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Part 2, Chapter 21
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
Raka considers the laden tea-table while Nanda Kaul paces the verandah, increasingly impatient over Ila Das’s tardiness. Then, they notice a commotion on the road below. A flock of schoolboys surround and mercilessly taunt Ila Das as she walks toward Carignano. She shrieks threats and brandishes her ratty umbrella in their direction, but they continue. They even wrench the umbrella from her hands and try to throw it into the ravine before Ram Lal shouts and sends them scurrying to their homes. With dignity belied by her greying petticoat and saggy stockings, Ila Das thanks him and ascends the path to Carignano.
Ila Das’s arrival comes with the kind of chaos and confusion Nanda Kaul feared from Raka—she can be seen coming from a great distance. And her vulnerability is palpable: if Nanda Kaul actually wants to take care of someone, Ila Das clearly needs help far more than Raka does. It’s also important that Ila Das must ascend the mountain to reach Carignano: this and her bedraggled stockings suggest that she has fallen into a lowly place in life.
Themes
