For Wednesday: Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur, Chapters 6-8

NOTE: Since a lot of people clearly are behind in the reading, we'll double-back and discuss Chapter 6 again, and only add two more chapters to the reading. Again, if you can't get exactly to Chapter 8 it's no big deal, but get there as soon as you can! 

Answer two of the following:

Q1: Throughout the book, Ganesh claims that fate is working through him, and that like the Tao, he is simply following the 'flow' of its will. As he writes at the beginning of Chapter 7, "Everything happens for the best. If, for instance, my first volume had been a success, it is likely that I would have become a mere theologian...As it was, I found my true path" (101). Does this book have a spiritual element where hidden forces (like the Tao, karma) are working towards Ganesh's success and enlightenment? Or is this another instance of Naipaul's satire? How seriously should we take Ganesh, after all?

Q2: Why does 101 Questions and Answers on the Hindu Religion become "the first best seller in the history of Trinidad publishing"? What makes the public's indifference turn to eagerness and adulation? What might this say about the nature of "best sellers" in any country, at least according to Naipaul?

Q3: How does Ganesh cure the young boy, Hector, from his ailment? Is this scene an instance of high comedy in the novel, or is it supposed to be more profound and spiritual? Is this why people start thinking "that Ganesh was the only true mystic in the island” (128). Is he just better at fooling the locals than the competition? Or does this scene show us the master at work? 

Q4: Where else in these chapters does the author seem to be skirting the line between ridicule and satire? Remember satire uses humor to show us the problems with society, and to point out possible solutions. Ridicule, however, is simply used to mock people and ideas. Are there any passages that make you question his intentions, or that you find offensive? You might also consider the use of a certain work that is taboo in 21st century America, but he uses very casually in a few passages.