(This is a response to something I noticed after finishing the book the first time around [finally!])
"That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most." --Randall
"Boring," however, does not seem to be the apt word for what I am referring to. After reading the book for the first time, I had to express my initial disappointment in all the loose ends left untied with the more minor characters of the novel, especially after so much build up in them being a larger part of the major characters' lives. I found myself missing Suzy's Victoria BC friends Eve and Ashraf (not so much a friend, but in such short time he seems to make considerable impact and give sage advice regarding Suzy's predicament)-- after what seemed to be a good amount of buildup, and especially considering that Eva is supposed to be Suzy/Sujata's closest friend in BC. The last you even hear of Eva comes on page 272:
"Does Darjeeling have half as much to offer as Victoria? You fit in so well in here. Also, won't you have to spend most of you time managing the tea estate? Will it be worth it?"
Then you never hear of her. Ever. Again.
Compare that to when Eva is first introduced to the reader-- Kirchner launches into a lengthy in-depth look at the close bond that Suzy maintains with Eva and how they depend on each other to survive the trevails of being a foreigner. Eva is also a Chinese immigrant working as a seamstress, while Suzy specializes in the tea business:
"In the years that followed, they became allies, Suzy believed, in the Asian way,close and trusting, yet maintaining a personal reserve ... Both had been raised not to inflict their problems on others. Still, life in North America had drained their habitual reserve. They chatted more freely...at the first hint of distress, one would show up for the other."(137)
To be fair however, the bond could possibly be forged by a common thread of isolation of having to survive in a foreign place, meaning that once Sujata returns back where she belongs in Darjeeling, she has less of a need to to find security for a void that has already been filled. Not saying that she would completely desert the company of Eva, but by returning to Darjeeling to stay she has most likely move on into the next stage of her life and decided to let go of her life in exile in Canada.
Similarly, an even more minor character, Ashraf, only makes about two actual appearances in the book, but seems to get along well with Sujata and understand her troubles with romance and arranged marriage. Ashraf, a Moroccan, Sujata, and Indian, and Eva, a Chinese woman, all come from very different backgrounds, but are able to find common ground (in tea and food, which I'm going to save for later posts). Their unlikelihood of ending up together in the first place demostrates the power of the melting pot when it comes to the struggles of minorities-- almost as if they have banded together to make their own presence known-- or is that going too far?
