Lakshmi smells her old clothes each day to help her remember her home, her family, the mountain, and the innocence that could be found there. What is happening to her is very hard, so this small thing to summon what used to be helps her to cope with everything she is going through. It is so ironic that she can picture her old home in this room that is the opposite of what she dreams of. Lakshmi has now been raped so many times that she knows exactly what you hear, the dreadful sounds that occur before the torture begins. Now that she recognizes these sounds, I think it must be much harder for her to accept. When you don't know what is going to happen to you, it is not as bad as knowing what is coming and anticipating it all the while. I don't think that it is fair that the girls are not allowed to have the men use protection! Mumtaz really doesn't care about them at all. Doesn't she know the dangers? I guess she assumes that if they get a disease she can throw them out on the streets and buy new girls. I just don't understand how someone can be so heartless and not feel anything towards the girls she has bought. She is using them to make her rich, and she doesn't care about anything else. The girls are told to wash after each customer. Lakshmi feels so guilty about what she has done. She scrubs herself so hard, but no matter what she does she cannot scrub the men from her conscious. I can imagine she would feel terrible, but I just want to tell her that it is not her fault. She can't help what is going on!
Lakshmi is having trouble remembering her home, and at the same time is having trouble forgetting what is happening. I loved the end of the chapter, "Trying to remember, I have learned, is like trying to clutch a handful of fog. Trying to forget, like trying to stop the monsoon". How true is it that you can never remember things that you really want to remember, but when you want a memory to leave it never does. Forgetting her home is going to be very hard for Lakshmi. That is the only reason she is here going through what she is going through. Lakshmi keeps count of how much she makes and how much she needs to pay off Mumtaz. Mumtaz claims that she paid 20,000 rupees for her, and send her off into the house with the rest of the girls. This is so unfair! Mumtaz is trying to make it impossible for Lakshmi to leave, and the truth is that Lakshmi cannot do anything about it. How can she prove that 10,000 rupees were paid? Lakshmi considers this worse than what the men do to her. Mumtaz is forcing her to staly longer, making it harder for her to leave. But most importantly, Mumtaz is trying to pull a fast one on the smartest girl in her school. Lakshmi knows that Mumtaz is lying, making it all the worse.
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2 comments:
What Lakshmi must go through daily is absolutely horrible. I feel so bad for her. Mumtaz does not care about anyone but herself. She is very greedy and selfish. I could not believe that she lied to Lakshmi about how much she paid for her. I wonder what she would do if she found out that Lakshmi can read, write, and do math? I also really liked that quote that she made. I think the most difficult part about her forgetting her home is that with the vanishing memories, her hope also begins to vanish. How can she expect to get home again if she can't even remember what her home is like?
Someone once told me that the way folks view life (in Asia) is that it is "cheap". Like you say, if Lakshmi gets a disease, all Mumtaz has to do is go out and buy a new girl. People are viewed not as people, but as objects. If Mumtaz has no use for her anymore, she can easily be replaced. What a horrible way to view another human being.
When she makes a ball out of her clothing to give to the little boy, she's giving up one of the last attachments to her village. How selfless and giving she still is. Sarah is right, in that she is losing part of her self identity and becoming lost to her true self.
Great comments again.
Mr. Farrell
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