How Does Meera Syal Portray The Character Of Meena

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How does Meera Syal portray the character of Meena? We see many portrayals of Meena throughout the book, all narrated differently by Meera Syal. We see a street-wise Meena, a more vulnerable Meena, and even a confident, proud Meena. All of these versions of the young girl are examples of how Meera Syal portrays Meena throughout the entire story. We see Meena change as the book progresses, from the naïve 9 year old, to the street-wise 11 year old. Through the book, Meena encounters many difficult situations and problems which she has to deal with. This helps her become more mature and experienced in the environment around her. At the start of the story, Meena is a mischievous girl, who has a tendency to lie to her parents. However, as we reach the end of the book we see a changed Meena- a girl who concentrates on her school work and family life. As this change happens, we see a change in the narration from Meera Syal of Meena. In the first half of the book, the language Meera Syal uses is quite comical and light hearted. Meena is an imaginative young girl who analyses situations and adds her own opinions to them. “On windy nights, the trees around the big house, a thicket of towering chestnuts and poplars which sometimes blocked the sun and filtered damp green light into my bedroom, would talk to me urgently, telling me to open the window..” Meena is quite immature, and really shows her age. She is very naïve and uses her imagination to lie frequently. However, as we reach the end of the book, Meena has changed completely. She wants to complete her eleven pluses and she really begins to embrace her faith. This change in Meena is caused by many things, particularly the hospital visit and her Nanima visiting. The narration at the end of the book is also quite different. Meena begins questioning herself and her friendship with Anita. “all that potential, all that

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