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1. What is the central metaphor made by the author in Part I, Section 1?

The opening metaphor in this chapter carries through the entire chapter. The author compares the moment when you realize that an inanimate object is animate, such as reaching for a vine and realizing it is a snake, to the realization that the Earth is an animate being as well.

2. Where are the author's ancestors from? What led to their relocation?

The author's ancestors were from a village on the shore of the Padma River in Bangladesh. The family was displaced in the mid-1850s when the river flooded and decimated the village. They later settled on the banks of the Ganges River in Bihar.

3. What is the significance of the flood described in Part I, Section 2?

The story of the flood that displaced the author's ancestors from their original village imparted in him a sense of the power of nature. It gave him a feeling of recognition of the will of nature and its breadth of life.

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