The Bandit Queens

Compare and contrast Geeta and Saloni. How do their personalities differ? How do their versions of past events differ? How do these differences impact the story?

Describe Farah’s character. How do her decisions impact Geeta? Are the two friends, enemies, or both? What motivates Farah to engage in blackmail and extortion?

Do the available representations of women fit the characters in the story? How do these women contradict conventional wisdom and defy traditional expectations?

Why is the image of the bonobo such a compelling one to Geeta? What does the bonobo signify to her, and later, to Saloni and Farah?

What is the dog’s role in the story? Why does Geeta rescue Bandit? How does finding out Bandit is a female change the reader’s perception of the dog’s significance?

Why are the “joys of motherhood” so revered that the phrase is frequently repeated? How does motherhood define women’s roles? In what ways is this role idealized? In what ways is it destabilized?

How does Geeta define independence? How does her definition change over the course of the novel? What does it mean to eat one’s own salt?

How does previous trauma impact the cycle of abuse? How does this trauma impact Geeta in comparison to how it impacts Farah and/or Preity? How does it affect the loved ones of victims, like Saloni or Priya?