49 pages • 1 hour read
Michael OndaatjeA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Originally from Sri Lanka, Anil Tissera has lived abroad—in Europe and the United States—since she was 18. A forensic pathologist, she has worked for numerous human rights organizations, identifying remains after periods of violence in various places. She returns to Sri Lanka after a 15-year absence to investigate the potential human rights violations being committed there during the country’s ongoing civil war. She feels alienated from the Sri Lanka of her youth and, thus, from parts of herself: Her parents have died; she no longer speaks the language fluently; the war renders her homeland frightening and strange. Over the course of the novel, Anil rediscovers her connection to Sri Lanka and herself.
Anil’s alienation from Sri Lanka ties her to the theme of Rootlessness and Return. Her rootlessness began early, when she decided as a child to campaign for another name, not merely the result of feeling alienated from the identity assigned to her by her gender and nationality. She is different, and needs a name that suits that difference: “She knew herself to be, and was known to others as, a determined creature” (67). She is not willing to pretend to be something she is not, putting her in direct conflict with traditional Sri Lankan culture.
By Michael Ondaatje
Coming Through Slaughter
Coming Through Slaughter
Michael Ondaatje
Divisadero
Divisadero
Michael Ondaatje
In the Skin of a Lion
In the Skin of a Lion
Michael Ondaatje
Running in the Family
Running in the Family
Michael Ondaatje
The Cat's Table
The Cat's Table
Michael Ondaatje
The Cinnamon Peeler
The Cinnamon Peeler
Michael Ondaatje
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
Michael Ondaatje
The English Patient
The English Patient
Michael Ondaatje
Warlight
Warlight
Michael Ondaatje