Amitav Ghosh’s fiction story The Shadow Lines is known as an outstanding book and won the Saahitya Akademi Award for English and the Ananda Puraskar Award. The Shadow Lines consists of two hundred and forty six pages and was published in 1988 by Ravi Dayal Publishers. The novel discusses different historical events that bring people together and keep them apart. The story is told from the narrators point of view. The narrator is a young boy growing up in Calcutta that is joined with the Prices in London during times of war while acts of violence make for a tough experience.
During The Shadow Lines a young boy is growing up in Calcutta during the 1960s and later moves to Delhi and then London. The narrator’s name is unknown but he is known for worshipping Tridib because of his knowledge. However, the narrators grandmother feels he is wasting his life away in luxury and does not understand why her grandson looks up to him. The grandmother also known as Tha’mma has a terrible past and wants to reunite her family. As one English and One Bengali family join they face war and violence together. The narrator has passionate feelings toward Ila and becomes sexual attracted to her. He never states his feelings because he is afraid of losing her. However, one night he watches her as she changes clothes and tries to rape her. The grandmother does not like Ila and does not want her grandson to support her. At the end of the story Tridib sacrifices his life for his love, May, during the riots. There were a lot of mixed feelings about this novel.
Although this story was fiction I felt it expressed a lot of real life events that brings the story to life. This story showed how our personal pasts can be inventions of our im...
... middle of paper ...
...nts. Amitav Ghosh wrote this story in a realistic manner that teaches readers lessons needed to make it through life. This would not be a book I would normally read but it turned out to be a good book with a lot of hidden messages which the author did not put into plain view. I felt this book tried to show that everyone is different and everyone has their own perspective on life based on the relationships between characters. Also, I felt this book tried to express the importance of history and how history impacts the future. The narrator showed that even if you go through rough times there is still hope for a happy ending. The title of the book sums up the entire book into one phrase which emphasizes the separation in residents which divide individuals. I feel the author choose this title to show the separation to meeting of the English and Bengali families.
Her realization that she is not alone in her oppression brings her a sense of freedom. It validates her emerging thoughts of wanting to rise up and shine a light on injustice. Her worries about not wanting to grow up because of the harsh life that awaits her is a common thought among others besides the people in her community. As she makes friends with other Indians in other communities she realizes the common bonds they share, even down to the most basic such as what they eat, which comforts her and allows her to empathize with them.
When reading this book I began to think of how I grew up and how I am a
Often, when a story is told, it follows the events of the protagonist. It is told in a way that justifies the reasons and emotions behind the protagonist actions and reactions. While listening to the story being cited, one tends to forget about the other side of the story, about the antagonist motivations, about all the reasons that justify the antagonist actions.
The whole book starts from the river and Ganges and ends at the same site. Isobe lost his wife because of cancer; when she was very ill in hospital she had already lost hope to live longer. Isobe was not a loyal and a humble husband who took his wife for granted. Isobe’s wife was a very dedicated wife who loved Isobe very much and treated him well even though she didn’t
end. This essay will further show how both stories shared similar endings, while at the same time
Ged, the main character in The Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. LeGuin, through an act of pride and spite unwittingly unleashes a powerful shadow creature on the world, and the shadow hunts Ged wherever he goes. After failing to kill Ged the first time, he learns the only way to destroy the shadow is to find its name. What Ged must realize is the shadow was created by the evil in his own heart. Also, the shadow is not entirely evil, and Ged can actually draw strength from it. In doing so, Ged will realize that the only way to discover the shadow’s name is to discover that he and the shadow are one. Carl G. Jung in Man and His Symbols, describes the shadow as containing the hidden, repressed, and unfavorable “tendencies” of the conscious personality. “Such tendencies form an ever-present and potentially destructive ‘shadow’ to our conscious mind.”
First of all, the book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity through the setting. In
The emotions throughout the society are shared with the individuals throughout their confusing times, and by their shared experiences. The times spent together of the characters brought the individuals closer together through the dark negative times, and through the light positive situations of society. The confusing part of peoples lives are brought together and are shown throughout the status of society. The stories of the “Encounter,” “Eveline,” and “The Dead” come together with similar experiences of situations of light and dark. The society bring the individuals closer together by shared times.
This is an odd little book, but a very important one nonetheless. The story it tells is something like an extended parablethe style is plain, the characters are nearly stick figures, the story itself is contrived. And yet ... and yet, the story is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking because the historical trend it describes is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking.
“The story employs a dramatic point of view that emphasizes the fragility of human relationships. It shows understanding and agreemen...
It deals with obstacles in life and the ways they are over come. Even if you are different, there are ways for everyone to fit in. The injustices in this book are well written to inform a large audience at many age levels. The book is also a great choice for those people who cheers for the underdogs. It served to illustrate how the simple things in life can mean everything.
...and how we perceive ideas about what writers are trying to get across. This story is a clear representation of family values and true inheritance.
Everyone is supposed to have a story about how he/she became the reader and writer he/she is today. For me, my story is not just about how I became an exceptional reader and writer; it is about how I became the person I am. I do not have some dark childhood story filled with depressed memories. I had a delightful childhood and cannot complain about anything that I have been through. However, I feel as if I live a life much different from all the children I knew.
of times that we felt the same way, whic gives the story meaning and depth. This is
Stories are our essence of life. They grow and change with us. They allow us to reconstruct the pas, and put our slant on things. They don’t’ have make sense, and they don’t all have to be fact. That’s what kind of story this is.