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Part 1, Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Fire on the Mountain, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Nature of Freedom
Honesty and Self-Reflection
Trauma and Suffering
Class and Privilege
Female Oppression
Summary
Analysis
The mailman pauses under the shade of a chestnut tree to wait for Ram Lal, Nanda Kaul’s cook, on his way back from the market. He wants to finish the ascent with Ram Lal’s company. Although it would be easier, his sense of discipline prevents him from just asking the cook to take the letter up from the gate. Ram Lal grunts a wordless greeting at the mailman before they struggle up the path to Carignano. At the top of the hill, the mailman shuffles through his bag, then hands Nanda Kaul one envelope. She carries it—at arm’s length like it’s dangerous—to the verandah.
Carignano’s isolation and the difficulty of the climb actively frustrate visitors. It’s clear that Nanda Kaul has gone out of her way to erect barriers between herself and the people who dare to send her letters. But it’s also clear that she can only survive in this remote place because she can afford to pay a servant to attend to her errands and needs. This suggests that she needs others more that she can—or will—admit.
Themes
