Day Two (AFTERNOON): LIGHTHOUSE HILL

The main character of this story, Xerox Ramakrishna, is a man who illegally sells photocopied and printed books at a low price. The people who mainly buy his copied books are students from a nearby college. I thought this was an interesting character the author chose to write about. His nickname Xerox is a suitable one because his occupation is to sell copied books. I see Xerox shops all over Bangalore and I also see people selling books on the sidewalks and such. Although some of the meno n the sidewalks are actually selling real books. I was surprised to read that the main character had been arrested twenty-one times; usually the protagonist in books is a fair and honest person. This does make it more interesting to read though and see that the main character had a rough history. I like how, when in jail, Xerox is on good terms with the policemen and jailers. He makes them laugh and entertains them with stories. I thought it was pretty gruesome and sadistic, the way that the lawyer D’Souza and the policeman Ramesh had smashed Xerox’s legs with a metal bar. Although I guess it was a major offense to sell a book titled ‘Satanic Verses’, Xerox didn’t know he was selling it.