Not going to lie - I was tempted to leave that as my entire post. But no. I'll be good.
Since rivers seem to be a common theme in books by Indian - or expatriated "Indian washed" people, like Hesse - I'm going to talk about the ferryboatman, Tai. (Isn't there a similar character in Siddhartha? I forget. I read that my senior year of high school, and my teacher referred to it as: "the book to write about when you have no idea what to write on your AP exam essay." His reasoning for this, I gathered, was the fact that Siddhartha is the Moby Dick of contemporary literature...its main theme is aslkdjgwieg???, also known as "whatever you want.")
Either way, Rushdie introduces the river as point where modern India and traditional customs clash. Tai, the riverboatman, was once friendly with the young Aadam Aziz. You might even say close, and in a taboo way, since on page 10, Aadam's mother tries to wash lower-caste Tai's "germs" off her son.
But when Aadam comes home from German medical school as Dr. Aziz, his strong friendship with Tai degrades into skepticism and distrust. This is primarily because the riverboatman deeply distrusts European influence, especially that of modern medicine. On p. 16, Rushdie writes:
"...Do you still pickle water-snakes in brandy to give you virility, Taiji? Do you still like to eat lotus-root without any spices?" Hesitant questions, brushed aside by the torrent of Tai's fury. Dr. Aziz begins to diagnose. To the ferryboatman, the bag represents Abroad; it is the Alien thing, the invader, progress."
Does this strike memories of water hyacinths? Interesting parallel to Naipaul.
Either way, Rushdie introduces the river as point where modern India and traditional customs clash. Tai, the riverboatman, was once friendly with the young Aadam Aziz. You might even say close, and in a taboo way, since on page 10, Aadam's mother tries to wash lower-caste Tai's "germs" off her son.
But when Aadam comes home from German medical school as Dr. Aziz, his strong friendship with Tai degrades into skepticism and distrust. This is primarily because the riverboatman deeply distrusts European influence, especially that of modern medicine. On p. 16, Rushdie writes:
"...Do you still pickle water-snakes in brandy to give you virility, Taiji? Do you still like to eat lotus-root without any spices?" Hesitant questions, brushed aside by the torrent of Tai's fury. Dr. Aziz begins to diagnose. To the ferryboatman, the bag represents Abroad; it is the Alien thing, the invader, progress."
Does this strike memories of water hyacinths? Interesting parallel to Naipaul.
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