on the same day his two paternal uncles, Rana and Ravi were murdered. The two teens, Vinita and Punita, had pleaded with him, “Brother, take us to America!”
Sunny Bhatia was unprepared to be the guardian of the teenagers. He was still trying to find his way in the US. He had no way of coping with two more responsibilities. After the Vinita and Punita went missing, people suspected they were murdered or had disappeared to hide from the mafia. Sunny may have been guilt ridden that his mother’s greed to sell the family house, had led to the girls’ misfortune. His conscience put stress on hims and his brain might have invented the dream. That is the psychological explanation.
The other mythical logic is that the girls are lost and homeless. Their employer’s house has been sold and they are no longer needed. That is why they asked Sunny to bring them to the US. Another spin on the dream’s origin is that if the girls had died, and their souls were wandering around, they need someone to lead them to a new home. Vinita and Punita want Sunny to take them to America.
This scene is from the book, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. What does the writer intend to convey with this dream? It probably means the man was mentally and emotionally affected when the girls disappeared. Their vanishing act seems to be linked with the murders of his uncles. Or not. He dreamed that they said that request because it was what they had pleaded with him, while they were still living in his mother’s house. The dream was a replay of a memory.
Ferooza, Seher’s friend, works in a women’s charity helping underprivileged women. She had info that Punita had appealed to get a small loan. Together with Vinita, they relocated to a small town, away from Delhi, to escape from the mafia who had killed Uncle Rani and Ravi. The teens suspected the goons would come after them so they ran away. This was revealed on page 595.
The main book review is at The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, by Kiran Desai. If you buy this book from this link, I may earn a small commission.