How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #10
Then comes an unearthly sound. It is a wild sound, an animal sound, a howling, mournful, raging cry, as the sickly woman on the floor claws at the skirts of the fat woman standing over her.
It is a sound beyond language. (131.BeyondWords.14-15)
Mumtaz has just offered to buy Jeena—a toddler—so she can profit off her work in the brothel in a few years. And Pushpa has this reaction. Is this suffering the worst that Mumtaz can inflict on Pushpa? Why or why not?
Quote #11
I believed that the stranger in the yellow cloud dress was taking me to the city to work as a maid. I believed that Uncle Husband would protect me from the bad city people. I believed that if I worked hard enough here at Happiness House, I could pay down my debt. And I believed it was all worth it for the sake of my family. (169.Believing.9)
For Lakshmi, betrayal is integrally tied to trust. She believed, and then the illusion was ripped from her eyes. Though there is plenty of physical suffering in this book, there is plenty of mental and emotional suffering too.
Quote #12
I learned ways to be with men. I learned how to forget what was happening to me even as it was happening.
But ever since the pink-skinned man came here, with his pictures of the clean place,
I cannot remember those ways. (173.ForgettingHowtoForget.1-2)
How has hope of escape caused Lakshmi to suffer more? Why does she forget how to forget, and how is this lack of compartmentalization a new hurt for her?