Book Club Discussion

[MiniLopHop]

The Cat's Table
Michael Ondaatje, 2011
Knopf Doubleday
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780307700117


Summary
In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England. At mealtimes he is seated at the “cat’s table”—as far from the Captain’s Table as can be—with a ragtag group of “insignificant” adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin.

As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys tumble from one adventure to another, bursting all over the place like freed mercury. But there are other diversions as well: one man talks with them about jazz and women, another opens the door to the world of literature.

The narrator’s elusive, beautiful cousin Emily becomes his confidante, allowing him to see himself “with a distant eye” for the first time, and to feel the first stirring of desire. Another Cat’s Table denizen, the shadowy Miss Lasqueti, is perhaps more than what she seems. And very late every night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner, his crime and his fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever.

As the narrative moves between the decks and holds of the ship and the boy’s adult years, it tells a spellbinding story—by turns poignant and electrifying—about the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood and a lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage. (From the publisher.)

[line]

Discussion Questions
1. The epigraph below is taken from the short story “Youth” by Joseph Conrad. How does this set up the major themes of The Cat’s Table?

And this is how I see the East.... I see it always from a small boat—not a light, not a stir, not a sound. We conversed in low whispers, as if afraid to wake up the land.... It is all in that moment when I opened my young eyes on it. I came upon it from a tussle with the sea.

2. How is the voyage itself a metaphor for childhood?

3. Why do you think the opening passages of the book are told in third person?

4. We are 133 pages into the novel before Ondaatje gives us an idea of what year it is. How does he use time—or the sense of timelessness—to propel the story?

5. The anonymity of ocean travel and the sense that board ship we know only what others want us to know about them come into play at several points in the novel. What is Ondaatje saying about identity?

6. For several characters—the three boys and Emily among them—the journey represents a loss of innocence. For whom does it have the greatest impact?

7. Discuss the importance of some of the seemingly minor characters at the table: Mr. Mazappa, Mr. Fonseka, Mr. Nevil. What do they contribute to the story?

8. “What is interesting and important happens mostly in secret, in places where there is no power,” the narrator realizes (page 75). “Nothing much of lasting value ever happens at the head table, held together by a familiar rhetoric. Those who already have power continue to glide along the familiar rut they have made for themselves.” How does this prove true over the course of the novel?

9. How do the narrator’s experiences breaking and entering with the Baron change his way of looking at the world?

10. Discuss the three boys’ experience during the typhoon. How does it affect their friendship and their attitude toward authority figures?

11. How does the death of Sir Hector factor into the larger story?

12. On page 155, the narrator refers to Ramadhin as “the saint of our clandestine family.” What does he mean?

13. When describing the collapse of his marriage, the narrator says,

Massi said that sometimes, when things overwhelmed me, there was a trick or a habit I had: I turned myself into something that did not belong anywhere. I trusted nothing I was told, not even what I witnessed (page 203).

What made him behave this way? How did it affect his marriage?

14. On page 208, the narrator tells us about a master class given by the filmmaker Luc Dardenne in which...

he spoke of how viewers of his films should not assume they understood everything about the characters. As members of an audience we should never feel ourselves wiser than they; we do not have more knowledge than the characters have about themselves.

Why did Ondaatje give us this warning, so far into the novel? What is he telling us?

15. What was your reaction to the revelations about Miss Lasqueti?

16. How do you think her letter to Emily might have changed the events on board the Oronsay? Why didn’t she send it?

17. Miss Laqueti signs off her letter, “‘Despair young and never look back,’ an Irishman said. And this is what I did” (page 231). What does she mean?

18. Discuss Emily’s relationship with Asuntha. Did she, as the narrator suggests on page 251, see herself in the deaf girl?

19. When Emily says to the narrator, “I don’t think you can love me into safety,” (page 250), to what is she referring? What is the danger, decades after the voyage?

20. The narrator wishes to protect Emily, Cassius has Asuntha, and Ramadhin has Heather Cave. “What happened that the three of us had a desire to protect others seemingly less secure than ourselves?” he asks on page 262. How would you answer that question?
(Questions issued by publisher.)

 

[gmas rabbit]

Three young boys fly literally under the radar, quietly observing what is going on around them and in doing so are exposed to actions and behaviors of others that they would otherwise miss. They start the voyage innocent in the ways of the world, but by the time the voyage is over have been exposed to all sorts of debauchery - murder of one of the passengers, smoking of dope, theft, and affairs among the passengers, and like childhood grow up and recognize the ways of the world and pitfalls. By telling the story in the third person, the reader has to rely on the memory of an 11 year old boy, shaped by his experiences, during one of the most important adventures of his life. By not telling us the year until well into the book, we cannot fall back on preconsieved ideas of how the world was or should be at that time. We have to see the working of the ship and its passengers through the eyes of the boys themselves. Our identity and personalities are a direct result of events that have happened during our lifetimes, some of the most influential are those events that happen as a youngster. Emily's loss of innocence is the greatest, causing her in the end to escape from life and its challenges by moving to a small island off the coast of Vancouver. The minor characters in the novel, Mr.Mazzapa - part of the ship's orchestra, Mr Fonseka - works dismantling ships for a living and Mr Nevil - has the exotic garden in the bowels of the ship, allow the boys to see different aspects of life they would otherwise not be exposed to. Mr Nevil by gathering exoctic plants in one of the ports not allowing women ashore, allows Emily to see a country she would have missed because of her sex. The boys come to realize that women have rights and a place in society, same as they. The mural on the wall in the hold of the ship holds a great fasination, and introduces them to the world of sexuality. The boys become more open to the coming and goings of the adults and the affairs aboard ship because of this. The narrator's experience with breaking and entering with the baron opens his eyes to the opportunities available in life to those that have the nerve to take them. He also realizes the vast difference in classes and not necessarily respects this differences, but see them as a challenge. During the typhoon lifetime friendship are formed, a direct result of sharing experiences and trust. They develop a total disregard for authority, developing lies that protect them from punishment. The typhoon in a way makes them feel invincible and above repoarch, it opens doors to allow them to get into more serious mischief and adventure. Sir Hectors death is an irony of life. He is going to England to be cured of hydraphobia and in the end it is another dog that kills him. Life is sometimes like that. We take paths, detours trying to avoid the inevidible, only to make a mistake or wrong choice that leads us to the same conclusion. Ramadhin the the saint of his family. He lives his whole life being careful, not participating in adventures, trying to protect his health and his heart. In the end it is the love of a 13 year old girl and his need to protect her, that causes his death. Massi said that sometimes when things overwhelmed me, there was a trick or habit I had:I turned myself into something that did not belong anywhere. I trusted nothing I was told,not even what I had witnessed. By doing this the narrator does not allow himself to be loved fully and a to love another. He is distant and cold, protecting himself from hurt. As a result of these actions his marriage falls apart after a very short period of time.How many of us do the same thing, lose out on the wonderful things in life because we are unwilling to take a chance. The author by relying on a 11 year old boys memory of events is suggesting to us that life has doubts and things that we understand the least, most often are the events that shape our lives the most. That we should look at life through the eyes of our brothers and sisters, not making judgments because of power or money, but honestly because of actions and sympathy. Miss Laqueti fears to become involved and as a direct result does send a letter to Emily that may have allowed her to realize her innocence in the eventual death of the prisoner and his daughter. Emily relates to the deaf girl, seeing her life with the abusive father and her love of him, reflected back to her through the deaf girl and her prisoner father. In the end she does get the letter that raises doubts about her involvement, was she drugged, did she do it voluntarily. By then her life is shaped, too late for anyone to change, to late to be loved into safety. She will never really know what happened and will second guess herself and safety as a result of decisions based on her persception of what took place. Like the three young boys that saw death first hand, many of us have a need, a desire to protect others from harm. Hey in a way that is what we do on this forum. Protect the little souls we all love so dearly, try and pass on knowledge often learned through mistakes, tears and pain to prevent others from the same.

 

[MiniLopHop]

Alma, thank you for your great summary and comments. Do you think that the prisoner and girl died? I like to think that she made the swim to the shore and was able to start a new life. As for her father *shrugs* I'm not as hopeful for him, it would not be a great loss.

This book made me feel like I was chatting with grandma about her past. She had alzheimer's so memories from child hood are very clear, but stories aren't always linear. The author would follow threads of thought in to the future and then be back into the past. There's a certain charm in this kind of story telling, but it can also be confusing.

I think that the ocean travel gave people an anonimity then that we are seeing now with the internet. People take more chances and explore their personality when they have a space to flex rather than constrained by society.

I think Emily was drugged. She just has such a sensitivity that I don't think, even with menipulation, she could have murdurded in cold blood. Unfortunately she punishes herself for the rest of her life, ultimately cutting herself off from society.

Miss Lasqueti shows us how wrong our perceptions of people can be. There is so much history behind a person that assumptions never capture. We have to take the time to hear a person's story before making judgements.

This is a very different book than I would normally read, but I'm glad to have read it. When I first finished the book I was a bit dissatisfied because there was no real resolution or conclusion. Then I realised that it was a perfect ending because it is all about the transitions of life. We never get the conclusion until we die. It is up to us to continue writing our life stories every day.

I know that more than two of us read the book. Please comment and react. I would love to see other's opinions.