Rukmani gathers all the things she can think of to sell in order to keep the land. Once Ruku has decided what must be sold, she visits Biswas, the cruel moneylender, to sell her goods.
She haggles and bluffs with him, eventually battling him up to 75 rupees from his initial offer of Rukmani worries about how her family will eat. She pulls out her final reserve of rice, and counts it out into small portions that will feed everyone for 24 days. Kunthi shows up and has a squabble with Ruku again, this time demanding food. She has some misgivings, realizing that not even her genuine fidelity can protect her.
She has misled Nathan about some things, namely the treatment she received from Kenny, and wonders if her husband will incorrectly assume that she has lied about other things as well. She panics and flips out, and rushes in to accuse her children of stealing the rice. She quickly calms down when she and Nathan get the chance to discuss everything openly. Ruku and Nathan finally admit their deceptions to each other.
Rukmani coolly describes the starvation that grips her family. Rukmani is shocked to hear them explain what happened. She pleads with God, asking if this is why her son was brought into the world. She tends to his body, and notes that his spirit is gone. The work she does now is for this body, not for his soul. Three days later, Rukmani deals with two men visiting from the tannery who have arrived to explain the unfortunate death. Rukmani comforts the smaller of the two men who seems to be taking the visit rather hard.
With detachment, she assures him it does not matter, as not much really matters to her now. Thinking it is her neighbor, Kunthi, coming to steal the last of what they have, Ruku throws herself at the woman in the night. Her husband Nathan pulls her off of the woman. Ruku realizes with shock that the nightwalker was not Kunthi, but her own daughter, Ira.
Ruku can only imagine the many debasements Ira endures in the streets as a prostitute. Rukmani turns her attention to Kuti, her littlest baby and youngest son, who has been suffering immensely from starvation.
She is with him, trying to comfort him up until the very last moment when he dies. Ironically, Rukmani soon rejoices with her family as they put work into harvesting the seed that has finally blossomed, and capture ample fish from the fields.
They all excitedly make plans for the future. Rukmani hears from Biswas, the cruel moneylender, that Kenny has returned. Ruku visits Kenny. They have a pleasant meeting, although they talk about the dark times that have just passed. She is comforted by the possibility that the two men are right. Back at home, Rukmani listens as Selvam announces he will no longer work on the land.
Instead, has decided to take a job with Kenny at the new hospital under construction. Still, she is happy for Selvam, and knows that this is the best thing for him. Rukmani thinks about warning Selvam that some people will suggest that he got the job because of the rumored "special relationship" between her and Kenny.
She decides not to damper his spirits with such talk. Ruku visits Kenny and thanks him for the favor to Selvam. While talking to Kenny, she sees the plans for the new hospital and inquires about funding.
The two then have a discussion about the place of suffering in humanity. Rukmani prepares to help Ira give birth. As she makes all the logistical arrangements, she wonders over the many births that the house has seen.
Rukmani tries to make the best of a bad situation and points out to Nathan that their daughter is happy. She has a hard time adopting to the differences between this baby and other children. Rukmani finally accepts that bemoaning their fate and trying to lay blame is futile. At one point in the novel, Ruku reflects on the building of the hospital.
She informs us that at the time, no one knew it would take seven years to finish the building. We discover that Old Granny has died of starvation. Ruku is pained because she could have helped the woman. The entire village takes care of the funeral arrangements for Old Granny.
Rukmani tries to follow along with the fundraising and financial planning Kenny and Selvam do. She is still baffled, however, because she believes there is not enough money or compassion in the world to help all who are in need.
Rukmani watches as Sacrabani begins to ask his mother difficult questions; he wants to know what it means to be a bastard, and where his father is.
After Sacrabani leaves the Ruku tells Ira it might have been better to tell the child his father was dead. Ira leaves the hut, clearly distraught, but Rukmani chooses not to follow her. Instead, she listens to Ira weep once Nathan goes out to her. As the novel progresses, Rukmani tends to Nathan in his ailing health. One day, Rukmani talks with Kenny frankly about their situation, and notes that their sons have all made their own way. Rukmani comes home one day to find Nathan in a state of shock.
Hearing the news that their land is to be sold, Rukmani is shocked too. Surrounded by what she considers madness, Rukmani is unable to talk about the immense thing that has happened.
Rukmani has a few moments where she reflects on the tannery. She reasons that this business has brought nothing good. Still, she admits it once brought her family prosperity. She also recognizes that the land is also to blame for their ills, unreliable and unpredictable as it has always been. Later, Rukmani is mostly quiet, while she watches her son and husband discuss what there is to do.
Ira is now of marrying age and her parent make arrangements for her to be wed to a good family and things seem bright again for her family. Ironically, it is Rukmani who becomes pregnant once more. She gives birth to Kuti, their final son. Ira takes to caring for Kuti like a surrogate mother and in doing so she is able to find new direction and new meaning to her life.
This newfound joy is short-lived though as once more a famine strikes and they begin to starve. In their desperation they peddle most of their belongings to make payment for the occupancy of their farmland.
Soon they are totally destitute, relegated to scavenging for herbs and edible plants slowly starving to death. Kenny reappears after a long hiatus bringing funding to begin construction work on a village hospital. The villagers react poorly to this act of kindness and they speculate that this favor that Kenny shows Rukmani is due to an affair that they have.
This malicious rumor is circulated in the community out of envy and spite. Chief among the gossips is Kunthi, a woman who had turned to prostitution out of her poverty, and mother to two illegitimate sons by Nathan. Rukmani discovers the truth eventually and choses to forgive Nathan rather than hold a grudge. She has conceived a son working as a prostitute, an albino lad. Despite his condition though he boy is loved and accepted.
The greatest tragedy comes however when the struggling family is informed that they are being evicted from their home of 30 years. To add insult to injury they learn that the owners of the reviled tannery were the very same people who purchased their beloved farmland and ordered them to leave.
The family makes a defeated exodus to the city to see Murugan, another surviving son so that they can live with him. Ira and her son stay behind to live with Selvam, reasoning that they will be cared for better if they stayed with him. Nathan and Rukmani experience great difficulty locating Murugan in the city and as they search for him they get mugged in the process.
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She is a peasant farmer, wife, and mother living in rural India. At the age of twelve she marries a poor farmer, Nathan. She soon becomes a mother and faces the daunting task of providing for an increasing number of children, including Irawaddy , Arjun , Thambi , Murugan , Raja , Selvam , Kuti , and the adopted Puli. Her greatest delights are her children and her relationship with her kindly husband, for whom she feels unabashed sexual desire. This attitude helps her cope with the suffering she experiences, but it also prevents her from acting to improve her lot in life.
However, in her old age Rukmani emerges as contented and wise, grateful to repose among her remaining children and grandchildren after a turbulent life. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:. Chapter 1 Quotes. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Nathan. Related Themes: Women and Sexuality. Page Number and Citation : 4 Cite this Quote.
Explanation and Analysis:. Page Number and Citation : 8 Cite this Quote. Chapter 2 Quotes. Page Number and Citation : 13 Cite this Quote. Chapter 4 Quotes. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker. Related Symbols: The Tannery. Related Themes: Suffering. Page Number and Citation : 28 Cite this Quote. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Kali , Janaki.
Page Number and Citation : 29 Cite this Quote. Chapter 6 Quotes. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Irawaddy. Page Number and Citation : 36 Cite this Quote. Chapter 7 Quotes. Related Themes: Rural vs. Urban Poverty. Page Number and Citation : 39 Cite this Quote. Related Characters: Kenny speaker , Rukmani. Page Number and Citation : 43 Cite this Quote. Chapter 8 Quotes. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Janaki. Page Number and Citation : 47 Cite this Quote.
Chapter 11 Quotes. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Irawaddy , Kuti. Page Number and Citation : 61 Cite this Quote. Page Number and Citation : 62 Cite this Quote. Chapter 12 Quotes. Related Themes: Family.
Page Number and Citation : 64 Cite this Quote. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Arjun , Thambi. Page Number and Citation : 65 Cite this Quote.
Chapter 14 Quotes. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Nathan , Kunthi. Page Number and Citation : 85 Cite this Quote. Chapter 16 Quotes. Page Number and Citation : 99 Cite this Quote. Chapter 17 Quotes. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Kuti. Page Number and Citation : Cite this Quote. Chapter 18 Quotes. Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Kenny. Chapter 19 Quotes. Related Symbols: The Hospital. Chapter 23 Quotes. Chapter 29 Quotes.
Related Characters: Rukmani speaker , Nathan speaker. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Chapter 1. As an old woman, Rukmani often imagines that her deceased husband, Nathan, appears to her in her sleep, and they As the sun rises, Rukmani greets her children, especially Puli, whom she has adopted and brought home to her native She grows up watching the weddings of her three older When Rukmani hears her mother say things like this, she childishly insists that she will have a When Rukmani is twelve, her parents marry her to Nathan, a tenant farmer; everyone in the village Rukmani herself feels sick, and after During the drive, Rukmani falls asleep.
Nathan wakes her up excitedly when they reach his farm, which is comprised Rukmani does her laundry at a brook near her new cottage. After scrubbing the laundry in Kali begins gossiping to Rukmani , telling her how excited Nathan has been for her arrival.
She tells Rukmani that he In this period of her life, Rukmani is deeply content. The weather is good, allowing for easy farming and good harvests. Once a week, Rukmani goes into town to buy vegetables and other provisions. People in the village are generally Chapter 2. Soon, Rukmani is pregnant. Around this time, Kunthi goes into labor on a day when only Rukmani To protect her body during the pregnancy, Rukmani leaves more of the household chores to Nathan.
In her leisure time, she practices her Rukmani also tends to her small garden. Soon after, Rukmani goes into labor. Rukmani names her daughter Irawaddy, after a large river.
At first, Nathan pays the girl little While Nathan plows and Rukmani scatters the seed, the baby plays by herself or sleeps in a cloth hung from Chapter 3. Rukmani returns home to care After her mother has died, Rukmani thanks Kenny, saying that her home is open to him always.
Scrutinizing her, Kenny guesses Rukmani had hoped that Kenny would come to the celebration, but he never arrives.
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