The Inheritance of Loss

The Inheritance of Loss

by

Kiran Desai

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Inheritance of Loss makes teaching easy.

Noni Character Analysis

One of the judge’s neighbors, Lola’s sister, and Sai’s first tutor when she arrives at Cho Oyu. She and Lola are upper-class Bengali women who have also assimilated many parts of British and Western cultures, such as celebrating Christmas, reading Jane Austen, and listening to the BBC. Noni becomes a mother figure for Sai in many ways. Noni has never been in love, and counsels Sai to take life’s chances as they come, and to avoid being stuck in an environment in which time does not seem to move forward.

Noni Quotes in The Inheritance of Loss

The The Inheritance of Loss quotes below are all either spoken by Noni or refer to Noni. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism and Globalization Theme Icon
).
Chapter 12 Quotes

It was important to draw the lines properly between classes or it harmed everyone on both sides of the great divide.

Related Characters: Sai, The Cook, Noni, Lola
Page Number: 75
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

Noni: “Very unskilled at drawing borders, those bloody Brits.”

Mrs. Sen, diving right into the conversation: “No practice, na, water all around them, ha ha.”

Related Characters: Sai, Noni, Lola, Mrs. Sen
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

There was no system to soothe the unfairness of things; justice was without scope […] For crimes that took place in the monstrous dealings between nations, for crimes that took place in those intimate spaces between two people without a witness, for these crimes the guilty would never pay. There was no religion and no government that would relieve the hell.

Related Characters: Sai, Noni, Lola
Page Number: 219
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

They rushed out: “This is our land!”

“It is not your land. It is free land,” they countered, putting down the sentence, flatly, rudely.

“It is our land.”

“It is unoccupied land.”

Related Characters: Noni (speaker), Lola (speaker)
Page Number: 264
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 38 Quotes

The wealth that seemed to protect them like a blanket was the very thing that left them exposed.

Related Characters: Noni, Lola
Page Number: 266
Explanation and Analysis:
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Noni Quotes in The Inheritance of Loss

The The Inheritance of Loss quotes below are all either spoken by Noni or refer to Noni. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism and Globalization Theme Icon
).
Chapter 12 Quotes

It was important to draw the lines properly between classes or it harmed everyone on both sides of the great divide.

Related Characters: Sai, The Cook, Noni, Lola
Page Number: 75
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

Noni: “Very unskilled at drawing borders, those bloody Brits.”

Mrs. Sen, diving right into the conversation: “No practice, na, water all around them, ha ha.”

Related Characters: Sai, Noni, Lola, Mrs. Sen
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

There was no system to soothe the unfairness of things; justice was without scope […] For crimes that took place in the monstrous dealings between nations, for crimes that took place in those intimate spaces between two people without a witness, for these crimes the guilty would never pay. There was no religion and no government that would relieve the hell.

Related Characters: Sai, Noni, Lola
Page Number: 219
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

They rushed out: “This is our land!”

“It is not your land. It is free land,” they countered, putting down the sentence, flatly, rudely.

“It is our land.”

“It is unoccupied land.”

Related Characters: Noni (speaker), Lola (speaker)
Page Number: 264
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 38 Quotes

The wealth that seemed to protect them like a blanket was the very thing that left them exposed.

Related Characters: Noni, Lola
Page Number: 266
Explanation and Analysis: