Throughout the first half of Michael Ondaatje's novel, Anil’s Ghost the theme of trust in a war-torn is exquisitely described through various perspectives of the people within the Sinhalese-Sri Lankan community, character development, and imagery. The perspective of protagonist Anil, a forensic anthropologist who grew up in Sri Lanka begins when story as she returns as part of a Human Rights investigation to bring out the truth of war-crimes and corruption in the government. As she arrives after years abroad for education, Anil’s perspective of her homeland changes according to her new standpoint as an outsider, and must find others to accompany her on her journey to seek justice and find evidence of what has been hidden on all fronts of the
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To Anil, who's been an insider of this country as a child, now returning as an outsider, the lines of who she can trust and who is looking to deceive and work against her are …show more content…
Considering this, Anil’s character development is heavily connected to the island’s lack of honesty in politics as well as trust in others. In addition, through several of the many side stories amongst the main plot, the perspective of other characters in the novel elevates the consequences of war to a person’s trust in the world, specifically to Lakma, a child born into the war-torn country. Namely, when Palipana, a helper in Anil’s quest introduces his niece, he describes how the murder of the her parents “had touched everything within her" (103) as the “nightmares continued for Lakma, who was unable to deal with the possibility of danger around her” (103). Bringing a new perspective to the issue, as a child with no political opinions or motives, to have her entirety of family, home, and safety taken away shows the implications of war to a younger generation growing up not knowing anything but war. Consequently, her trust in others is nonexistent after firsthand suffering the trauma of losing her parents and ending up in an
To Anil, who's been an insider of this country as a child, now returning as an outsider, the lines of who she can trust and who is looking to deceive and work against her are …show more content…
Considering this, Anil’s character development is heavily connected to the island’s lack of honesty in politics as well as trust in others. In addition, through several of the many side stories amongst the main plot, the perspective of other characters in the novel elevates the consequences of war to a person’s trust in the world, specifically to Lakma, a child born into the war-torn country. Namely, when Palipana, a helper in Anil’s quest introduces his niece, he describes how the murder of the her parents “had touched everything within her" (103) as the “nightmares continued for Lakma, who was unable to deal with the possibility of danger around her” (103). Bringing a new perspective to the issue, as a child with no political opinions or motives, to have her entirety of family, home, and safety taken away shows the implications of war to a younger generation growing up not knowing anything but war. Consequently, her trust in others is nonexistent after firsthand suffering the trauma of losing her parents and ending up in an