Staying on by Paul Scott ~ A coda to The Raj Quartet

[straudetwo]

Chapter Thirteen
Lucy walks home from church and arrives famished,  longing for the Smith kitchen's Sunday special, chicken pulau, and the customary seconds.  What she doesn't know is that in her absence Mr. Turner called, leaving Tusker angry and suspicious. Still, he does not mention it. Lucy's "baby talk" ("Did you have a little nap?  Good boy. Would you like a little drink?) understandably infuriates him further. He will not go to the hotel with her, in fact neither of them will ever go there again, he declares cayegorically, but does not explain why.  Lucy offers to make the poached eggs for  him but  refuses to clean the dirty pan and ends up throwing it at him. Tusker gets up to wash it himself but the erratic water rushes out in spurts and makes him wet. He no longer wants poached eggs and complains that he does not appreciate being made a fool of, pointing to the piece of paper by the telephone.  The secret is out. A heart-felt apology might have helped. Instead they argue.  Molehills into mountains. In her new-found assertiveness  Lucy does go over to the hotel to eat.

When Mrs. Bhoollabhoy floats by, Lucy tries to make a reservation for Mr. Turner and is loudly rebuffed ("This is a matter for Management"). Instead Mrs.B. demands the immediate return of the garden shears. She had told Tusker so, she said, who to Tusker, but had professed total ignorance about garden shears and a mali. Lucy realizes what Tusker had tried to make a reservation and experienced the same angry tirade. Her heart softens and she smiles, seeing the funny side. But is there relly a funny side?

When Lucy threw the pa at Tusker swhe remembers it was the second time she'd hit him. The first time she hit him with a rolled up Indian Times when he told her of a decision he had made, one that affected both their lives and futures : the debacle.  I'll sum it up tomorrow.

[PatH]

I haven't abandoned you, just been rather taciturn.

My thoughts on Chapter 12:

Poor Mr. Bhoolaboy feels totally marginalized and excluded by everyone.  His wife hits him, fires him as manager, and threatens him with divorce if he doesn't write the eviction letter to Tusker.  When he goes to Church, Susy and Father Sebastian ignore him and are wrapped up in each other.  He learns that Father S. is dining with the Smalleys, and is hurt that Tusker hadn't told him.  And the crowning blow--Father Sebastian, aided by Susy, has gotten the organ repaired.  They think of it as a surprise for him, but, as often happens with such elaborate surprises, B. feels frozen out of the process.  Even his beloved church doesn't seem to need him any more.

And in Lucy's musings, we finally learn the full story of the mysterious Toole.  He was the first man who attracted her--totally one-sided though, he probably never realized her feelings.

Now we're just a day away from the fateful "last Monday in April".

[Gumtree]

 PatH -you're positively garrulous compared with me. I keep meaning to come in but somehow don't -

 A few general comments:

Isn't it wonderful how real Scott has made his characters - Lucy, Tusker, Ibrahim and Billy Boy and his grotesque wife all pulse with life - even if those lives seem a little slow as though almost everyone is waiting for something to happen or as with Lucy and the unknown Mr Turner - for someone to come.

But Scott is a master at portraying the emotions of his characters - at one moment we're reading comedy and then feeling the tragedy of these people whose lives are coming to a close - and sometimes there is a feeling of elation in that they - both the British and the Indians - have endured all the years of turmoil and sometimes tedium -  and still survive, each in their own way.

Lucy and Tuskers lives seem to have been largely wasted and full of lost hopes and unfulfilled dreams - especially on the part of Lucy who only had the briefest taste of the 'real India' and could not even satisfy her yen for the stage. Sad, sad, sad.

But I do love Lucy - her stream of consciousness monologue - her thoughts so clear in her mind - her memories so realistic - her regrets so poignant - they are telling us most of the tale. And always there is Scott's superb understatement at every turn which he can suddenly contrast with 'the full monty' when describing say, the Bhoolbhoy couple who at times approach caricature.

Traude : your summaries are simply superb. You touch on every important matter with such clarity and precision that one wonders what one might add.

[straudetwo]

Pat H and Gumtree,  I'm humbly grateful for your posts and your insights into this wonderful little book. It is a slim volume,
but a treasure to me. When Paul Scott wrote it, he probably that his days were numbered.

We feel the same way about Lucy and much remains to be said. And I will do so later  a have a friend coming to visit.

A personal note : One year, ages ago, my dear old friend from school gave me a copy of Aphorismms by Marie von Ebner- Eschenbach. Also a slim volume but with wisdom that has brought me solace in critical times. The language is exquisite, but the translation not easy.

Here is one sample :

Nenne dich nicht arm, wenn deine Traeume nicht in Erfuellung gegangen sind,
Wirklich arm ist nur der, der nie getraeumt hat

Don't consider yourself 'poor' if your dreams did not come true.
Really poor is only one who never dreamed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_von_Ebner-Eschenbach

Back later

[Frybabe]

I've just finished Chapter 14. It is a short chapter but, I thought, moving. Tusker is out. Lucy is home. She tells Ibrahim how much she appreciates his help, discusses the grocery list for the upcoming dinner, and gets a bit tipsy and/or faint. Ibrahim helps her to her bedroom for a nap. When Lucy awakens, Tusker has been and gone again for the evening. He left the long awaited statement of where she stands if he dies. But it is more than that, and it touched Lucy deeply.

[straudetwo]

Thank you for the post and summary, Frybabe.

My week was hectic. I began a post twice and was interrupted both times. This is my third try and I hope to finish summing up what the debacle was all about. It is told in Chapter Thirteen and a bit "involved", a characteristic of interior monologue. Since you probably have read Lucy's words and thoughts, which are inimitable,  I will limit myself to the facts I gleaned from her narrative.

After Tusker's final retirement from the army he was hired as administrative manager (aka "box wallah") by Smith, Brown and McKintock, a shipping and general merchandise agency that had done business in India for more than 80 years. The salary sounded fabulous to Lucy,  compared to army pay, and so did  the all-expenses paid trip to England in 1950.  Once again Tusker convinced her to stay on in India.  Meanwhile control of Smith, Brown and McKintock was acquired by Feibergerstein Industries of Boston, London and Amsterdan. In his job Tusker  began  spending money like water, drinking, gambling,  skirmishes with the  tax people, the customs and the police over the Bombay liquor laws.

Mr. Poppadoum, an assertive Indian associate, was placed in an influential position and his wife became a problem for Lucy. Sigrid Poppadoum was young, tall, Swedish by birth and (Lucy was convinced) ready to flirt with everything with trousers  in order to annoy her prickly little husband. There were rumors of a relationship between Tusker and Mrs, Poppadoum  but Lucy did not really believe them. Still, there had been a hard-to-forget incident when Tusker,  feeling no pain, had bitten Mrs. Poppadoum's ear, spilled his wine and said something to her ear that made her laugh and laugh but deeply offensive to Mrs. Poppadoum's husband.  Those who had seen and heard showed their consternation by falling silent. And worse was to come.

Mr. Feibergerstein had made an offer to Tusker to either send them home to work out the last year of his contract with Smith, Brown and McKintock with what amounted to a small pension to add to the pension from the Indian government, or to take immediate separation in exchange for a small compensation.  

She pleaded, cried and finally hit him over the head with a rolled up Indian Times in anger and impotent despairs He shouted at her that he wasn't going to spend his 60th birthday in some remote place in England,  and furthermore he was not going to be blackmailedl. It was, of course, an ultimatum and hardly better than being fired. Yet he had accepted the compensation. Then they embarked on an extravagant trip through India that ended in Pankot. There was nothing left of the compensation, and the compensation from the army was long gone. She would never forgive him.

To be continued

[JoanK]

This isn't JoanK, it's PatH; I'm in Torrance, CA, visiting Joan (hence my silence for a few days), and using her computer.

At last we learn all the details of the "debacle" we've been wondering about.  It's kind of a double grudge, both about his behavior and he handling of money.  When he leaves the Army, Tusker's personality changes.  He wastes his now larger salary in riotous living and making a fool of himself.  In the next chapter, Tusker, in his letter, says it was because he realized he had invested his whole self in India, and it was neither appreciated nor rewarded.

The financial part was disastrous for Lucy.  He wasted what money they had, took a pitiful bribe from Smith, Brown and McKintock rather than a pension, then wasted that, leaving them poor, and with the expectation that Lucy will be even poorer.

Lucy has said several times that she had forgiven him, but it seems a kind of shaky forgiveness.

[straudetwo]

Thank you, PatH, and a BIG  hello to JoanK. I wish you a wonderful visit together.

I'm grateful for your post.   I very much regret that I have not kept up the pace.  I've slowed down over time, and at the day's end there're always many things left undone, and too few things accomplished.

We've come almost to the end of this retrospective story. The die is cast, we know the end and its inevitability - and still we rue the fact that, though unknowingly, Lucy missed the last chance of seeing Tusker alive again by not going to meet him at the Club on that Sunday evening.   Ah yes, those missed chances that too often never come again.

Lucy returns from Smiths Hotel at 4 in the afternoon, no longer hungry and perhaps a bit unsteady after several gins and lime. Loyal Ibrahim awaits her. Together they go over the grocery list for the next day and Mr.  Turners' anticipated arrival. The matter of the failed reservation, first by Tusker and then Lucy, comes up, and sodoes the mali and the cost of his services. It is decided hat  Ibrahim will "push" the mali.  Then he sees lucy into the bedroom and draws the mosquito net. Later she remembers his taking off her shoes.
 
It is dark when she awakes fully clothed, covered with a blanket. She calls for the dog. Ibrahim  comes in, hands her a letter from Tusker and asks whether he should call for a tonga to take her to the club for dinne with Tusker.. She declines, saying she had a heavy lunch and dismisses him.  Then she slits the envelope open. The first sheet is Tusker's invitation to the club, the second is a detailed financial report.

It is a detailed document and as much a financial accounting as  also an honest personal appraisal and admission of his expectations from life in India,  his follies (as on the Holi holiday) and his failures.  Without research there is  no way  for the reader to gauge the value of total pounds available to Lucy, or the equivalent in another currency.

Now thatLucy has  the documentation she long wanted for her peace of mind,  and she seems quite content, all alone,  dancing and humming to the music of a stack of her old records.
Something tells me that we need not be concerned about her.  She is a survivor. Do you agree?

Two chapters remain 15 and 16,  and possiby a quick review of the movie, if you saw it and if it is your wish.
Thanks to you all.

[straudetwo]

Continuing

The last paragraph in Chapter 14 is of some comfort to the reader.

At the aend of this eventful day,   
"Peace enveloped her. She turned on her side away from the light from the living room and let her sleepy fingers find their way to the envelope  (under her pillow) that contained the only love letter she had had in all the years she had lived."

 
The next ay begins with the me routine which, being Monday, means that Lila Bhoolabhoy has the usual after-bridge migraine and is sensitive to noises.   Mr. Bhoolabhoy has run out of excuses, all his remonstrations have been for naught.  A new Letter is composed - astonishing work of sophistry  (pg. 201) and Minnie  is told to deliver it.

Lucy leaves for the hair salon at the Shiraz, Ibrahim makes a note of the time.  He prepares breakfast for Tusker - who is in a singularly contrary mood.  He wants Ibrahim to run to the bazaar for a shaving stick and take the dog for a walk. walk.  Ibrahim shows Tusker  Lucy's grocery list and ass ordered,  hands over the money she had given him.  Tusker tells him to forget it. There is no reasoning with him.  In a thoroughly disgraceful tirade of  insults Tusker summarily sacks the servant.

Not long after Minnie comes with the Letter,  mentioning 'trouble' at the hotel.  "Here too", says Ibrahim.  The already fired man takes the letter to Tusker who showers with him with another barrage of invective.  Ibrahim says around,  he hears Tusker shouting angrily, a scraping of a chair,  a fall.
 
He was lying in the bed of crimson calla lilies. There conscience stricken Billy Boy finds him , panicks and rus to tell Lila. "Where is the Letter?", she asks, and calls him "fool" yet another time.  Together they set off to the Lodge.  Dr. Mitra is there, just putting the Letter in his pocket. He confirms Tusker's death and ignores Lila's accusations that her husband is responsible.
The two en carry Tusker's body into the house.

To be continued

[Frybabe]

Finished the book this afternoon. The ending is sad, of course, and touching. Lucy's final thoughts at the end didn't surprise me. The beginning of the grieving process, I expect, but it did remind me of Survivor's Syndrome.

Back Tusker and his bad mood. I didn't see any reason for his behavior. Why would he nix Lucy's grocery order and insist that Ibrahim take the dog and go after shaving gear when he knew company was coming to dinner. No explanation. He had already primed himself for that heart attach before the letter arrived and put the finishing touches to him. Why did he go out of his way to be nasty to Ibrahim and try to ruin the evening dinner party? I guess we will never know.

[PatH]

Back Tusker and his bad mood. I didn't see any reason for his behavior. Why would he nix Lucy's grocery order and insist that Ibrahim take the dog and go after shaving gear when he knew company was coming to dinner. No explanation. He had already primed himself for that heart attach before the letter arrived and put the finishing touches to him. Why did he go out of his way to be nasty to Ibrahim and try to ruin the evening dinner party? I guess we will never know.

We'll never know, but I have a mental picture of how it might be.  Tusker feels he has lost control of everything.

He has been pretty shook up by his heart attack, and what it means for his mortality.  Then several things happen that show him how little control he has over his own existence.  A visitor is coming tomorrow, and he only found it out by accident.  He finds out that there is some gardening arrangement he didn't know about.  He goes to Smith's Hotel, and is yelled at by Mrs. Boolabhoy for a gardening issue he totally doesn't understand.  He's mad as hops, and swears he will have nothing to do with eating their food anymore.  He writes the letter to Lucy, which must have been a strain.

Next morning, Lucy has deserted him for the hairdresser, and nothing goes right for him.  The lilies need watering, and the poorly trained dog Bloxsaw won't leave him alone.  He orders Ibraham to walk the dog, and Ibraham won't, because he has to run all these errands for Lucy.  Something snaps.  He cancels Lucy’s orders, tells Ibraham to do T’s errands.  When Ibraham makes difficulties, Tusker fires him.  He has been fired many times before, but this is so intense he is worried.

I don’t know whether Tusker was so mad he didn’t think of the difficulties he was causing, or so mad he was glad to cause them, but either way, he just wanted his way for once.

[straudetwo]

Thank you, Frybabe and PatH.  Sorry to be two days behind, ready now.

Frybabe , of course there was no reason for Tusker's over-the-top outburst,  his insistence that Ibrahim follow his orders, and then sacking him with a flurry of insults.  Man's inhumanity to man...- so often, on every level. Ibrahim retreated, showing more dignity than his master.

PatH,   it's clear from Tusker's financial account to Lucy that he knew his strategy had backfired, they lived hand-to-mouth, his health is failing, and a visitor from England is expected and needs to be fêted and entertained.  He's  finally been  totally honest in his appraisal of himself (but rules out any further discussion). Lucy did not join him at the club. When he returns, she's asleep, or pretended to be, and she's not there in the morning. She had told him about the schedule and the hair appointment, but he seems ot to remember.  Her absence on that last morning may have have fueled his anger/   The final straw, of course, was the Letter.

Shai-tan Tusker called Ibrahim = Satan in his language. Ibrahim thinks abut that (last paragraph, pg. 203) The world is populated by any number evil-doers of any stripe and provenance, one of them Ibrahim's own brother-in-law whom he visited in London, andwho treated his wife like a servant.  

The hair salon is as expensive as everything in the Shraz complex. .  By special arrangement with Susy,  her long-time hair dresser and church organist,  who's no longer independent but has been absorbed into the 'organization',  Lucy comes in early and is all set before 10 a.m., whenSashi, the head coiffeur,  makes his grand entrance and welcomes  the wealthy customers from all over the world. An indication of the prosperity that independence brought to Pankot.

The shop gets word of Tusker's death.  Sashi himself combs out Lucy's hair and tells her, kindly, not to worry abut the bill.  It is Susy who breaks the news and at some point says, "We have to stick together ..."

Tomorrow Chapter Sixteen, closing remarks, and a few words about the movie.

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Chapter Sixteen and  Conclusion


We have come full circle. The story ended as it began, with Tusker's death - unconventionally foretold at the outset. WE have followed the story of this marriage, saddened and moved.

Much is made of the timing of events of the last day, but that is quite in keeping with military precision everywhere.  Also a sign of the inexorable end. Both Lucy and Tusker knew tht the next heart attack would be fatal.  Lucy was prepared, but when it came,  it was too soon for her.

The officers and wives, Dr Mitra and Mrs. Mitra arrived at the Lodge,  in an outpouring of friendship, respect and genuine kindness. The telephone kept ringing, flowers and condolence cards were delivered. Dazed, Lucy tried to keep her composure.   Asked by several of the wives to come stay with them, she thanked them and declined.  Father Sebastian and Susy were among the last to leave. Dinner was to have been ginven for them that evening.

She awoke from a drugged sleep in the middle of the night.  She remembered that she'd have to give a "performance" on this next day.  Then she thought of Mr. Turner and that she'd have to ward him off. But she recalled that he was carrying a present from Sarah and Susan and from Teddie for Minnie, who had been his ayah.  It would bring joy to Minnie. She would go ahead as planned. she determined and see to making a reservation.

She turned on he light and it fell on Tusker's empty bed. The magnitude of her loss overwhelmed her. Finally tears came and she moaned.
" Oh Tusker, Tusker, Tusker, how can you make me stay here by myself while you yourself go home ?"
It is the last line in the book.


Jonathan and I have seen the film. If you like we can talk briefly aout it.

Please post any comments you may have before I bid you goodbye - until another time.

With gratitude,
Traude

[Frybabe]

I have wondered where Lucy went afterward since she would have to vacate the lodge. Suzie offered to let her live with her. We will never know if Lucy took her up on it. Just a tiny loose end, I think.

[straudetwo]

Frybabe,   sadly, we'll nver know. But we could let our imagination wander.

Even in that darkest houron the morning, Lucy never thought that she'd be homeless soon and where could she go.

Given her views about the (inferior) social status of Eurasians  I don't believe that she would have accepted Suzy's offer. But I hoped that,  if she were able to manage Mr. Turner's visit, there might a shimmer of hope about her future. But would she have the strength, and would she be able to get a reservation at Smiths ?

According to Tusker there would be enough money for a trip home, but he did not advise it and thought she'd be better off staying in Pankot.
That was, of course, before he received the Letter.

But when I reread the last section of the story, I was no longer certain.

Thank you for your post.

[Frybabe]

Yes, Scott has left Lucy with a dilemma. She no longer seems to have any strong ties to stay in Pankot except that Tusker is buried there. We could see, earlier in the book, that she was beginning to feel out of place. On the other hand, she no longer has any strong ties to anyone in England. She is adrift either way. Either resolution is bound to be somewhat unsatisfactory.

[PatH]

I always seem to be backtracking on my posts, but I don't want to miss commenting on Tusker's letter.  It has a remarkable effect on Lucy--not for the financial part, which she pretty much knew already, but the emotional part: he kind of explains and apologizes for his past behavior, but, more importantly "You've been a good woman to me, Luce.  Sorry I've not made it clear I think so". She goes to sleep caressing "the only love letter she had had in all the years she had lived".  That's sort of sad, but thank goodness Tusker got around to writing it before the end.

It's just barely credible that Tusker could write such a letter.  He is a person who doesn't analyze his feelings, much less talk about them, so it's surprising he can write about them.  (We're prepared for this a bit by how thoroughly he is commenting in his notes about his feelings on the library book History of Pankot.)  He says clearly his feeling that he had invested all he had, his poor self, into India, and realized eventually that he'd been a fool, and there would be no payoff, and that's the excuse for all his wildness and extravagance.

Can someone who feels that way really manage to write: "Can't talk about these things face to face, you know.  Difficult to write them.  Brought up that way.....I'm not going to read all this rigmarole through when I've finished--if I did I'd tear it up....Don't want to discuss it.  If you do I'll only say something that will hurt you.  No doubt will anyway.  It's my nature."?

He must have made a supreme effort, subconsciously knowing it was his last chance.

[straudetwo]

PatH  how very true. And how sad.

Writing this letter was an enormous accomplishment. He must have been relieved of a burden and downright elated, so much so that he threw cation to the winds and asked her to join him for dinner at the club.  She recognized it as the love letter it was, the only one she ever received,  and put it under her pillow.

Frybabe, I agree. It is hard to see what Lucy will do. here are no relatives in England. Would she accept an invitation from Sarah to visit or be too proud to accept charity ? Would that really be an option ? Will she have the strength to handle Mr. Turner's visit ? What pride and joy would Minnie feel about the gift in recognition of what he had done then! She had in fact saved baby Teddie's life when Susan, temporarily out of her mind with grief,  set the grass on which the baby lay on fire. (Volume II of the tetralogy, The Day of the Scorpion.)

[straudetwo]

In conclusion, a few words must be said about the screen adaptation of Staying On, which is a commendable effort. This film, after all, re-awakened interest in Paul Scott's masterwork, The Jewel in the Crown, and caught the attention of people who produced the Granada TV production, shown worldwide.

Laudable in this film is the photography - of mountain views,  the colorful Holi festival, the street scenes -including a group of western hippies, and  the faded interior of the Smith hotel, a symbol , of past glory.  Celia Johnson as Lucy and Trevor Howard as Tusker Smalley are outstanding. The performances of the rest of the cast are  creditable.  Paul Scott fully deserved the Booker Prize for this gem of a book.

Our discussion has now ended. My sincere thanks to the participants, and my special  gratitude for making this extended discussion possible.
Traude

[PatH]

I've gotten the movie, watched about a third of it tonight.  So far, it's a great visualization of the book.

[Frybabe]

Thanks so much Traude. I enjoyed re-reading the book and reading the posts. Sad to end.

On the up side, I found a free ebook of the E.J. Buck book, Simla Past and Present, published in 1904 (if I remember correctly). Rumer Godden's, Two Under the Indian Sun is also on my list; I have yet to get a copy.

[Gumtree]

Traude: I must apologise for seemingly dropping out without explanation - but such is not really the case. The past several weeks have been a sad time for us as we have lost three long time friends - two were expected but one was sudden and her passing quite took us by surprise. I have just finished writing an obituary for one of them which seems to me right now to be one of the saddest tasks I've been asked to perform as we had shared so much in our lives.

With all this going on I'm afraid I just couldn't concentrate on posting - I have been coming in here and there to read a little hoping for solace but find my mind wandering so I've concentrated on the more frivolous boards.

However, I do want to say how grateful I am to you for hosting this discussion and enabling Scott's final chapter to receive a good Seniorlearn examination. I saw the movie long ago and still remember Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in the roles. I will endeavour to find a copy sometime in the near future.

Thanks to all for posting. Lots of enlightening insights for me to chew over when the time is right.

Traude - it is a  'gem of a book'  - thank you.

   

[PatH]

Gumtree, I'm so sorry about your friends.  That's hard.  Indeed, it's difficult to concentrate at such times.  You were the most enthusiastic of all of us, so I know you'll read and think about the parts you missed.

[PatH]

I've posted more slowly in here than I meant to--partly because I was out of town and then had my daughter staying with me.  It takes me a lot of time to express my thoughts about the book and that makes me really appreciate you, Traude.  I'm very grateful for all the time and effort you must have put into all those clear-headed, complete, insightful summaries that form the backbone of this discussion.  Thank you.

Frybabe, Jonathan, and Gumtree, thanks for expanding my understanding of the book, and Jonathan, thanks for adding the male perspective, so important in understanding Tusker.  It's great having you as fellow-discussers.

[straudetwo]

Many thanks for your last post, PatH, and to all of you for being part of this discussion.
Gumtree, I always knew you were with us in spirit. We have no control of the imponderable in our lives.

We accomplished what we set out to do. I am glad and deeply grateful that we were able to do the discussion at our leisure.
By completing Staying On we have come full circle.
 
Paul Scott has shown us the glory and influence of the Empire, the bravery of the British and Indian regiments in war, the effects of a war on several fronts, the growing demand for Indian independence, and the impulsive withdrawal.  The fate of those who remained was always uncertain and involved risk.  There were those who tried to remain and take their chances - and became an anachronism.
A sad coda, but closure nonetheless. 

With sincere gratitude,
Traude