How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
Thus was He thrown year after year, and were others thrown – little images of Ganpati, baskets of ten-day corn, tiny tazias after Mohurram – scapegoats, husks, emblems of passage; a passage not easy, not now, not here, not to be apprehended except when it is unattainable: the God to be thrown was an emblem of that. (3.34.65)
In this Gokul Ashtami ritual, the villagers create a virtual "muddle" by hurling all manner of stuff into the river, symbolizing their oneness with all creation. The reference to "passage" suggests that the other characters also experience a "passage" in their own, sometimes unconscious ways. Occurring at this late point in the novel, the quote asks us to consider all of the different ways that Aziz, Adela, Fielding, and the others have altered over the course of the entire novel.