Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Fire on the Mountain, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Nature of Freedom
Honesty and Self-Reflection
Trauma and Suffering
Class and Privilege
Female Oppression
Summary
Analysis
High up on the hill, Nanda Kaul bristles with anger as the insistent ringing of the phone breaks the newly restored silence of Carignano. She pointedly ignores it. Ram Lal answers, then quickly summons her to the phone. With irritation, she sweeps into the house and picks up the receiver. A police officer is on the other end of the line. He needs her to come and identify Ila Das’s body. Brusquely, he explains that some villagers just found her raped, mutilated corpse on the side of the road.
All this time, Nanda Kaul has believed that she could remove herself from the world of responsibilities, relationships, and suffering, and that by the force of her will, she could render herself unreachable and untouchable. She could ignore the calls of others if she only tried hard enough. The revelation of Ila Das’s death shatters that illusion.
Themes
Nanda Kaul drops the phone receiver. She does not want to believe what she hears. She wants it to be a lie, just like the stories she told Raka. Her father never traveled to Tibet or kept exotic animals. The Vice-Chancellor never loved her—he just tried to keep her quiet about his lifelong affair with Miss David. She never cherished or understood her children. And doesn’t want to live alone. Ila Das lied about her needs. Why can’t this horror be a lie too? Just then, Raka materializes from the darkness, summoning Nanda Kaul to witness the wildfire she’s started. But her Nani sits motionless next to the phone, her head hanging. In the ravine, the fire roars through the dry grass and trees, racing up the mountain.
Now, finally, Nanda Kaul admits outright that the stories she told Raka—and herself—were lies. Too late, she sees the harm in trying to avoid reality, no matter how painful reality is. Raka resurfaces at this moment, revealing that she’s set a wildfire in the ravine. This fire further threatens the life Nanda Kaul has so carefully created. The recent tragedy and the impending catastrophe both force Nanda Kaul to confront the truth and herself. Suffering is unavoidable, and her attempts to avoid it have only made things worse for herself and for others.
Themes
