Mala, Poh Poh, and Queer Time

(Note: at the time I’m writing this, I’m only partway through the reading, at about page 180. I’m interested to see if this interpretation changes by the end of the reading.)

Sorry I’ve been posting so much about queer time (I know, sooo February) but I’m still fascinated by the idea. For most of the end of Chapter/Book II, starting around page 139 and ending on 188, the narrative is split into three, between Otho’s delivery, Mala on the same day in her yard, and a story of Pohpoh sneaking into someone’s house in the dead of night. However, the bug markers which often show a change in either narrative or time frame only appeared when switching to or from an Otho section, but not going between Mala and Pohpoh, despite these obviously being from separate times periods, as they are the same person and could not normally exist within the same section. As Otho comes closer into the yard, we realize that Mala is replaying the Pohpoh scenes in her head, allowing them to coexist in the same story. We also learn that Mala is trying desperately to protect Pohpoh, and wishes that she had been her mother, her older sister, or even just a friend. As she drifts between her visions and reality when Otho approaches and later when the police search her yard, her story and Pohpoh’s become even more intermingled, with the memory of Pohpoh finding refuge in Mala’s garden, which of course could not be a true memory.

One would think that someone who has gone through the trauma that Mala has would not wish to sit and intently remember her childhood. However, Mala is able to reimagine her past in a way that incorporates her older self, who is able to protect and care for Pohpoh when no one else would or could. In her subconscious, she is able to double herself to not only protect herself in her past, but also to keep her company as she spends her days alone and haunted in her garden.

2 thoughts on “Mala, Poh Poh, and Queer Time”

  1. All about that Queer Time. I think this is super interesting. One of things that stuck out to me, too, is that the characters are viewed in both a short and long period of time. The fact that there are stories of the characters in their youth, as well as later on in life, is quite interesting. Yet, the story maintains a narrow focus, thus creating a timeline that is not linear. CRAY.

  2. Time plays a really interesting role in the novel reminiscent of Written on the Body. The past, present, and future are woven together. Mala’s separation between her older self and Pohpoh reflect her desire to separate her past trauma and her current self but when Otoh’s visit causes her and Pohpoh to be reunited, she is then able to find a way to truly care for Pohpoh which is to free her. The separation of identities permits Mala to care for Pohpoh in ways that she was never cared for. To me this relationship is also a way of healing and self reflecting in a similar way the narrator of Written on the Body put their past relationships in dialogue with one another. Queer time back at it again!

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