Summary

In Chapter Three, the narrator explains that his father Appa is the second-in-command in his family hierarchy. When Appa dies, his assets are to be divided equally between the narrator, his sister, and mother. The narrator fears though that his father might “lose his mind with age and become ruinously entangled in some philanthropic enterprise” (23). The family thus tries to keep Appa happy in order to avoid losing their inheritance. Appa seems to feel hesitant to enjoy the family’s newish opulence. Prior to their starting of the spice firm, Appa worked selling tealeaves, a job with a very meager pay rate. When he restocked stores with tea, Appa would collect the cash payments in a bag that hung from his shoulder. His work did not end when he returned home each night either; he would stay up working on the business’s finances...