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
Raka watches from behind the hydrangeas as an animated Ila Das bounces up and down, frantically explaining to Nanda Kaul how precarious her life has become since she had to start supporting her sister Rima, too. Then she laments how poorly her coddled upbringing prepared her to face life. Nanda Kaul knows she should offer Ila Das an invitation to stay, but she cannot bear to ruin her life at Carignano, so she bites her tongue to keep from making it.
It's clear that something—a sense of responsibility, an enduring affection, or both—drives Nanda Kaul to help Ila Das. But doing so will cost her dearly because it will bring noise and chaos into her carefully ordered world. Therefore, she betrays her friend to preserve her image of herself.
Themes
