Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Unaccustomed Earth 4
Sudha's story ended badly. Rahul wrote her a letter telling Sudha he was clean and that he wanted to come visit her and her husband and her new baby Neel in London. She agreed, and he came. He seemed different; very sober, and considerate like he used to be. Her trust for him was on very thin ice, but one night he told her that her and Roger needed a night to themselves, and that he would babysit. Sudha and Roger came home to Neel alone in the bathtub where he could have drowned, and then walked into the study with Rahul passed out and a glass of alcohol beside him. The next morning, Sudha told Rahul he had to go. She started to cry, and after he left, "..thinking of the husband who no longer trusted her, of the son whose cry now interrupted her, of the fledgling family that had cracked open that morning, as typical and as terrifying as any other" (173). Next comes the story of the beautiful Sang, who lives with two other roomates in an apartment. Everyday suitors call asking for her hand in marriage but she politely refuses them. Her roomate Paul says, "You're like Penelope" (176). !From the Odyssey!; since Sang always turns the large amount of suitors down. Sang has a boyfriend who is not really social with her roomates, he just comes and goes when he pleases. One night when Sang is out, a woman calls the apartment crying. She says that she is having a relationship with Sang's boyfriend Farouk. Sang does not believe Paul at first, but then Paul gets the woman back on the phone so Sang can hear what she said. Sang goes to Farouks place, makes a scene, breaks up with him, and then fleds to another country. A lot of these stories are upsetting, and I hope that one will come and be SOMEWHAT happy.
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6 comments:
It is always hard for parents to leave their child alone with someone they don't completely trust. Sudha and her husband went out on a limb, trusting Rahul with the welfare of their child. However, Rahul betrayed thier trust and in doing to put their child in horrible danger. It is so sad to see when an addiction get so bad that it puts the life of an innocent baby in jeopardy.
Oh dear. That is a depressing book. What is it trying to say? That we shouldn't trust people because they might betray us? It happens, but that's no reason not to trust. I wouldn't be surprised if this author has a somewhat dark past. Nevertheless, this book made top 100, so... okay, I'm thinking maybe Sudha's story is that you should value what you have, and try to protect it. Instead of trusting her family in another's unstable and untested hands, she should have taken Rahul's past into consideration. Still, this seems like the book you kind of have to search for uplifting messages. Froehlich must like it!
Well, this certainly is a depressing book! It seems that lately books have been really focusing on the common problems that aren't focused on enough today. For example, Rahul, a man addicted to alcohol. His addiction leads him to put someone else's baby in jeopardy of their life! I like that his addiction seems to be a very talked about problem in this book.
Both of these stories are very sad and seem to, as other comments say,carry sad messages, like not trusting others. However, I think you could look at these in another light. For Sudha, maybe instead of refusing to trust all together, the message could be to be careful wtih your trust because it is a delicate thing. For Sang it could also be to be careful with your trust. She trusts her boyfriend, and then learns he is cheating on her. Maybe instead of the author trying to get us to be afraid, he/she is trying to be helpful. I also wonder why the woman called Sang to tell her that she is having a relationship with Sang's boyfriend. Maybe the woman knew that the man she was with was cheating on his girlfriend. This woman can also send the message of telling the truth. I think that even though the most obvious messages are fairly depressing, if you look deep the messages are also supposed to be helpful.
I agree with you all. Expecailly Hannah! The point you made about trust being presious was a very good one and I compleatly agree. I think that through the illistation of addiction, and the misdirection of trust in this book, the author is also trying to tell us that life is full of obastacles and you have to be careful with your trust because its a very valuable thing.
This story seems to put a dark perspective on trust. Trusting anybody with anything is hard enough, let alone a newborn. Addictions and betrayal are a common topic in the blogs people have posted, and Unaccustomed Earth is the most depressing of them yet. I agree with everyone that addiction can lead to brutality, whether it's in a bad intention or not. Trust is a fragile thing, and when to have it and when to not is a fine line that one must be extremely careful of!
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