79 pages • 2 hours read
Vikas SwarupQ & A
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
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Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
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BetaSymbols & Motifs
Food
Food is symbolic of social status, and a measure of Thomas’s life and of those around him. Thomas constantly mentions the food he eats or the hunger he feels.For those who in the novel who have money, the food is decadent and delicious, but for those living in poverty, the food is greasy and cold, if it’s there at all. While there are many examples of this dichotomy, the most obvious occurrence happens when Thomas is living in the slums or chawls versus when he is living with his employers. His employers, all wealthy, continually hold extravagant parties with exuberant amounts of food. Yet, when Thomas is living alone, he constantly complains of hunger, or, if he does find food, it’s often secondhand. While food is a source of luxury and comfort for the rich, for the poor, it’s a means of survival.
Films
Films play a large role for most of the characters in the novel. Whether it’s Salim and Thomas’s constant film watching, Salim’s desire to become an actor, or Neelima Kumari and Armaan Ali’s role in the novel, movies are symbolic of the tension between reality and fantasy that pervades Q & A. For those living in poverty, the fantasy of film represents a life of wealth, as witnessed during Thomas’s time watching movies in the juvenile home: “These films were about a fantasy world. A world in which kids have mothers and fathers, and birthdays. A world which they live in huge houses, drive in huge cars, and get huge presents. We saw this fantasy world, but we never got carried away by it” (75). (Salim, it would seem, has moments in the novel where he actually does get carried away it.) The films provide an escape from the violent monotony of poverty, but they also reinforce the division between the rich and the poor.
Conversely, films can depict a life of poverty, which is entertainment for the rich but a sad reminder for the poor. This is best evidenced after Thomas watches Neelima Kumari’s dramatic film, which portrays grief and poverty: “The film shows life too realistically. I think it is ridiculous to make such movies. What is the point of watching a film if you can see the real thing in your neighbor’s house just across the street?” (218).
Women
Each woman Thomas encounters is symbolic of the longing he carries for the mother he never knew. This is initially seen in the character of Gudiya. Thomas never saw his mother’s face, and likewise, he never sees Gudiya’s face, thereby allowing Thomas to not recognize Gudiya as Smita. This parallel between Thomas’s mother and Gudiya is furthered in Thomas’s dream in which he sees his mother, whose face is obscured by her hair, and Gudiya, whose face is hidden by bandages. This is the first and only dream we learn of Thomas having in which another woman appears beside his mother. Later, Neelima Kumari becomes a maternal figure for Thomas. Despite her narcissistic tendencies and secretive lifestyle, the fleeting moment of intimacy Thomas shares with Kumari makes him feel like he had “a real other, one whose face I could see, one whose flesh I could touch” (230).
