Word: hans
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...Bondmaid's strengths lies in its exploration of the relationships between the servants. As Han realizes more and more the complexities of the life of a bondmaid (a kind of slave), so too does the reader: as Han makes friends and enemies among her fellow servants, so too are the portraits of these characters increasingly more intimate with the succession of the chapters...
...consistently manipulates is that which exists between the gods and goddesses of the Singaporean pantheon, and the mortals who supplicate to them. From the very beginning of the novel, the gods are denigrated and demonized by the poor women and bondmaids who have been victimized by their carelessness. Han's mother prays as a last resort before selling her daughter. But finally she is forced to realize that "Sky God has no eyes nor ears" for the helpless village women who "had cried to [him] from time immemorial" for relief from abusive husbands and yearly pregnancies. Han's own prayers...
Even this goddess is but a representation of the greater, untapped power within Han herself: in the epilogue of the book the reader discovers that numerous miracles have taken place near the pond where Han saw her demise. As further proof of her immortality, in a tiny shack on the property, the Master Wu awaits the day when the "Goddess with Eyes and Ears" will return...
...mythical feel of the novel is not without its problems, however. Lim often intersperses Han's dream sequences with the more direct prose of the remainder of the novel, presumably because these visions help to chronicle Han's transition, even within her lifetime, from a mortal to a goddess. This technique also results in a great deal of befuddlement for the reader; the line between a stylistic intent and a confused style becomes unclear. Events may occur rather believably in one chapter, before being contradicted when reality is revealed in the next...
...point, the birth of Han's child is recorded twice, in almost identical prose, with only the sex of the child different in each account. Only pages later is the reader able to separate Han's hallucinations from reality. But meanwhile, as Han rants to everyone who will listen, "I gave birth to a son. I saw him. I touched him," the reader does not know whether to believe her claims or dismiss her delirium as does everyone else. But Lim may just intend to make the reader empathize with Han's own confusion at the admittedly odd circumstances...