The Space Between Us

Compare and contrast the relationships between Feroz and Sera, Gopal and Bhima, and Viraf and Dinaz. What similarities do they share, and where do they differ? Which central theme(s) of the book do each of these relationships explore, and how?

How do Jehroo and Banu contribute to upholding patriarchal notions surrounding marriage? How does Sera perpetuate their attitudes and beliefs toward Dinaz, if at all?

Analyze how and why Bhima and Sera feel a kinship with each other. How does their relationship inform the title of the book? What might the space between them symbolize?

Illustrate how different characters in the book are both subjected to oppression and enact oppression due to the theme of India’s Social Fabric of Class, Caste, Gender, and Religion. Pick two characters and examine their relationship to being oppressed and oppressing others.

What are the ways in which education may help Maya’s social mobility? What are some of the factors that may stand in her way, despite an education?

How does Dinaz handle the social conditioning and biases inherited by her intersectional identity? Does she truly differ in a significant way from her mother? Substantiate your answer with textual references.

Why are Sera’s internal thoughts and external behaviors often contradictory to one another? What do these contradictions say about her place within India’s social fabric? 

When Bhima accuses Maya of ingratitude toward Sera’s family, Maya responds with an assertion that Bhima and Maya’s lives are a product of hard work, not Sera’s generosity. Why do you think Maya understands the world this way? What factors or events allow Maya to see things differently than Bhima does? Explain with reference to the text.