The Gift of Rain

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness and death.

“Mr. Deepak was long dead now, yet the lighthouse lived on, a lonely sentinel of the sea still carrying out its archaic duty even in this modern age.”

As an old man, still living in Penang, Philip is drawn to the sight of the lighthouse because he sees himself much the same way. He is a relic of a forgotten world, lost in the swirl of modernity but still maintaining his vigilant watch over everything he holds dear. Existing has become Philip’s “archaic duty.”

“England is a foreign land, cold and gloomy.”

To Philip, all lands other than Penang are foreign, but England is particularly foreign, reflecting The Complexity of Identity. The imagined weather of England is an example of pathetic fallacy, in which the cold and gloomy atmosphere reflects Philip’s emotional disposition toward an island with which he does not identify. In denying England, he is denying a certain part of himself to reaffirm and deepen his connection to Penang.

“They told me that we had known each other a long, long time ago. That we will know each other in the times to come.”

The encounter with the fortune teller is, for Philip, a novelty. For Endo, it is a tragic validation of what he already feels. He feels drawn to Philip, fully aware that their relationship will end tragically. This is a cycle of violence and Endo is saddened because he feels trapped by his duty to his destiny, reflecting The Tension Between Conflict and Harmony in his life.