A Bend In The River

No one tries to find out who killed Father Huismans. Salim reflects that at one time people would have done so. In the peace that follows the uprising, the town grows, and the rebellion seems to fade from daily consciousness. Salim tells us, “Now we were in a period of boom” (86). He notes that new business and government have come to the town. The old airfield is recommissioned, the town gets new buses and taxis, and a new phone service is started. The population of the town continues to grow, as evidenced by the increasing size of the rubbish heaps no one clears away. The town at the bend of the river has become “the trading centre for the region” (87). Salim reflects that “it was what the Big Man in the capital wanted for us” (86). The Big Man is the name the president uses among the people. Salim experiences the town as cosmopolitan and European, as he imagined it from Nazruddin’s descriptions. Salim describes some of Mahesh’s failed business attempts. Salim also notes that he doesn’t much like the new army. The young men remind him of Ferdinand: “They were as aggressive, but without Ferdinand’s underlying graciousness” (91).