the narrator’s pregnancy

Heat & Dust page 127-143

Describe the narrator’s feelings about being pregnant:

To say it in the narrator’s own words: “At first I didn’d believe her” ( page 127.l. 28 ). This is basically the way the narrator “feels” about her pregnancy, she seems not to really realize that she is pregnant. This can also be proved by looking at her behaviour during the whole conversation with Maji. The narrator is more interested in Maji’s life and her narratives than in the fact that she is pregnant. This conclusion can be drawn from line 30 on page 128 and from line 11 on page 129, where she herself says that she “forgot about her own case”.

In the end her reaction towards Maji’s offer of an abortion ( laughing and skipping in and out of puddles) however could be seen as an indication of anticipation of the baby and that she declines an abortion.

Attitude towards abortion in the Indian society:

The attitude is being reflected in one single sentence Maji says: “It is a necessary part of an Indian midwife’s qualification because in many cases int is the only way to save people from dishonour and suffering (page.129 ll.7-9). This sentence and the fact that Maji immediately offers the narrator and abortion shows that in India it seems to be quite normal and common.

It is also striking that saving people from dishonour is named before saving them from suffering, which would rather indicate a physical suffering. Dishonour seems to be an often used excuse or reason for an abortion and this information also adverts to the Indian culture, religion and caste system which divides the people into different classes of society. An example for an abortion because of saving the women from dishonour could maybe be that a woman is expecting a child from a man belonging to a lower caste.

by Paula

useful Heat & Dust vocab

page 1-20…

1.induce sb.- persuade sb.

2. shy away from sth – avoid sth. Because you are nervous or frightened of it

3. elope- run away with sb.

4. grope for sth- try and & sth. you cannot see, by feeling

5. steadfast- very loyal

6. bleak- cold & depressing

7. with all your might & main- with all your strength

8. toughened up- made tough & strong

9. contempt- Geringschätzung, Verachtung

10. demure- wohlerzogen

11. conceals sth. – hide sth.

12. packed to bursting point- very full

13. set sb’s teeth on edge- make sb feel physically uncomfortable

14. to be favourably disposed to(wards) sb.- jdm. wohlgesonnen sein

15. obeisance- gesture to show respect

16. impoverished- verarmt

17. interminable- lasting a long time & therefore boring

18. cluster- small group

19. encase sb./sth. – cover sb./sth. completely

20. esteemed – respect and admired

 

by Paula

A Passage to India Heat and Dust

©www.teachwithmovies.org

“A passage to India” is a novel/film, written by E. M. Forster and it depicts the racial tensions and problems between the Indians and the British colonists.

Like in “Heat and Dust” there are to different sorts of British colonists, the ones who totally consider the Indians as subordinate and only accept them as lower workers. As well there are British who are interested in the Indian culture and do not have such prejudices. In “Heat and Dust” during the colonial times, Olivia represents this character somehow, by her relationship to the Nawab and by having respect for the Indian culture and religions. In the film Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested (at least in the beginning) and Cyril Fielding represent this side being interest in Dr. Aziz and in liking him. On the other hand in the book “Heat and Dust” the rest of the colonial society rather belongs to the negative and devaluing side  ,which in the film is represented by nearly everyone of the colonial society belonging to “the club”, including Adela’s  fiancé.It has to be said that the Nawab is wealthy and rich whereas Dr.Aziz is rather poor.Of cause in both stories the British are the  rich and ruling part of the society and the Indians are the poorer and working part of the society.It is as well remarkable that always the British women seem to be more affected by the cultural clashes. Another parallel can be seen in the way that different characters in the book and in the film point out the fact that India somehow changes the people…

by Paula

 

letters

Heat and Dust: p.90-102

  

    © www.fendt.de                  © www.johnny-goertz.de

 Task: Compare and contrast Olivia’s and Chids’s letters.

 

	Olivia’s letters	Chid’s letters
content	- personal events (emotions) - a lot of facts - historical, political information	-mainly philosophy -some facts - a request
look	-clear and graceful handwriting -written on delicate lilac stationary with scent - ink is faint but look as if written yesterday	- very stained and crumpled - appear soaked in spices, urine and betel - written on impersonal post office forms
emotions	-very emotional (written fast) -intensely personal	-absolutely impersonal
meaning for narrator	- part of her past (historical documents) - reason for journey -important information about India -comparison to her life	-interesting documents -didn’t think Chid would remember her and look back -( important for Inder Lal) - letters addressed to her not to Marcia

 

 

by Paula

the shrine

Heat and Dust:p.61-76 15 April

Question: How does the visit to the shrine affect the narrator?

 © sacredsites.com

Quotations: page 67

ll.2-3 > “ I didn’t know what I was supposed to do but, in any case, just to have got there seemed to be enough.”

ll.12.. > I likes listening to them, just as I liked sitting here with my friends in the middle of this festive scene. I felt part of it all, absorbed as I had been absorbed by the war-shipping crowd packed into the shrine.”

l. 20..> “… perhabs I too had thoughts other than usual.”

 

Conclusion:

The narrator gets the feeling of belonging to India and to the Indian. As well the visit causes spiritual thoughts and happiness. She thinks it was really the right thing to do, which is a fairly special feeling.

by Paula

suttee

Heat and Dust :  p.65-61

task: Compare Beth Craford’s and Olivia’s reactions to suttee. Whose do you find most appealing and why?

 © wikipedia

Olivia’s reaction:

Olivia’s reaction is quite different to the reactions of the others. She thinks that suttee is part of the Indian religion and that one shouldn’t meddle with it. (page. 59 l.8 )

To underline this statement Olivia as well says “ it’s their culture and who are we to interfere with anyone’s culture” (l.11).

On the one hand Olivia doesn’t want to recommend widow-burning but on the other hand she is annoyed by everyone being so sure of their opinion and she thinks that it is a noble idea to die with one’s husband in the name of love. (compare p59 ll.24-28 )

On page 61 in line1 she even says that she could commit suicide in the name of love, indicating her love to Douglas.

 

Beth’s reaction:

Beth on the contrary  thinks that although some women might commit on their own free wills it will always be suicide, a particularly gruesome form of suicide.

Referring to the last lines of page 60 she says that suttee was too noble for her and that she couldn’t do it.

 

My opinion:

I agree with Olivia that one should in general respect and not interfere with another’s country culture and religion, but women being forced to commit suicide definitely goes too far, in my opinion.

Neither would I regard dying with one’s husband as noble because I doubt that the husband would recommend it. If he loves her, he wants her to stay alive.

Still, I think that it is great of Olivia to voice her concerns and to make the others think but somehow I get the feeling that she wants to provoke Douglas and to show him her love.

 

by Paula

Victorian Women

Besides a small minority the place of women in society, in the beginning of the 19th century, was at home. Altough their attidutes changed during the progression of the century, the main idea of women belonging to the hearth and to their needles whereas men doing the work and earning money remained.

To avoid difficulties in their lifes most of the women accepted this classification.

The desired qualities of a youg victorian woman were: being innocent, virtuous, biddable, dutiful and ignorant of intellectual opinion. 

In addition to that is was of good standing if the woman could as well, sing, play an instrument or speak some French or Ttalian.

 

The womens duty was to get married, to fullfill the metioned virtues, to give birth to many children, to parent them and as well to make sure that home was a place of comfort for the stressed, working men. They were ment to look good and to keep up a nice atmosphere in the household.In contrast to the men women were not allowed to have a lover and if they had or if they were divorced, they were cut by society and were not even allowed to see their children anymore. The women acted out the social representative part for their husbands and dressed up to show the wealth of their family.

 

From 1900 onwards, mainly caused by  new inventions like telephones, bicycles, railways etc., the women felt the atmopsphere of change and started to stand up for more practical dresses, the rigth to carry out paid jobs, better aducation and even for women votes.

 

Reference to the book:

Although Olivias life in India obviously was different to the life the Victorian women lived in Great Britain, she too fullfilled a lot of these expectations.

She was mainly there to represent  Douglas, who did the working and she accepted it. Her life was even more restrictive as she had no chance to go out on the streets on her own and there were only a few persons she coulds spend time with.Due to the fact that they had a lot of Indian servants and no children Olivia did not have to do the chores, which porbably lead to a lot of  boredom.

This boredom might as well have been one of the reasons why Olivia started to got to Khatm behind Douglas back and why she later on, as we know, will elope with the Nawab.

 

Sources: -the book: Heat and Dust

              – website: fashion-era

 

by: Paula

 

the beginning of a lovestory?

Olivia the Nawab

Right from the first time they met Olivia seems to be attracted to the Nawab.
The first encounter took place at the Nawab’s palace, wher he gave a dinner party. This party had a special meening for Olivia because it was her first chance to really escape boredom and lonelyness.(see page 19)
Her happiness in that moment is expressed in the sentence “She felt she had, at last in India, come to the right place” (p.19. l.29).
But Olivia did not only like the palace, but the Nawab gave her something she was missing, since she moved to India, he was admirering her and gave her the feeling to be very attractive.(compare p.21-22 ll.28-3)
The sentence “After this party, Olivia felt better about being alone in the house all day”, serves to illustrate the importance of that party, because it seems to have changed her whole life.
Page 22 contains some more references to Olivia starting to somehow fall in love with the Nawab. On the one hand Olivia starts to dress up each day only because she thinks that the Nawab will come sometime and on the other hand she starts to get really excited (plays the pinao faster l.19) when she finally hears his car approach.
After the Nawab’s visit, during which Olivia seems to have a great time, Olivia is extremly excited in the envenig whereas she usually is bored to tears.
This extrem change of mood is shown in the hyperbole “..for a moment he feared she had a fever” (page 23 l.23).
Her desire for seeing the Nawab again is perfectly illustrated in the way Olivia is disappointed when Douglus turns down the invitations of the Nawab and how hard she argues with him about it.
Before tha Nawab and Olivia have a picnic together Olivia goes to visit the Begum with Mrs. Crawford but she doesn’t pay a lot of attention to their conversations but instead aks several times whether they won’t see the Nawab anymore.
Is this the beginnig of a secret and forbidden lovestory? We will see…

by Paula