The situation in Annawadi continues to be one filled with death. After reading about the increased position and influence of Manju's mother Asha, I was surprised to read Meena's suicide attempt. Granted, Meena's home-life was a difficult one, especially when compared with Manju's, who rarely receives beatings. Meena is abused so frequently that something as trivial as a request for an omelette pushed her to the desire for suicide. The first attempt was thwarted by inducing vomit by forcing her to drink soap, but even that was shockingly difficult, to rally up the anti-suicide support required to save Meena's life. At one point, Manju was so aggravated by the people's blasé attitude, she yelled at them for help. However, her next attempt resulted in death. I found it interesting the way people looked at her suicide. Some, mostly Manju, were very depressed as a result. Although, just like the death of Fatima, the death of Meena was misconstrued by many to suit their individual hopes and causes.
On the other hand, there's the somewhat improved situation for Sunil, who is now growing taller. He doesn't seem to struggle with the moral dilemma of his new line of work. Sonu reprimands him for that all the time, but Sunil now has the money to provide for he and his sister. He makes a remark on how Sonu can afford to work righteously because he is a part of a large family that can pool their resources. Sunil was more desperate, and he becomes more enterprising as this chapter goes on. He envisions himself as a future member of the middle class. He even buys a shining skull as a symbol of his new found provisions.
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