![]() They were nearly all male, in their twenties, damaged by mines, grenades, mortar shells” (Ondaatje 114). In Anil’s Ghost, Ondaatje mentions these incidents in a brief manner: “The victims of ‘international violence’ had started appearing in March 1984. In 1984, the Tamil Tigers become famous due to devastating attacks such as the Kent and Dollar Farm massacres, where hundreds of men, women and children are attacked during night as they sleep and are hacked to death with fatal blows to the head from axes. Ondaatje remembers the Sri Lankan Civil war through the victims. At the beginning of the novel, a government official is murdered by a man on the train. In this novel, Ondaatje writes this incident in a short manner. As a result of this war, they have killed an officer and 12 soldiers. ![]() Their main target is policemen and the moderate who attempt a dialogue with the government. In order to create an independent Tamil state in the north and the east in the island, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as Tamil Tigers, fight against the government. The terrorism of the separatist guerrilla groups, who were fighting for a homeland in the north” (Ondaatje 38-39). In Anil’s Ghost, Ondaatje claims: “There had been continual emergency from 1983 onwards, racial attacks and political killings. In reality, Sri Lankan Civil war began on 23 July 1983 and there is a fight between the Sinhalese and the Tamilians. He also indicates the reason for the war that is fought for homeland. In Anil’s Ghost, Ondaatje mentions the years and the sufferings of the victims. At the beginning of the novel, one can see this disappearance in a list of missing people. During Sri Lanka’s 16- year conflict which began in the mid-1980s, the government struggles to crush uprisings by the Tamil Tigers and separatist guerrillas, and thousands of people simply vanished. (Kanner 2000).Įven though he hesitates to write about the dark violence of the country, the navel explores the dark side of the country. I allowed that to represent the country, not just generals and politicians. In a way, the archaeology was there for the purpose, as well. It’s not just a culture of death, it’s an intricate, subtle, and artistic culture. ![]() But I didn’t want the dark violence to be the only portrait of the country. I grew up in a country that was different the germs of racism were there then, I just wasn’t aware of it. He doesn’t want to describe only the dark violence of the country, instead he adds subplot to this novel. As he is a Canadian citizen, he always wants to feel at home in Sri Lanka, and so he writes this novel. In an interview, Ondaatje says “Sri Lanka now is a more complicated world morally” (Kanner). Anil’s Ghost tells the story of Anil, who is like the author, is both a native of the country and a stranger to it.īoth the author and his protagonist have beautiful memories of growing up there, memories overlaid by horror. As Ondaatje was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, he sets the novel in the same place. In order to remember the war, he takes seven years to recall the war. He does not write about the Sri Lanka war alone, instead he intermixes it with the plot. Through the novel, Anil’s Ghost Michael Ondaatje remembers the Sri Lankan Civil war to the future generation and the people who migrates to other countries. It is not a forgettable war, he remembers this war to the people who does not know about this country. As he lives in Canada, he remembers the Sri Lankan Civil war in Anil’s Ghost. He is a Sri Lankan- born Canadian writer. Some writers reminisce the World war, some of them remember the Civil war, and some of them recall the forgotten war through their writings among them one of the writers is Michael Ondaatje. By remembering war, one can acknowledge the history of the country. Keywords: war, history, mass, abduction bombings, disappearance, violence, reminiscence.Īnil’s Ghost is the fourth novel of Michael Ondaatje. Through this novel he has clearly picturized the Sri Lankan Civil War and the reminiscence of the war. Ondaatje creates the same situation and the cruel incident in this novel. ![]() He also recalls the sufferings of war like torture and disappearances through the characters, Gunasena and Sirissa. He recollects the loss of family members through the character of Lakma and Palipana. He recalls the war through various incidents like killing, disappearance, kidnapping, torturing and burning. As Ondaatje settled in Canada, he remembers the Sri Lankan Civil War through each and every character of the novel, Anil’s Ghost. ![]() This article is set out to analyze the remembrance of Sri Lankan Civil war in Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost. ![]()
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