How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Esthappen and Rahel both knew that there were several perpetrators (besides themselves) that day. But only one victim. And he had blood-red nails and a brown leaf on his back that made the monsoons come on time.
He left behind a Hole in the Universe through which darkness poured like liquid tar. Through which their mother followed without even turning to wave good-bye. She left them behind, spinning in the dark, with no moorings, in a place with no foundation. (9.37-38)
This moment combines the idea of mortality with a deep sense of loss and insecurity. It shows how Velutha's death is the first step in the process of Estha and Rahel losing all the people closest to them. After Velutha dies, the twins lose Ammu and each other. Everything that was once stable in their lives is now gone.
Quote #5
The lovers make a suicide pact, and are found the next morning, washed up on the beach with their arms around each other. So everybody dies. The fisherman, his wife, her lover, and a shark that has no part in the story, but dies anyway. The sea claims them all. (11.56)
This scene comes from the kathakali performance Rahel goes to see. Notice how it echoes images that are significant in Rahel's life – specifically, death by water. Everyone in the kathakali story dies because of the sea. And even though Sophie Mol's death is the only one in the novel that is directly caused by drowning, you could argue that the river is ultimately responsible for the deaths of Velutha and Ammu as well.
Quote #6
When Sophie Mol was old enough to go to school, Margaret Kochamma enrolled herself in a teacher training course, and then got a job as a junior schoolteacher in Clapham. She was in the staff room when she was told about Joe's accident. The news was delivered by a young policeman who wore a grave expression and carried his helmet in his hands. He had looked strangely comical, like a bad actor auditioning for a solemn part in a play. Margaret Kochamma remembered that her first instinct when she saw him had been to smile. (13.87)
We never actually meet Joe – we know him mainly as Margaret's second husband who died. Nevertheless, the scene of his death, shown here, helps makes his loss real to us.