Some quick notes and observations in regards to the narration

(I inwardly made a promise to my Humanities teacher that I would write WAYYYY less on my assignments...obviously, I haven't been to true to that promise, especially judging by the first 5-6 posts of the blog. So starting from this post, I'm coming clean and trying not to go all overkill... because that just makes it hard on me too, and can be a pain to read)

1. There are three narrators, though the story is mainly told through third person, so it's better to say that there are three perspectives represented in full, inside and out: Sisters Aloka and Sujata, and their grandmother Nina. The book will sporadically alternate between the three characters,though there is still an order to it or at least something to tie it all together.

2. The appearances, as goes:
Aloka: chapters 1-4, 7, 10, 12-15, 18, 20, 25, 28, 31, 34, 38, 43, 45-46, 49

Sujata: chapters 5-6, 16, 21-22, 26-27, 29, 32, 35-37, 42, 44, 47-48

Nina: 8-9, 11, 17, 19, 23-24, 30, 33, 39-41

3. Not only does Aloka begin and end the story, she seems to be the most dispersed chapter wise throughout the book, as if she is the one who ultimately ties the story together-- a different point of view for me, for I would otherwise expect that Sujata would be the one to do so. Interestingly enough, Aloka is also the writer of the family, so it almost implies that she, as a writer, has woven this tale into her own story. And not to mention Kirchner is a writer herself, or she wouldn't have written this book.

4. In fact, there seems to be some very odd tier going on with the structure of the novel-- Aloka takes the ends of it (the start and finish of the novel), her chapters seemingly lined by Sujata's chapters, then Nina's chapters and otherwise mixed in with Aloka and Sujata in the "middle"-- I wonder if this was intentional...

5. Regarding the trustworthiness of each viewpoint, all sides are indefinitely biased, but because the story is being looked at by three different characters whose lives and familial roots are deeply entwined with each other, it balances out-- I thin Kirchner was trying to avoid making any of the main characters, well, antagonistic, if not misguided or affected differently by Pranab's romances. So as such, the reader won't agree with Aloka when she angrily and mentlly calls her sister "bhoot" as they have seen that Aloka may be paranoid about Sujata reuniting with Pranab, but they can all easily sympathize with her frustrations.

6. Most notably, all the narrators are women. However, this seems to lead to almost what I view as a vilification of some of the male characters, such Mreenal and Pranab, as they are gradually portrayed as more and more weaker/judgemental (though Pranab "redeems" himself) while the women narrators view each other as influential or stronger than ever.