Signe, Jeanette, Line S.

1. divide the text into sections:

A) page 128 l. 1 – page l. 10 not a sound sleeper
B) page 128 l. 10 – page 128 l. 15 a london suburb
C) page 128 l. 15 – page 128 l. 32 scratch and scrabble
D) page 128 l. 32 – page 129 l. 2 MICE?!
E) page 129 l. 2 – page 129 l. 26 what to do – who to ask?
F) page 129 l. 27 – page 130 l. 24 first time shopping in Wanstead
G) page 130 l. 25 – page 131 l. 22 mice traps
H) page 131 l. 22 – page 132 l. 7 RATS?!
I) page 132 l. 7 – page 134 l. 9 men from the council
J) page 134 l. 8 – page 134 l. 31 super rats!
K) page 134 l. 32 – page 135 l. 17 dig up the living room

2. Narrator:

The narrator is the main character Indrani, as an i-narrator.

3. Characsation of Indrani:

Indrani is an asian woman living with her husband and 2 children in their new home, in a London suburb.

She has no social relations the new place, is a home going mother and takes care of their youngest child Hanif. When she first find out about the mice, she doesn’t know where or who she can turn to, and ask what she can do about it - at the same time she wants to seem perfect and normal so she doesn’t want to go over to her neighbor even though she seemed so nice the day the family moved in (page 129 line 12-13)

Indrani gets more independence in the story, probably because she doesn’t want to tell her husband Kumar about the rats so she has to do something herself, but also because she doesn’t want people in the area to think badly about her and her family - she ends up feeling embarrassed when she goes to buy mice traps (page 130 line 16-17)

Although she seems more independence when she goes to buy the mice traps, and also buys new shoes and cheese for the traps she hides it all away when she gets home. Not just the trap and the chesse - but also the shoes, which tell us her husband can’t know about her using money.

4. physical setting and social setting

the story takes place in Wanstead, which is a Suburb in London.
it is “upper class” and the family lives in a big semi-detached house. It is not a place for poor people and a bit “high class”.

5. Symbolic of the rats:

The rats are a symbol of integration from the white majority’s view. The term “Super Rats” could be a way of saying even though they immigrated and started a life there - they are still rats! Just rats in fancy houses and rats with money.

We first get a hint of racism when Indrani goes to buy mice traps. “What are Asians doing in nice houses like those. Turning them into slums by the sound of it” - page 130 line 16-17

The following episodes where we hear racism is home at Indrani when the people from the council are over at their home.

“They came over on the ships, you see. From out East, so they say. Still you’d know all about the I suppose.” - page line ????

“ Very unreliable, rats. Dead smart - but unreliable. Know what I mean?”

Page 133 l. 28

“The main thing is to send them back where they came from, and then pretend they aren’t there” page line??

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

Just below the surface is a way of judging people, like they are hiding something just below the surface, also a way of judging other cultures and background. In the story we hear that Indrani and her family is Asiens, so therefore the British will never see her family the way a brit is, no matter how hard they try to fit in.

7. Some of the themes:

- Racism (page 135 line 14-16)
- Moving/adjusting to a new place (the whole text)
- Hate crime? (page 132 line 43-44)
- life as a “rat” in other people eyes. (page 135 line 14-16)