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Definition of Paradox
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason. Oscar Wilde's famous declaration that "Life is... read full definition
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason. Oscar... read full definition
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel... read full definition
Chapter 2: Pappachi’s Moth
Explanation and Analysis—An Unmixable Mix:
After describing Ammu's challenging and failed story of marriage, the narrator explains her wildness. Within her, two different, paradoxical Ammu's exist:
On days like this there was something restless and untamed about her. As though she had temporarily set aside the morality of motherhood and divorcée-hood. Even her walk changed from a safe mother-walk to another wilder sort of walk. […] What was it that gave Ammu this Unsafe Edge? This air of unpredictability? It was what she had battling inside her. An unmixable mix. The infinite tenderness of motherhood and the reckless rage of a suicide bomber. It was this that grew inside her, and eventually led her to love by night the man her children loved by day. To use by night the boat that her children used by day. The boat that Estha sat on, and Rahel found.
There is a complete duality in Ammu's character as a mother and a lover. Ammu is a mix of unpredictability and tenderness, and this "unmixable mix" is what makes Ammu’s life so difficult. She does not have the life she wanted nor can she get the life she wants. Having divorced her alcoholic, abusive husband Baba, Ammu is caged in by the strictness of the caste system and the needs of her family. The man she truly loves—Velutha—was murdered before her children's eyes. Her failure to find freedom and happiness results in an aimless life and lonely death. Ammu is caught between being a single mother and a young woman, in love and free. Her curse in life is that she cannot be either exclusively.
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