Morten B. Poulsen

1. Divide the text into 10-15 sections and give each section a title. Write the titles in your answer along with references to pagenumbers and line numbers, example: Proof of mice (p. 128, l. 38 - p.129, l. 11).

1. Sounds in the night (p. 128, l. 1 - p. 128, l. 30)
2. Burgled by mice (p. 128, l. 31 - p. 129, l. 11)
3. What to do? (p. 129, l. 12 - p. 129, l. 26)
4. Getting traps (p. 129, l. 13 - p. 130, l. 23)
5. Following night, no capture (p. 130, l. 24 - p. 130, l. 45)
6. Kumar finds out (p. 131, l. 1 - p. 131, l. 36)
7. Time to call the Council (p. 131, l. 37 - p. 132, l. 41)
8. Burglary at the shop (p. 132, l. 42 - p. 133, l. 12)
9. Bad news (p. 133, l. 13 - p. 134, l. 18)
10. King rat (p. 134, l. 19 - p. 134, l. 29)
11. Hope to find the crack (p. 134, l. 30 - p. 135, l. 9)
12. He said a funny thing (p. 135, l. 10 - p. 135, l. 17)

2. What type of narrator (fortæller) does the story have?

- 1st person narrator, from Indrani's point of view.

- Subjective, she is part of the story.

3. Characterise Indrani – what is her cultural background and what kind of person is she?

- Her name is Indrani. She is married to Kumar and have two kids, Hanif and Laila.
- She lives under her husband's rules.

- She is from India - "(..) they looked a little funny with my rose-pink sari." (p. 129, l. 36-37), 

- Very nervous, wakes to every sound.

4. Comment on the story's physical setting (hvor foregår historien?) and its social setting (hvilke(t) social(e) lag foregår historien i?).

Physical setting:

- It takes place in Wansted, England. A middle class suburb. Indrani and Kumar have moved from a lower class apartment in Brick Lane.

Social setting:

- From a low-class neighbourhood to a high-class white-dominated neighbourhood.

5. What do you think the rats symbolise in the story? Remember to argue (kom med gode argumenter).

- The rats symbolizes the immigrants. "You have to keep the place clean otherwise you'll never get rid of them", they are seen as sort of filthy group of people or race, and the only thing to do about it, is to "clean up" the mess.

6. Interpret the title of the story – what significance does it have?

"Just below the surface"

- Could indicate the underlying racism that runs in the higher society.

- The truth is hidden or never spoken about (Immigrants will never be thought of as British)

7. Write at least 4 themes that you think this story deals with.

- Immigration

- Culture conflicts

- Racism

- Prejudice