How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"I am not unaware," he said quietly. "But is it not sufficient that you have the strength and I have the trust?"
"It is indeed," I said with relief. "I wanted only that you should know."
We smiled at each other in perfect understanding. (19.17)
The love between Ruku and Selvam goes beyond that of mother and son. It’s not just obedience or familial obligation that bonds them, but a real understanding of each other. This sheds some light on Selvam as a son, especially as he’s different from his brothers. Ruku admits that she doesn’t know him completely (like Ira does), but at least he sticks around. By contrast, her other sons, (whom she didn’t know completely either) took this isolation from her as a good excuse to abandon the family. Selvam, though he has grown beyond the family, still stays with his parents out of love. The kind of understanding exhibited here is good proof that not just obligation, but real love, is what makes his relationship with Ruku work.
Quote #8
The woman is his, his wife, not only now for this surging experience, but tomorrow and next year. She will carry his seed and he will see her fruitful, watch while day by day his child grows within her. And so he is tender and careful, and comes to her clean that their fulfillment may be rich and blessed. (20.6)
Ruku worries that since Ira has no such love, her baby and her life are not going to be as blessed as what comes of a loving partnership. Ironically, she’s thinking of her relationship with Nathan, even though she knows that Nathan has fathered two of Kunthi’s children (which he obviously hasn’t raised with the attention he’s given his other children). Love is not a given for men, and even her own beloved man has fathered two children outside the bounds of love. Ruku doesn’t think of this as she worries over Ira, but it’s something to think about in the backdrop of these thoughts.
Quote #9
"Would you hold me when my time is come? I am at peace. Do not grieve." "If I grieve," I said "it is not for you, but for myself, beloved, for how shall I endure without you, who are my love and my life?" "You are not alone," he said "I live in my children." (29.9)
Ruku’s love for Nathan is overwhelming. After most of their family has left them, and they’ve been forced to abandon their home, it’s only reasonable that she should think of him as her only anchor in the world. Nathan’s words here are a bit suspect. Of their seven children, three have disappeared, two are dead, and one has ruined her life as a prostitute. Nathan’s comment should give us pause. We might wonder whether he only says it to comfort his wife (and doesn’t believe it), or whether his love for his children and his family (in spite of everything that’s happened) is still deep enough that he’s willing to feel good that they are all he has as a legacy.