On page 103 the old beggar woman is mentioned for the first time. The narrator sometimes sees her in the Civil Lines area, by the royal tombs or in the bazaar, where she doesn’t ask for alms, but streches her hands out if she is hungry.

On day the narrator finds the beggar woman lying on a refuse dump looking like she was dead.  She can’t believe that it was no one’s business to take her away from that spot, but neither does she bother to see what the condition of the old woman is like. “Later I wondered what had happended to me – that I had not even bothered to go close to see whether she was dead or alive” (p.104, ll.6/7)

In my opinion this is the first change in the narrator’s behaviour because in the beginning of her trip she was always the helpful and caring person, who was constantly concerned about other people like Inder Lal’s wife for example.

After finding the old beggar woman lying at the refuse dump, the narrator talks to Inder Lal about the incident and both go to the alley for a second time. This behaviour shows that the narrator tries to make up for the first time when she didn’t bother to look after the beggar woman. Consequently, in this paragraph there are still traits of the “old narrator” remained.

When Inder Lal warns her not to get close to the old beggar woman, she first can’t understand his behaviour, but afterwards admits that she “for the first time understood the Hindu fear of pollution.” In other words the narrator understands how easily one can get infected in India.

Another change of the narrator is to be found on page 106, where the narrator goes to hospital and asks an Indian doctor to help the beggar woman. She founds out that the only one who really cares for the beggar woman was she. “What I understood best was that the problem of the beggar woman if I wished to undertake it, was now mine. Everyone else had too many problems of their own” (p.106, ll.19-21) And there was another thing she realises – “the old woman was dispensable” (ll.30/31). The narrator admits that she is even surprised with herself while realising that she is changing and becoming like all the other Indians.

All in all, the story of the beggar woman truly shows that the narrator changes during her stay in India and starts to think and behave more and more like the Indians. Though she still tries to help the old beggar woman, she realises after a while that there is no sense in helping her because none of the Indians – except Maji – seems to care for the old woman. The story has shown how different the Indian’s view on poor old people is compared with the European one. Whereas in Europe we try to save everyone’s life, old people in India are dispensable – not worth taking care of any more.

Examine the changes in Olivia’s perception of Douglas.

The change of Olivia’s attitude towards Douglas is shown very clearly on page 110, when Douglas tells Olivia she should have gone to Simla.

Instead of reacting like the understanding wife as usual, Olivia gets really offensive and truly shows her dislike of the English people and their dinner parties. “…one more of those and I’ll lie down and die.” (p.110, ll18-29) She calms herself after that outburst and tries to start another topic, but one can already figure out that the relationship between Douglas and Olivia gets worse. Of course, the two can overact their feelings, but the change especially in Olivia’s perception of Douglas is obvious.

On page 111 Olivia doesn’t look in the direction into which Douglas left for work, but towards Khatm, where the Nawab lives. This behaviour again shows that Olivia starts to get more attracted by the Nawab and diverges from Douglas. The words “But it was true what she had told Douglas: she felt fine – entirely untroubled by the heat or the murky atmosphere. It as if there were a little spring welling up inside her that kept her fresh and gay (in my opinion foreshadowing)” refer to the Nawab and show Olivia’s affection to him.

Analyse what sort of treatment is prescribed for Inder Lal’s wife, and why.

On page 52 we have already found out that Inder Lal’s wife Ritu is not well- physically as well as mentally. That night everyone slept outside the narrator first heard Ritu screaming (“a high-pitched wail piercing through the night.” – p.53, ll. 23, 24)

During the plot Ritu’s condition has become worse and on page 79 the narrator and Chid talk about different methods of treatment. Whereas the narrator has the opinion Ritu needed psychiatric treatment, Chid has a different view on that – to him Ritu might be possessed by an evil spirit which has to be driven out with a red-hot iron.

The views of both show the different adaption to the Indian culture. The narrator still believes in Western methods of healing, Chid however is convinced that Ritu’s malaise can only be treated with an Indian method.

On page 80 the narrator talks to Inder Lal about Ritu’s condition and it is shown that Inder Lal has the same opinion as Chid, he does not belive in psychiatric treatment. “They had tried everything else but had not succeeded in relieving Ritu’s suffering (ll. 5, 6) That again points out that Ritu cannot be healed with Western methods.

Maji advises pilgrimage for Ritu, because in her opinion it is the best way to bring one’s heart at ease. To her part the journey is like “climbing up into heaven” and will bring Ritu back to health.