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Question
Comment on the relationship shared by Mammachi and Pappachi.
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Solution
Pappachi and Mammachi had a gap of 17 years. A retired high ranked officer, Pappachi was always jealous of Mammach's talent and of the attention she received. Whether it was pickle making or her violin classes in Vienna, Pappachi was always jealous of her. Despite all the friction they had in their relationship, Mammachi bore with him. Mammachi was more used to Pappachi and was not exactly in love with him. Pappachi used to beat him with brass vases and still Mammachi could not let go of him. She wept bitterly at his funeral not because the man she had loved was gone but because he will not be around her anymore. He was an old shoe for her and she could not let go of him. She was too attached to him, to having his slouching around the pickle factory, and of course, used to being beaten by him.
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Adapted from : The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society – By Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
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(iii) What did the man say when Granny Pheen asked him how he knew about cats’ lives?[2]
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