The tone of the last third of the book is desperate and hopeless. Lakshmi's little bubbles of hope are continuously popped by Mumtaz and Shilpa, leaving her feeling distraught. The author uses very intense images to show the pain Lakshmi is going through when she thinks the American man is not coming to save her. "I clench the sheets in my hands, for fear that I will pound them to death with my fists. I grit my teeth, for fear that I will bit through their skin to their very bones. I squeeze my eyes shut, for fear that I will see what is actually happening to me"(254). These images are striking and show exactly how Lakshmi feels- That she has been lied to yet again by the American, and nothing left to hope for, though she is desperate for something good. The very language used in the above sentences (clench, grit, squeeze) all practically scream desperation to the reader. The author also uses syntax to show this. Lakshmi narrates in very short, choppy sentences, like the voice of one who has given up. "How stupid I was to believe in him and his digital magic. How stupid I am to keep believing" (253). Although the majority of the final part book is hopeless, in the end, Lakshmi's desperation for freedom pulls through, and she escapes.
My favorite part of the book was when Lakshmi hears the grinding of the chili peppers and thinks she is going to be punished. In the "Happiness House", if you really anger Mumtaz, she puts a stick of hot chili's inside you (which is an AWFUL thing to do). Lakshmi hears the sound that means this punishment will be inflicted upon someone, and thinks it is her. I love this part of the book because the author made me believe it was Lakshmi too, and the words she used made me feel like I was guilty, also. I felt the same anticipation of pain that Lakshmi did. When we find out it was Kimari, I breathed the same sigh of relief that I am sure Lakshmi did. I really enjoyed being drawn that far into the story.
I can understand why you see the tone of the last third of the book as hopeless. I like how you say that her little bubbles of hope are popping, but the way I see it, is that she keeps getting those bubbles of hope. They may not be as strong or as clear as the ones before, but there is always some kind of hope in Lakshmi. When she talks about the hugging man, she thinks that he will come back. When he doesn't, she says, "I have decided to stop counting the days until he comes back." (pg. 179) This makes the reader think that she has lost hope in him ever coming back. Then, she writes, "It has been thirty days since the hugging man came. I have decided that he is not coming back." (pg. 185) This shows that when we think Lakshmi has lost hope in something, she still believes that there is a possibility, that it can turn out good. Therefore, I think that one of the tones used in this last third of the book, is Hope instead of Hopeless.
ReplyDeleteI find the opposite. I think that the last part of the book is hopeful because Lakshmi wants to do anything, including trusting a man she has never met and is supposed to be the enemy, to get out of the Happiness House. Also the fact that Lakshmi will do horrible things to get out I found it more hopeful than hopeless because Lakshmi becoming absolutely determined to get back to her family and she will do whatever it takes to see them again.
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ReplyDeleteI can definitely tell why you though the end of the book was hopeless, but I feel the opposite way. The fact that Lakshmi never fully gave up hope, even in times of great stress and hardship, shows how determined she was. Her feelings were anything but hopeless, as she eventually pulled through. It may have taken a lot of effort and perseverance, but for the entire book she had hope, and without this hope, she would have never made it out of the Happiness House alive
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