1970´s
Explain what taboo the narrator broke in the hospital.
In the hospital, there´s a poor man lying next to Chid. He has a broken leg and broken ribs what makes it unable for him to move. Sometimes hospital sweepers come and push a bedpan under him, but as he can not pay them, they often leave him for several hours not removing the bedpan. Of course this is very disgusting and uncomfortable not only for the man himself but also for those around him.
One day the narrator, who comes to the hospital and visits Chid every day, removes the bedpan under the old man, because she recognizes how much he suffers and commiserates with him. However, by doing so she brakes a big taboo. She describes the reactions like that: „Everyone looked at me as if I had committed some terrible act of pollution, and the fruit man himself alos shrnak from me…“ (p. 145, ll 20/21). This points again at the big fear of pollution and illness of the Indians. As it is already shown in the story of the old beggar woman, the Indians are very much afraid of touching an ill person, because the want to save themselves from the disease. This also explains, why no one helps the poor man and everyone is so much shocked as the narrator helps him. Another reason, why it´s a taboo to help ill people like the poo man maybe is the cast system and the Hindu religion. The Indians think that the ill people deserve their sufferings because of what they did in an earlier life and so they do not have compassion. They do not help because they think that the ill person doesn´t deserve help. Consequently the narrator´s behaviour contradicts the Indian opinion and religion. That´s why she brakes a taboo.
However, I don´t think that the narrator wanted to offend the Indian culture, but just had compassion as she is a very helpful person. One really can´t accuse her of her behaviour.
