47 pages • 1-hour read
The Lowland
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Part 8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 8, Chapter 1 Summary
Subhash and Elise are in Ireland for their honeymoon. They spend their time going for walks, looking at historical artifacts, and enjoying the landscape. Even now, Subhash has memories of being back in India. Even though he is in Ireland, he finds similarities in the landscape that remind him of his childhood with Udayan. When he sees stones on the trail, he thinks “of another stone in a distant country” (331)—his brother’s memorial stone. Life and death are weighing on Subhash at the end of his life as he finds another stone: “A marker, toward the end of his journey, of what is given, what is taken away” (332).
Part 8, Chapter 2 Summary
The narrative flashes back to the night of Udayan’s death. Udayan hears the police approaching his house and escapes through the back of the courtyard to hide in the lowland. He can only hold his breath under water for so long; when he surfaces, the police have him at gunpoint.
Udayan got involved in the Naxalite movement through friends at college; it was the state of the country that bothered them: “The stagnant economy, the deterioration of living standards. The latest rice shortage […]” (335). While visiting struggling farmers, Udayan was convinced the Naxalite movement was the answer. When Subhash left for the US, Udayan became so entrenched in the political movement that he becomes involved in the murder of a police officer. He stands watch during the murder and believes that the police officer is the enemy.
As the police take Udayan to his parents to bow at their feet and ask forgiveness, he thinks about his past decisions and regrets the way he has been involved in the revolution. He realizes that he has deceived Gauri, let her down, and changed her life forever. As the van drives him to the lowland and he walks out, soon to be shot by the police, he imagines Gauri with him, their first date at the movies, and the sunlight on her hair.
Part 8 Analysis
The final section of the book revisits Subhash and Udayan, each at the end of their life as they reflect on the past. Though they are different and will be separated by geography and death, their lives remain intertwined.
Decades later, Subhash is still finding similarities between his homeland and whatever landscape he finds himself in, whether it is in Providence, Rhode Island, or in Ireland on his honeymoon. The imagery of the landscape invokes memories of his past, his brother, and living in Calcutta; the stone markers in Ireland remind him of his brother’s memorial stone.
For the first time in the novel, the reader is introduced to Udayan’s perspective. We learn about Udayan’s role in the revolution and his remorse in being involved; his character is no longer simply a radical man, but now a remorseful husband. He feels tension between his duty to the Naxalite movement and his duty as a husband. He questions his ideology and the choices he has made. As Udayan submerges himself in the lowland to escape the police, he is enveloped in shame and regrets. The lowland does not protect him from death and instead represents isolation for Udayan.
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