Fire on the Mountain Lesson Plan

Read the following passage out loud: "Perhaps she ought to have refused to have her. Perhaps she ought to leave the house to Tara who needed shelter, a cave to crawl into and die. Perhaps, perhaps... The alternatives were as many and as bothersome as flies. Nanda Kaul brushed them aside." (Chapter 21).

What do you notice about the rhythm of this paragraph? What about the tone? What does Desai's writing here reflect about Nanda's inner state and how she copes with unpleasant feelings?

Students may pay attention to use of repetition at the start of each sentence, and the sense of breathlessness it evokes. They might note how Nanda's tone gets quite harsh here,...