“Q & A” by Vikas Swarup

In the novel “Q & A” written by Vikas Swarup, (the) an idea that was memorable throughout the novel is- the contrast between reality and appearance. This idea was revealed by the author through (the) characters like Neelima Kumari, Armaan Ali and the Taylor family. The second part of the question is why was the idea memorable? This means what are the reasons that the idea stood out, or what did you learn. You need a sentence in the introduction that outlines the reason.

This idea was first shown by Armaan Ali. In ‘reel’ life, Armaan is portrayed a hero was Salim wanted. Ram describe, in the novel, him- “Now there’s Armaan Ali. The ultimate action hero. The Indian Greek god. The heartthrob of millions”. Salim idolized and worshiped him as a god and had put his many posters all over his room. But people are not what they seem to be, as Armaan Ali was a gay and was hiding that fact from the public. When Salim and Ram were watching the movie, a old man comes into the movie half-way thruogh and tries to touch Salim in the cinema. Salim reacts when he tries to touch his crutch and runs after him and pulls off the man’s fake beard and realises it is the movie star Armaan Ali. His heart was broken as Salim hates gay and can’t even imagine Armaan Ali as a gay. ” Armaan Ali, his hero, is dead”. We can see that there is a huge difference between what you see and what actually it is.

This idea was again shown by another bollywood star, Neelima Kumari. She appears to be rich bollywood star who earns money from her looks/ talent and get the tittle- “Tragedy Queen”. She lives in a luxury house with expensive materials in it. Ram also told- ” Neelima Kumari’s flat is spacious and contemporary, tastefully furnished with expensive wall-to-wall carpets and paintings. It has five bedrooms.” She looks happy to people but in reality she was sad and lonely. After her mother’s death, there was no one for her.

Even Neelima’s lover was also abusing her. In her spacious flat, she was lonely and not even give one of the good room to Ram. She just want to fulfill her wish that is to die young just like her admiring two heroines so that she could stay young in people’s mind but in reality when she dies, no one was there to do anything for her. Even no one notice her death and after one month her decomposed corpse was found by police which can’t even be identified. In that, we can see that Neelima want to die young and be young in other’s memory but in reality she died with the ugly appearance which no one even wants to see.

This idea was again shown by the Taylor family. They appear to be happy and joyful family, sharing all things but in reality all of them have secrets and tried to hide from each other. For example, Colonel Taylor, who was Australian Defence Attache, was actually a spy and spying the ministers of the government, Mrs. Taylor was having an affair with someone, Roy was on drugs and Maggie had a boyfriend. By reading about that, anyone can tell that even they live as a family but they doesn’t look like a family. They more look like strangers to each other.

The author tried to show us the contrast between appearance and reality; people are not what they seem to be. The author shows this through the characters like Neelima Kumari, Armaan Ali and the Taylor family. They all seem to be perfect to the public but in reality they were not they look like. -Ajay Bisht

This is my version of your first paragraph.
Swarup has used a variety of characters and situations to make the idea of appearance and reality memorable. He presents a range of characters who are not what they seem. These characters have a negative effect on the innocent characters, such as Salim who hero worships the Bollywood star, Armaan Ali, and has put many of his posters all over his room. “Now there’s Armaan Ali. The ultimate action hero. The Indian Greek god. The heartthrob of millions”. This shows us Ali’s Bollywood image is of a romantic hero but in his real life he is a sad, pathetic abuser who is gay. ” Armaan Ali, his hero, is dead”. Salim has complete faith in his film star hero and his horror at being abused by him in a theatre is horrendous. This makes the difference between his image and the person he is memorable because it makes the reader think about the importance our society puts on celebrities and the effect they can have on our lives. Their image is created for a variety of reasons, usually to make people spend money on things, such as perfumes and cosmetics.

See if you can rewrite your next 2 paragraphs. Remember you have to explain why the idea is memorable.