Heat and Dust - acceptance and personal choice

The book deeply explores the themes of acceptance and choice. Both the main characters, Olivia and the narrator, shape their lives by making their own choices and these choices in turn are affected by acceptance. The acceptance that India has for them, the acceptance of breaking conservation, and the acceptance that people have for others.

The choices that they make are also what make each person different. Both characters go through the same ordeals: moving to India, understanding India, falling in love, falling pregnant and remaining in India. However, it is their own choices that make them different. Like Olivia, the narrator falls pregnant, like Oliver she decided to abort it at first, but unlike Olivia, she didn't. "Heat and Dust" explores both character's choices and the results of their choices in similar situations. It also shows us how our choices and attitudes can change because of time.

In the story, Olivia chose to go and live with the Nawab, perhaps because she was too ashamed to face

Another example of this is how the English banned the ancient practice of suttee. The Indians didn't complain, and though India has given up one of it's cultural practices, the people, the place, the food and all the things that the English can't change still form India.

The narrator, however, has a similar yet different way of looking at India. She likes India, and the culture. Unlike Olivia however, she does not think of India in a patronising attitude. This is shown when Inder Lal asks "why should people who have everything…come here to a place where there is nothing" and why didn’t the English laugh as they are so behind in sciences and all other aspects of "modern world". The narrator however, was completely against what he said. She argued that she did not think that India was 'behind' in anyway. She thought of India as an equal to England and that she was tired of the "materialism of the West" and had "come here (India) in the hope of finding a simpler and more natural way of life. Her way of thinking is probably due to the time that has passed between Olivia's time and hers.

Douglas and the others. I think that she regretted her decision, but because it was her choice and her fault, she decided to live with it. Whereas before she left with the Nawab she hated staying in a house all day. After she went and left with the Nawab, she seemed to voluntarily seclude herself in her house among the mountains. She didn't even write to her sister much. This is an example of her choice can always cause change, such as change in an individual like in Olivia. The narrator however, seemed to be changed in a more 'enlightening' way because of her choices. She didn't regret her choic

Some topics in this essay:
Heat Dust, Prawer Jhabvala, Olivia English, Inder Lal, West India, Olivia India, India Indians, India Olivia, English English, Crawfords Olivia, olivia narrator, english india, acceptance acceptance, main characters, india example, heat dust, patronising attitude, ruth prawer jhabvala, acceptance india, children chased, narrator olivia, prawer jhabvala book, characters olivia narrator, main characters olivia,