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Chapter 23
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Absurdity and Chaos
Nature vs. Modernity
Traditions, Customs, and Expectations
Exploitation of Spirituality
Summary
Analysis
Earlier that morning, a series of mishaps delays the monkey-catching group significantly. The DC and Mr. Gupta are forced to clear the DC’s driveway as the enraged cook unpacks all of his belongings from the house, intending to move out at once after his cooking was insulted. The Brigadier holds up the army men as he finally spots the green pigeon he’s been obsessively seeking for so long. After failing to catch the bird with the heavy monkey nets, he furiously orders the military procession forward. But their trip to the orchard is interrupted yet again by more suitcases and belongings strewn about in front of the CMO’s house. The CMO hastily explains that he's taking a vacation due to health problems.
Here, at the novel’s climax, the banal absurdity of modern life is out in full force as every possible thing seems to go wrong. If anything, Shahkot’s government officials are even less competent and organized than they were before this crucial morning. It’s also interesting that the elusive green pigeon helps to stall the military’s progress. During a mission attempting to tame nature and bring it under society’s control, the town’s military is ironically stopped in its tracks by one of nature’s smallest and simplest creatures.
Themes
When the CMO has finally moved his belongings out of the road, one of the CMO’s servants warns the already-furious Brigadier that he shouldn’t continue down this road anyway. This is because, further down the road, Verma’s wife has decided to leave him, and she currently has her packages and belongings out in the road in front of Verma’s house. Consumed by fury, the Brigadier orders his men to back up and take another, much longer route out of Shahkot. It’s during this time that the company halts behind the meandering Hungry Hop van, which delays them even further. Exhaust from the van puffs into the army men’s faces as the Hungry Hop boy endlessly deliberates between Pinky and his bride-to-be.
At this point, every minor setup in the past few chapters has a punchline—one after another. Even with Mr. Chawla’s sound plan to rid Shahkot of the monkeys, the town’s authorities find themselves hilariously incapable of even traveling down a street in the early morning. This series of absurd delays is the ultimate comedic payoff for all the tension that’s been building up to this moment. It seems that the harder the authorities try to escape from the chaos of life, the more chaotic and ridiculous it becomes.
Themes
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