Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Inheritance of Loss, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Colonialism and Globalization
Poverty vs. Privilege
Home and Belonging
Gender and Misogyny
Power and Humiliation
Summary
Analysis
Six months after Sai and the neighbors’ library trip, the Gymkhana Club is taken over by the GNLF. The dining room in the club is stockpiled with weapons. Later, when the insurgency is over and the men have signed a peace treaty, seven thousand men surrender more than five thousand guns—including the judge’s—in that very dining room.
This bit of foreshadowing highlights how even though Sai and the others are relatively uninvested in the political demands of the Nepalis, eventually the inequality that led to the insurgency will hurt them as well, as mention is made of the episode at the beginning of the novel in which the judge’s guns were stolen.
Themes
On the day of the library trip, Lola, Noni, Father Booty, Uncle Potty, and Sai try to find another restaurant to eat lunch. They go to Glenary’s, which serves Indian, Continental, and Chinese food, and where the staff address Father Booty as monsignor. The group chooses Chinese food, and they listen to the growing noise of parading boys outside.
In the absence of the elite club’s dining room, the group turns to a restaurant that serves different kinds of cuisines, but it is also evident that it is trying to be Western. Parallels can be seen with many of the restaurants in which Biju works in New York.
Themes
As they exit the restaurant, the procession is on its reverse trip. Sai is shocked when she spots Gyan in the procession. He sees her, and his expression warns her not to approach him. Noni asks if that was her math tutor. Sai tries to rescue her dignity and denies that it was him. On the way back, Sai feels sick, and vomits out the door of the car. They approach a roadblock, where checkpoint guards are inspecting vehicles. Everyone gets out to stretch their legs.
Gyan’s political awakening also spurs Sai’s self-awareness. Though Gyan had long been against colonialism and making subtle arguments for Nepali independence, her ignorance of the possibility of his involvement also speaks to her privilege in not needing to be aware of the concerns of the Nepalis.
Themes
Father Booty walks around and spots a butterfly. He grabs his camera and takes a picture of it. The guards run up to him and shout that photography is prohibited on the bridge. He apologizes, but the guards then begin to examine his cheeses and the group’s books. The guards confiscate the books and Father Booty’s camera, while Lola is outraged at their bullying.
Though the police had been bullying people in lower classes all along, Lola only becomes outraged when she is directly affected. It is interesting to note, though, that the Nepali uprising begins to promote a general atmosphere of lawlessness, and the untouchability that the wealthy once experienced starts to erode.
Themes
Get the entire The Inheritance of Loss LitChart as a printable PDF.
Sai arrives home and goes to bed without dinner, offending the cook, who thinks that she probably had a fancy dinner in a restaurant and now doesn’t want his food. He bangs the dishes around loudly, causing the judge to shout at him.
Poverty and privilege even slip into the allowance of emotions. Sai can go to bed upset with relatively little consequence; when the cook expresses his displeasure, he is reprimanded by the judge.
Themes
