Dadu: The Grandfather Who Stole for Love in a Dying City

Overview

Dadu is Ma’s elderly father and the grandfather of four‑year‑old Mishti in Megha Majumdar’s A Guardian and a Thief. He lives with his daughter and granddaughter in a near‑future Kolkata ravaged by climate change, food scarcity, and social breakdown. After the family’s immigration documents are stolen, Dadu becomes a desperate scavenger and thief, stealing food for his granddaughter. He dies peacefully in his sleep on Day 6, before the family’s planned emigration to Ann Arbor. His death frees Ma to pursue forged passports and ultimately leads to her violent confrontation with the thief Boomba. Dadu’s arc is one of sacrificial love, moral compromise, and the quiet dignity of an old man who gives everything for his child’s child.

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Plot Role

Dadu serves as both the moral conscience and the most vulnerable member of the family. His role unfolds across key moments:

• Day 2: After the theft of the purse containing passports, Dadu bluffs that he is a writer to avoid immediate visa cancellation, buying the family a few days.
• Day 4: While Ma searches for the thief, Dadu scavenges the city alone. He steals an orange from a child in a bank, then fights a couple for cauliflower and canned goods. He also buys a painting of a rhino from a street artist, planning to bring it to Michigan for Mishti.
• Day 5: After Boomba takes Mishti to the billionaire’s wedding feast, Dadu beats Boomba and forces him out of the house. He then collapses from exhaustion and is cared for by Ma and Mishti.
• Day 6: Dadu dies peacefully in his sleep. Ma discovers him in the morning. His death is a quiet turning point: Ma later accepts forged passports and prioritizes survival over grief.
• After death: His ashes are packed for America, and the return of the real passports (found in a dump) is seen by Ma as Dadu’s gift.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Dadu’s motivations are rooted in love for his granddaughter and a stubborn belief in a better future. The evidence reveals:

• Protective love: He steals an orange from a child, rationalizing it by hearing Mishti’s cries for food. He fights a younger man for cauliflower, using “the ferocity of daughter’s and granddaughter’s hunger.”
• Preservation of memory: He buys a rhino painting from a street artist, imagining it hanging in Mishti’s Michigan room, so that one day she can say, “My Dadu got it for me.” This shows his desire for immortality through memory.
• Dignity and self‑sacrifice: After the fight, he coughs and feels shame, but he does not return the food. He quietly bears physical weakness and exhaustion, refusing to be a burden to Ma. On Day 5, after collapsing, he rejects a hospital visit because he fears it would delay the flight or force Ma to choose between his health and Mishti’s safety.
• Nostalgia and grief: His deathbed memories are filled with visions of his own childhood, his parents, his wife, and his daughter as a baby. He experiences a “freedom of all his selves” and becomes “only a stranger on a bus in the city,” indicating a peaceful release from identity.

Chronological Arc

Relationships

• Ma (his daughter): Dadu is both a burden and a support. Ma cares for him but is often too preoccupied to notice his declining health. He hides his dizziness and refuses to let her call an ambulance. His death allows Ma to fully embrace her role as a mother, prioritizing Mishti above all.
• Mishti (granddaughter): Dadu’s love for Mishti drives every major action. He steals, fights, and buys gifts for her. She calls him “Dadu” and plays with his toes. After his death, she asks, “Where is Dadu? I want Dadu play with me,” showing the bond.
• Mrs. Sen (neighbor): Dadu interacts with her indirectly through Ma. His presence in the house is known to the community.
• Boomba: Antagonistic relationship. After Boomba takes Mishti, Dadu beats him and forces him out. Boomba later returns and takes over the house after Dadu’s death.

Key Decisions and Consequences

1. Stealing the orange – He takes an orange from a child in a bank. Consequence: immediate guilt, but also food for Mishti.
2. Fighting for cauliflower – He lunges into a home and grabs cauliflower and cans, injuring himself. Consequence: he succeeds in getting food but suffers exhaustion and a cut that worsens.
3. Buying the rhino painting – Uses money intended for the ration shop. Consequence: preserves a symbol of beauty and memory for Mishti.
4. Refusing hospital after collapse – He chooses to rest instead of seek medical help. Consequence: his health declines unnoticed until his death.
5. Beating Boomba – A violent but brief act of protection. Consequence: Boomba leaves but later returns when the house is empty, leading to the final confrontation.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Dadu’s actions connect to several themes detailed elsewhere:

• Climate change and scarcity: Dadu fears famine, and his scavenging reflects a world where hunger forces elders to steal.
• Family love and sacrificial motherhood: Dadu’s thefts are acts of paternal/grandparental love, mirroring Ma’s sacrifices.
• Moral compromise in survival: Dadu crosses a line he never imagined—stealing from a child—showing how scarcity erodes ethics.
• Class inequality and charity as control: The ration shop owner’s dual identity as thief and benefactor parallels Dadu’s own moral duality.
• Immigration and displacement: Dadu’s death before emigration silences his voice in the new world, but his things (ashes, painting) travel anyway.

Symbols:

• The rhino painting symbolizes Dadu’s hope that beauty and memory survive.
• The orange represents both life and theft, a stolen sweetness for a hungry child.
• Cauliflower and canned goods stand for the ordinary meals Dadu longs to provide.

5 Book‑Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Dadu steal an orange from a child in the bank?
   He is driven by Mishti’s hunger. He hears her crying in his mind and cannot bear to return empty‑handed. He knows it is wrong but prioritizes her need over the stranger child’s.
2. What is the significance of the rhino painting Dadu buys?
   He buys it from a desperate painter and plans to hang it in Mishti’s future room in Michigan. It represents his desire to leave a legacy of beauty and to be remembered by his granddaughter.
3. Does Dadu ever confront Boomba after the ferry incident?
   Yes. After Boomba returns Mishti safely, Dadu beats him with his stick and forces him out of the house. It is his last act of physical strength.
4. Why does Dadu refuse to go to the hospital after collapsing?
   He fears that doctors will keep him for scans and tests, delaying the flight. He also does not want to force Ma to choose between his care and Mishti’s safety.
5. How does Dadu’s death affect Ma’s decisions in the final days?
   His death frees Ma from one responsibility, but it also deepens her resolve. She packs his ashes, accepts forged passports, and pushes forward for Mishti, even as her own grief sits unprocessed.

For further discussion of the novel’s puzzles and the final chapters, see the ending explained and questions and answers.