Guardianship and Theft

Guardianship and theft sit at the center of the story, and the novel constantly asks who is protecting whom. The title suggests a clear contrast between a caring figure and a criminal, yet the story blurs that boundary from the first chapters. Ma believes she is a guardian because she feeds Mishti, tends to Dadu, and works hard to secure climate visas. She also sees herself as the rightful keeper of the food and documents locked in her storeroom. When a boy steals those supplies, she labels him a thief and imagines him only as a threat. The narrative, however, invites readers to understand his hunger, his flooded village, and the string of losses that pushed him toward burglary. The same action, taking food from a storeroom, looks very different depending on whether one stands in Ma’s kitchen or in Boomba’s memories...