Key scenes of the movie “Gandhi” June 19, 2008

The scene on the train in South Africa, where Gandhi is thrown out.

The behaviour of the conductor clarifies to Gandhi the attitude of whites towards coloured people. For the first time he realizes the injustice of the British and their empire.

His arrival in India.

The crowd of people show, who much influence and support Gandhi has in India. Probably all of them have the same opinion as Gandhi and without their suoort, he wouldn’t have reached his aims.

The salt march.

The conversation between Nehru, Jinnah and Gandhi, when they talk about Indias future.

The fast during the riots.

Gandhis behaviour in this scene proves the absolutness of his attitude. He made no compromises.

The assassination scene at the end of the film.

Whereas the narrator decides to get the baby, Olivia opts for an abortion. What could have been the author’s reason to end the plots in such different ways? How do you feel about the way both women deal with their pregnancy? June 1, 2008

I think with the different ends of the two plotlines, the author wanted to show the differences between Olivia and the narrator. Both have different characters and their situations are different as well. Olivia has a weak character and she is dependant of a man, who cares for her. I already showed in the letter from Olivia to Marcia, that Olivia probably has no other choice than an abortion. The narrator is the contrary of Olivia. She is a strong person and independent. She is able to care for her baby on her own, as she can  work and earn money.

I can understand both of them, Olivia and the narrator. Olivia has to do the abortion, because she has no other choice. Her behavior is irresponsible, she should have thought about a pregnancy before she had sex with the Nawab. I don’t feel sorry for her. However, she got pregnant and I understand that she couldn’t keep her baby. And she has surely bad conscience because of her abortion, this is punishment enough. The narrator is able to care for her baby. She can leave Satipur and live somewhere else, without Inder Lal, so he isn’t burdened. At first, the narrator wants to abort her baby. I guess that she didn’t really thought about it. But while Maji is doing the abortion, the narrator feels that this is wrong.