My Favorite Lines

“And so Hana mover and her face turns and in a regret she lowers her hair. Her shoulder touches the edge of a cupboard and a glass dislodges. Kirpal’s left hand swoops down and catches the dropped fork an inch from the floor and gently passes it into the fingers of his daughter, a wrinkle at the edge of his eyes behind his spectacles.” (302)

These are my favorite lines of the novel for two reasons. First because they brought the end to the seemingly never ending story that went in so many directions but yet stayed focused on one story. And second because they tie up the loose ends and answer the question that asks what happened to the characters in the end. Although I was sad to hear that Kip and Hana end up worlds apart, their actions reflect upon the time they shared together. Kip is unable to relax his fast reflexes from the days he disarmed bombs, “[swooping] down and [catching] the dropped fork an inch from the floor” so that it never touches the ground. During his past, if the fork had hit the floor and there had been a bomb there, everyone would have died. This action depicts Kip’s constant connection with his past and Hana’s continued ignorance. While Kip continues to remember his teaching, Hana is still clumsy bumping into the cupboard and such. These lines portray the continued connection between Hana and Kip and that there pasts live on together. It shows their differences in the future, and the paths they took to get where they are now. Although they did not end up together, they both knew it would not be possible. Kip always felt himself an outsider because of his nationality.