Fasting, Feasting

In the final chapters of the novel, Mrs. Patton finally confronts her daughter’s suffering and pain, and Arun prepares to leave the tangled web of family for a new school semester. In Chapter 26, Arun is obliged to take a trip to the swimming hole with Mrs. Patton and Melanie. Much to Arun’s chagrin, Mrs. Patton removes her swimsuit. Rather than see her naked and fully exposed, Arun leaps into the pond, landing with a belly flop. Discomfited by the idea of lying next to the nearly naked body of Mrs. Patton, Arun retreats into the solitude of the woods, where he discovers Melanie in the middle of one of her bulimic purges. Stunned and uncertain of what to do, he contemplates helping Melanie but cannot seem to take action. The troubling scene is only amplified when Mrs. Patton arrives and finally confronts the sight of her daughter’s condition.

In the final chapter, summer is over and school is about to begin. Arun packs his belongings at the Patton household. Melanie’s room is now empty; she has been sent away to a treatment facility in the Berkshires. Mr. Patton now works nights to afford this facility and Rod, having earned a football scholarship, has left home.