“When Mala heard the wall being pulled apart, she bit her lower lip and stared out across the yard, losing herself in the shapes of the mudra tree, Save Pohpoh, she chanted. Save Pohpoh,” (Mootoo, 180).
This section of the reading really interested me. One of the reasons is the obvious “illusion” of the younger Mala in order to correct the wrongs of her past. Mala recreates herself when the police come to investigate what made Otoh run away. This “illusion” (this is in question because everyone can see her when she runs away). This “younger” Mala is made to relook at her father when does not hold the power he had over h when she was a child. It is actually interesting that in his death, she kept him there, almost in control of him even in the afterlife (I do not know much about the religions in where this book took place, except for Christianity, so I’m unsure if there is cultural tradition behind burying a body). If there is traditions regarding this, at least in Christianity it is to help the spirit rest well, then she definitely holds a power over him. This may explain why she kept the body. She shows the “younger Mala” the body to show the control over their father she has now. To prove that the pain is over and she can go on peacefully (almost like old spirit of the past). Another reason this is an interesting scene/scenario in the book is because the “younger Mala” gets to escape the realities the real Mala had to face. She flys, which is something Mala ha always dreamed of as an escape into another place away from her father. This is a bit of a stretch, but I would like to believe that in this fantasy, there is a bit of reality. For example, we know the police only make comments about girl running in order to mock Mala. However, what if there really was a younger girl in the same situation as Mala, that had a chance to see that one day she too would be free? She would be free from the horrors of someone abusing her and be able to “fly” away. Again, this is a stretch, but I would like to believe that the author creates this little girl in order to show to readers that revisiting the past can bring a sense of freedom and the “older” Mala can represent the older and wiser protecting the young and naive.