How we cite our quotes: (Abbreviated Title.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"What are we supposed to do with two basins in a two-bedroom flat?" Mrs. Dalal demanded. She had already been sulking over her lemon peels. "Who ever heard of it? I still cook on kerosene. You refuse to apply for a phone. And I have yet to see the fridge you promised when we married. You expect two basins to make up for all that?" (ARD 41)
Why does Mr. Dalal get two basins? Why doesn't he spend his money on something else that they actually need? Can you feel Mrs. Dalal's frustration?
Quote #5
He would go to the bathroom and brush his teeth with his index finger, something he told her all Indians knew how to do, to get rid of the smoke in his mouth. When she kissed him good-bye she smelled herself sometimes in his hair. But she knew that his excuse, that he'd spent the afternoon jogging, allowed him to take a shower when he got home, first thing. (S 55)
Oh the things a husband does to erase any signs of an affair…How thoughtful of him. (We're being sarcastic of course.)
Quote #6
Eliot looked through the tiny window in the camera and waited for Mr. and Mrs. Sen to move closer together, but they didn't. They didn't hold hands or put their arms around each other's waists. Both smiled with their mouths closed, squinting into the wind, Mrs. Sen's red sari leaping like flames under her coat. (MS 90)
We know it's easy to look at this image of Mr. and Mrs. Sen standing apart as a sign of their lack of intimacy, but think about how Mr. and Mrs. Sen show their closeness in other ways. They're not the perfect couple, but it doesn't mean they don't understand each other in the ways couples often do. And maybe it's cultural. Maybe PDAs aren't really an Indian thing.