How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
In those early amorphous years when memory had only just begun, when life was full of Beginnings and no Ends, and Everything was Forever, Esthappen and Rahel thought of themselves together as Me, and separately, individually, as We or Us. As though they were a rare breed of Siamese twins, physically separate, but with joint identities. (1.9)
When you think about it, Estha and Rahel actually seem to have pretty different personalities in the novel – they're definitely not the same person. And yet they balance each other out; each of them is the extension of the other.
Quote #2
The harbinger of harsh reality: You're both whole wogs and I'm a half one. (1.98)
"Wog" is a derogatory British slang term for a non-white person. Here Sophie Mol matter-of-factly boxes Rahel and Estha's identities into the neat category of "not white" and her own into "half-white." This is just one of the ways Sophie Mol's presence causes Rahel to feel inferior.
Quote #3
Two little ones, instead of one big one. Twin seals, slick with their mother's juices. Wrinkled with the effort of being born. Ammu checked them for deformities before she closed her eyes and slept. She counted four eyes, four ears, two mouths, two noses, twenty fingers and twenty perfect toe-nails.
She didn't notice the single Siamese soul. (2.27-28)
This moment contrasts the parts of the twins' identities that are visible to the eye with the parts that can't be seen. Physically, they are two completely separate human beings. Deep down, though, their inner selves are connected.