brother and me. At this point of time I was 17.
First, I did not want to go back to England, but now I regret my decision. I was depending to my father’s money and so I had to earn my own from one day to the other. I had no idea what to do, because I could not speak their language.
I started to create a street-show, but most of the Indian were too poor to give me more than a few Cent. I had to live from a half of bread for one day. At special days I granted myself some fruits.
On one day, a silly monkey stole my apples. And he returned every night. I could not do anything, so I had no other way as to accept it and we became friends.
By the time I taught him not to steal my food but from others. Later I also could include him into my street-show. The people were fascinated, but just for a short time.
During the first months I tried to make an application at English companies, but no one wanted to see me again. I think it was a result of my appearance: My clothes became tatters and my hair was all tangled and matted. If I am honest, I would not give someone a job who looks like that.
By now the first thing I will do if I will have enough money is to return to England. The problem is just, that the little money I panhandled, I need to buy food, mostly it lasts not even for that. Therefore I had no Cent to save.
I started to teach my monkey to steal some precious things, like embellishments or money. However till he will know what to do, a lot of time will go through and one important question came to my mind: How can I teach a monkey something, I can not show him?
Furthermore I tried to send a letter to my family and wanted to ask for help. Can you imagine how expensive a pen, a sheet of paper or even a postcard and a stamp from India to England are?
It is impossible for me to come out of here!
While I am here in India, I learned that you will fail if you have no one, not even an animal, who keeps you from going mad and if you have no money. Most of the Indian population are in this the same situation, but a big part of them are quite alone. I pity these people.
 | elenadust zu Gandhi |
 | munchy zu Family tree of the narrat… |
 | kaidust zu Family tree of the narrat… |
| elenadust zu Notes to the other quotat… |
