The Marriage Plot

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

In Calcutta, Mitchell volunteers at the Home for Dying Destitutes, operated by the Salvation Army. Volunteers from all over the world flock there, and Mitchell learns that the best way to catch a glimpse of Mother Theresa—who travels throughout India and often visits other parts of the world, raising funds—is to attend the weekly Mass. Mitchell does and is amazed by how small the woman is.

For the first time, he feels that he is doing meaningful work now that the main phase of his trip has begun. However, he is reluctant to perform the more difficult tasks involved with caring for the dying, such as bathing them or helping them to the bathroom. He interacts with other pilgrims regularly, including an American named Mike, who has come to India after being fired from a sales job and brags of his sexual escapades in Thailand, and a German named Rüdiger, who claims to have visited every country in the world except two. Rüdiger philosophizes about various religious beliefs often.

In his third week, Mitchell retrieves the medicine cart from the nearby supply facility as usual. Most of the medications—donated by various foreign pharmaceutical companies—are useless for the conditions that the Indians in the hospital suffer from.