The book 'heat and Dust' by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is a book about two different generations of women, both who venture to India, and both encounter similar situations. .
The book deeply explores the themes of acceptance and choice. Both the main characters, Olivia and the narrator, shape their lives by making their own choices and these choices in turn are affected by acceptance. The acceptance that India has for them, the acceptance of breaking conservation, and the acceptance that people have for others. .
The choices that they make are also what make each person different. Both characters go through the same ordeals: moving to India, understanding India, falling in love, falling pregnant and remaining in India. However, it is their own choices that make them different. Like Olivia, the narrator falls pregnant, like Oliver she decided to abort it at first, but unlike Olivia, she didn't. "Heat and Dust" explores both character's choices and the results of their choices in similar situations. It also shows us how our choices and attitudes can change because of time. .
In the story, Olivia chose to go and live with the Nawab, perhaps because she was too ashamed to face Douglas and the others. I think that she regretted her decision, but because it was her choice and her fault, she decided to live with it. Whereas before she left with the Nawab she hated staying in a house all day. After she went and left with the Nawab, she seemed to voluntarily seclude herself in her house among the mountains. She didn't even write to her sister much. This is an example of her choice can always cause change, such as change in an individual like in Olivia. The narrator however, seemed to be changed in a more 'enlightening' way because of her choices. She didn't regret her choices at all.
The book also explores the theme of acceptance. There are many types of acceptance that the book explores.
