1.) Who do you think Olivia and Douglas are?
They seem to be a married couple. At least Olivia must be from England, as she is complaining about the heat.
2.) Where are they?
In India, what fits to the heat, the titels ”Sahib” and ”Memsahib” and the town
called Simla mentioned in the conversation.
3.) What are they arguing about?
It had been planned that Olivia should habe gone to Simla, but she has not,
because she does not know what she shall so there and is
afraid of being bored (“one more of those and I’ll lie down and die.”)
4.) How is the quarrel resolved?
Olivia gives in and and calls it her own fault
that this argue had begun (“I don’t know what’s wrong with me”), also this has
to be her excuse as her voice is described as ”contrite. Douglas accepts her
apology by telling her that the heat,which she is not used to as she is an English
woman, makes her feel uncomfortable and she thus acts diffferently than usual.
5.) Do you feel that unpleasant heat can have an effect in emotions?[...]
Yes, I do think so. Great heat makes atonic, makes you often unable to move
or do something especially things that are physically exhausting. Heat takes its toll,
making countries like Spain inventing for example the “Siesta”, meaning a break
at noon, the time of the greatest heat.
If you are exposed to heat mostly all the time and not used to, the lack of motivation
to do something might get you into some kind of depression,
making you snippy, all in all unhappy. For me, that is exactly what Olivia shows.
DUST
1.) What are your feelings [towards] the description of such a landscape?
It is depressing. Total emptiness normally inducts a feeling of freedom, but the heat described seems to be killing all drive that you start to develop. Then there is the sand you can not escape from. Travelling seems to be horrible, imagining that I would have to go to work in this bus every day, I am glad that I do not have to take those struggles on me.
2.) Explain why you [...] would not like to travel or live there.
I would not like to because I think that heat is able to paralyze, the body
as the mind.
Warmth is a nice thing when you live somewhere and for many people even
an argument to travel somewhere. But the small difference between warmth
and heat is the reason why I would not like to live in an country in which
I would have to suffer from heat and the consequential inconvenience.
I mean, is there anybody out there who likes to be covered by a fine layer of sand – everywhere?
