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Anil's Ghost- January 2012
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Discussion Questions*** questions may contain spoilers
Discussion Questions
1- Juxtapositions and fragments are central to the style and structure of Anil's Ghost. The novel opens with a scene in italics, in which we are introduced to Anil as part of a team of scientists unearthing the bodies of missing people in Guatemala. Then there is a brief scene in which Anil arrives in Sri Lanka to begin her investigation for the human rights group. This is followed by another scene in italics, describing "the place of a complete crime"--a place where Buddhist cave sculptures were "cut out of the walls with axes and saws" [p. 12]. How do these sections--upon which the author does not comment--work together, and what is the cumulative effect of such brief scenes?
2- Why is the story of how Anil got her name [pp. 67-8] important to the construction of her character? Does it imply that she has created an identity for herself, based on fierce internal promptings, that is at odds with her parents' wishes for her? Is Anil's personality well-suited to the conditions in which she finds herself in Sri Lanka?
3- Forensic expertise such as Anil's often occupies a central place in the mystery genre--as in the popular Kay Scarpetta mysteries by Patricia Cornwell or in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In what ways does Anil's Ghost fit into the genre of mystery fiction, and how does it transcend such a classification?
4- How does the section called "The Grove of Ascetics" extend the novel's exploration of the meaning of history? What is the relevance, if any, of Palipana's knowledge? How does the ancient culture of the island relate to its present situation? Does the past have permanence?
5- If you have read The English Patient, how does Anil's Ghost compare with that novel? Is it similar, with its focus on war, on history, on how people behave in dangerous political situations--or is it quite different?
6- What does Anil's affair with Cullis, as well as what we learn about her marriage, tell us about her passion and her sensuality? Given her past, is it surprising that there is no romantic involvement for her in this story?
7- Michael Ondaatje has published many books of poetry; how do the style and structure of this novel exhibit the poetic sensibility of its author?
8- Is there a single or multiple meaning behind the "ghost" of the book's title? Who or what is Anil's Ghost?
9- Why are Anil, Sarath, and Gamini so consumed by their work? What parts of their lives are they necessarily displacing or postponing for the sake of their work? Is the choice of professional over personal life the correct one, ethically speaking, within the terms of this novel?
10- Does the story of Gamini's childhood provide an adequate explanation for the rivalry between him and Sarath? Or is the rivalry caused solely by the fact that as adults they both loved the same woman? Does Sarath's wife love Gamini rather than her husband? Which of the two brothers is the more admirable one?
11- As Anil thinks about the mystery of Sailor's death, the narrator tells us, "She used to believe that meaning allowed a person a door to escape grief and fear. But she saw that those who were slammed and stained by violence lost the power of language and logic" [p. 55]. How does this insight about the loss of language and logic explain Ananda's behavior? Is Anil's search for "meaning" ultimately to be seen as naive within a context which, as the narrator tells us, "The reason for war was war" [p. 43]?
12- The acknowledgments at the end of the book tell us that the names of people who disappeared (mentioned on p. 41) are taken from an actual list in Amnesty International reports (see p. 310). Similarly, the description of the assassination of the president [pp. 291-95] is based on true events, though the president's name has been changed. Why does Ondaatje insert the names of real people, and the real situations in which they died or disappeared, in a work of fiction?
13- Certain tersely narrated episodes convey the terrifying strangeness of Sri Lanka's murderous atmosphere. About the bicycle incident he witnessed, in which the person being kidnapped was forced to embrace his captor as he was taken away, Sarath says, "It was this necessary intimacy that was disturbing" [p. 154]. Another scene describes Anil and Sarath's rescue of the crucified Gunesena; another the disappearance of Ananda's wife. How does Ondaatje's handling of these three separate examples of violence and its victims make the reader understand the horror of living with politically-motivated murder as an everyday reality?
14- What are the elements that give such emotional power to the scene in which Gamini examines and tends to the body of his murdered brother?
15- Given the crisis that occurs when Anil testifies about Sailor at the hospital, has she brought about more harm than good? If so, is she ultimately to be seen as an outsider who has intruded in a situation she doesn't fully understand? Is Sarath the true hero of the novel, and does he sacrifice his life for hers?
16- The novel ends with a chapter called "Distance," in which a vandalized statue of Buddha is reconstructed and Ananda, the artisan, is given the task of sculpting the god's eyes. Does this religious ceremony cast the novel's ending in a positive or hopeful light? How important is the theme of Buddhism, and the presence of the Buddha's gaze, throughout this story?
17- How does Ondaatje manage to convey a powerful sense of place in this novel? What are the details that communicate Sri Lanka's unique geographical and cultural identity?
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Some Preliminaries to DiscussionI happened to have free time between library due dates and with my new semester looming, I decided to take the opportunity to read Anil's Ghost. I have read it and am ready to discuss it.
Re notations if I'm doing a spoiler discussion--I have the Knopf hardcover. It looks like the pagination may be identical to the paperback. I certainly hope so because there are no chapters.
Another difficulty is that there is no glossary but there are a number of untranslated Sinhali and Sanskrit words that I needed to research.
Deals with pages 1-12Question 1--Perhaps the fragmentary scenes represent the smashing of Anil's perception of her homeland into fragments. She has to piece the current state of Sri Lanki together, just as she has to piece together the buried skeletons that she uncovers.
I really liked the quote from Archilochus on page 11
"In the hospitality of war we left them their dead to remember us by."
Hospitality was an important tradition among the ancient Greeks. The irony of referring to war as hospitality is rather mordant commentary on any invasion and rather appropriate. Yet how is this quote relevant to Sri Lanka's civil war?
I wondered if it was the author of the quote that Ondaatje intended to bring to our attention. So I looked up the poet Archilocus on Wikipedia and my most notable discovery was that the soldier who killed him was thrown out of the temple of Apollo at Delphi because he brought about the death of "a servant of the muses". This is a tremendous contrast to the killings in Sri Lanka. The perpetrators are unknown and not even stigmatized as the killer of Archilocus was. Anil has been brought to Sri Lanka to investigate on behalf of a human rights organization which certainly doesn't have the power of the Oracle at Delphi.
Deals with pages 13-67Question 2-- Regarding the central character's changing her name to Anil, it was her brother's name so there may be a factor of sibling rivalry or envy of the fact that he's a boy and therefore privileged. She might have wanted to buy into that privilege by adopting a male name. She became a top athlete with that name. Maybe she found it more empowering than her original female name.
I admit that I never liked the name my mother gave me. It's a common one for women of my generation and I don't identify with its meaning. Not only that, my mother chose it based on a really insipid song that was popular in 1955, the year I was born. Yet I never thought of formally changing it.
I guess the difference between Anil and me is that I've never felt that my name could conceivably limit me. There can be symbolic power in a name, yes, but I don't think that your name is your destiny.
Changing her name to her brother's is one of the few personal things i remember about the character. While it struck me as unusual, i realize that in other nations/cultures this is not really abnormal, just unusual. Indeed, i ran across a similar notion a year or so later in a book set in South Korea, iirc.In this country i've known several women who didn't legally change their names but assumed a more male version of their own. An example is a friend who was Mary Ellen. She renamed herself Mel, by which most people now know her. She said she did it because at her Catholic school she was one of 7 Marys. And i thought 3 Deborahs were bad in my first grade!
And others use their initials to blur the line of sexes. I suppose that may be a Western thing, but i'm not sure. As for symbolism, i agree about the possibilities for that. I guess i note this aspect of names, even though i have an awful memory for names. Wonder what that means about me?
deb
Question 3A mystery novel focuses on whodunit. In this book the question of whodunit can't even be posed until the remains are identified. Whodunit is a concern of the novel, but the civil war and its impact on Sri Lanka is far more central. Anil's struggle to identify those bones is a jumping off point that allows Ondaatje to show us various aspects of Sri Lankan society.
Question 4"Does the past have permanence?" I don't know any history major/armchair archaeologist who wouldn't agree that it does. Yet there's also the "Ozymandias" perspective. "Look on my works ye mighty and despair!" It all crumbles away. Yet it's all still with us in less obvious ways. Heritage is one way in which the past stays with us, and that's a theme of this novel. I think that Anil was drawn back to Sri Lanka because she can't turn her back on her heritage though she did try. This is an area where I identify with Anil. I have a highly ambivalent attitude toward my own heritage.
One problem i have with the idea of heritage identifying is that people tend not to live up to those ideals, yet think they do. I'm not just talking about hypocrisy but about ignoring their own, present reality. In a minor way i see this in Texas. Many people here are not native, yet they claim the Texas identity of "big", of "rough & tumble", of cowboys, when they are only a small version of the real heritage, the dress-up part. Most pale in contrast to the original Texans who preferred function over style.I suspect this may be true in some areas of the world, too, but not all. The standards are dated, which makes many of us acknowledge but not treasure their heritage. One thing i felt about this book is how Anil returned with an eye toward differences she's experienced away from her land. For my money, people can become more tolerant and/or willing to see the problems with their heritage after an absence. (Some, however, have been so homesick or have met such large disappointments that they return & fully embrace the old heritage. I'm sure there are those (most?) who combine the best of both old & new, too.)
deb
madrano wrote: "One problem i have with the idea of heritage identifying is that people tend not to live up to those ideals, yet think they do. I'm not just talking about hypocrisy but about ignoring their own, pr..."The way I see it, cowboy is a lifestyle not a heritage. Is "beach bum" a heritage? Although it's possible to be brought up as a cowboy if you were brought up on a ranch, there are different flavors of cowboy depending on ethnic heritage.
The other point is that identity is complex. It's made up of a number of components. Heritage is only one of them. Any of these components might have a strong influence on someone's behavior. For Anil, heritage seems to be a great deal stronger than gender, but perhaps not as strong as her occupational identification which took her away from Sri Lanka.
I understand what you mean, i think, about lifestyle. You can tell the difference (usually) between those whose families have ranched for generations and those who just bought a farm after dreaming of it growing up. There is an acceptance of what occurs in nature which isn't seen in the newbies, as though "hey, the movies didn't mention this!"Perhaps some aspects of heritage do not translate in this country. Or, maybe, people here just don't "cotton" to keeping parts of their heritage after making a new start here. Meanwhile, in one's own country, things alter slightly, making a return easier for some. I just don't know.
deb
Question 8 The "ghost" in the title can symbolically represent Anil's subconscious feelings of guilt for leaving Sri Lanka. On a very literal level, it can also be the dead man whose skeleton she found and spends the book trying to identify.
Shomeret and deb, thanks for reading and/or discussing this book with me. Sorry for the long post; I was playing catch-up. I've read up to page 157 (or right before the start of the "Ananda" section) in answering these questions.
1- The effect for me is that there's an incredibly long and rich history and also so much context that I, as the reader, and also Anil in the story, is unaware of. Especially with the tone of the narration, for me, it hit home that this is bigger than me or Anil or any one person.
Shomeret - I really like your interpretaton of the fragmentary scenes mirroring Anil's perception. I can see it when she remembers these discrete scenes and items.
I also liked the quote you brought up for its irony; it was such a twist.
2- I think it definitely is important in that it partly shows that she doesn't necessarily believe in authority and that the "truth" (at all costs) is important, which is not particularly well-suited to the situation she finds herself in with Sailor. It also speaks to her conviction or the flip side, her stubbornness.
I was surprised to find out Anil was female when I read the description because I have known Anil as a male name and then it made sense.
Shomeret - it's interesting that you bring up how you've never felt your name could limit you. I personally don't think Anil necessarily felt the name limited her in terms of where she could go in life but that it just wasn't her. Like how she keeps trying to limit people bringing up her swimming. It wasn't an aspect she wanted to emphasize or identify with. I do find it sort of surprising that it'd be her brother's name she wants as opposed to any other name.
3- It fits in that they're trying to figure out how one person died but really the story is more than a whodunit. The search feels like a frame for the larger context of the turmoil and danger in that time and place; so many people are missing or dead or hurt. And I feel that there really can't be a definite answer for this one person either.
Shomeret - no other comment except that we have such similar answers! (I tried to answer before seeing anyone else's.)
4- It extends the exploration by showing us that history is so malleable and there is so much of it but also so much is missing or incomplete or hidden or just unknown. Palipana's knowledge reveals that but it also shows us that there can be different sides to the same "history" (when, through his point of view, we learn about the secret in-between messages carved in). But his knowledge also shows me that history is also surprising and unexpected (the urinal stones, ha) and how people can be totally taken in by it and obsessed with uncovering it. I don't have an answer for how the ancient culture relates to the present situation but regarding whether the past has permanence, yes and no. It has happened and there are signs or "evidence" - for example, in cultural markers or traditions, in words, and physical objects - but it also fades or gets distorted or the people who remember die and what lives on is not always (maybe never) an accurate reflection or representation.
Shomeret - I'm also ambivalent about my own heritage. There are aspects that I don't care about because it's not something that my family or the culture/society in which I live emphasize but if I were to go back to the "source", it's very significant; I've lost the context for it and the cultural reinforcement so on the other hand, I feel like I'm betraying that heritage and I feel stuck in between.
Then you bring up a good point - identity is complex so that just adds another layer.
deb - you also bring up a good point about some aspects not translating well to a new place and also that the "source" itself changes.
5- I haven't read The English Patient for years but I do remember that similar feeling of the characters trying to make sense of the carnage and pain and loss and putting themselves in situations for a purpose. It also feels different though because in The English Patient, it felt like the purpose was a loved one or a lover, though I could be misremembering. In Anil's Ghost, the purpose is more nebulous to me.
6- I found this sort of refreshing that there is no romantic involvement for her in the timeline of the story and that her relationships were in the past. One thing I've found in Ondaatje's books that I've read (In the Skin of a Lion, The English Patient, Divisadero and now reading Anil's Ghost) is that I never find the romantic relationships very believable in how the people come together and even more so if the feelings are longer-lasting. But yes, I did find it surprising because it feels like Ondaatje was hinting at it with how close she gets physically to some of the other characters.
7- I can't pinpoint it exactly but it's in the phrasing and also the clarity of the imagery of a place or person or even concept for me that exhibits the poetic sensibility.
Question 9-- I think that Anil was actually postponing other work by coming to Sri Lanka to help the human rights organization. She was ambivalent about doing so. To me, it's implied that she could be elsewhere doing other things that might be more lucrative or better for her career.
(possible spoilers up to the end of the Ananda section)Re Question 9:
Shomeret - I like this take that Anil coming back to Sri Lanka is actually sort of personal for her even though the excuse is that she's here in a professional capacity. I think her obsession with work is displacing the "normal"or expected things of a romantic and/or family life. I wonder what happened to her brother especially since her parents have died.
Speaking about all three's choices - in general (as in outside of the book), I don't think there should be judgment on which choice is correct though in the terms of the book, their choice of professional lives over personal seems correct. The perspective we see for the other choice is incredulity or disbelief especially for Gamini with his wife. I do think that if Gamini knew that would be his life choice, he shouldn't have even bothered marrying his wife since he was basically going to abandon her; that, to me, was the incorrect choice, not whether he chose his professional or personal life.
I finished the book! (So possible spoilers for the whole book.)10 re "Which of the two brothers is the more admirable one?" and 14 - Certainly on the the surface, Gamini is saving more lives but Sarath's efforts to help Anil and putting himself in harm's way with his actions can also be seen as admirable. I think Gamini is shielding himself from the turmoil by focusing so tightly on the immediate and faceless patients even though he knows what's going on. The scene when he recognizes his brother's body was heart-breaking because he could no longer pretend the situation had no personal effect on him. It started with Sarath's wife, Ravina, and her suicide and him having to treat her but being unable to save her. But another element of emotional power was that it seemed they were becoming close again, especially in light of Anil's realization later that she was just an excuse for the two of them to talk that one time.
11- This is probably a reach but one could argue that Anil's sort of grieving herself - hard to say for what, could be her family, her parents, her homeland, her own past, Leaf's memory, the relationship with Cullis, some combination - and in trying to find out about Sailor's death, she's diverting this emotion.
12- I think it's to ground the story; give it emotional reality if not factual reality (does that make sense?).
13- The fact that these events occur so often and in so many different ways (both the methods of violence and the methods of telling) and that they seem to sometimes happen without rhyme or reason, drives the point home for me.
15- I think it could be seen this way especially with Gamini's thoughts and observations on p285-6 about a Westerner being unable to understand the love he and his brother have for his country and also about Westerners being able to leave and taking the camera away.
On the other hand, I don't see the author trying to establish a true hero of the story; these actions are what people in the middle of a war have to do to cope or to try to change things, especially since they love their country.
17- I think it started with the very specific descriptions, for example, with Anil's memory of her swimming, and continued with the scope of the items described, for example, from the rest house Anil and Sarath stay at and of course, all the sites and relics and stories from Palipana and Sarath, as an epigraphist and an archaeologist, respectively.
I found Hindu oriented significance in this book. On page 116 in the house that was taken over by the archaeological society there were two words written on the wall that seemed associated with Shiva, and later on pp. 181-2 Anil is portrayed as dancing wildly which I associate with Kali. Then there are the steps on page 192 which are both beautiful and dangerous when it rains. Kali is both beautiful and dangerous.
Thanks, Shomeret. I appreciate it when people point out things like that. While i read the words sometime the significance or how the words are a continued expression of place is lost on me. This is probably because i'm caught up in the storyline. Nice to have others note it for me, though.deb
Sumofparts wrote: "On the other hand, I don't see the author trying to establish a true hero of the story; these actions are what people in the middle of a war have to do to cope or to try to change things, especially since they love their country. ..."First of all, for some reason this thread didn't come up on my "unread" list, so i missed your last two posts, Sum. I liked reading your comments, so am sorry 'bout that. I disconnected myself one day & i'm thinking that must have been when they were on my list. ANYway, that's MY problem. :-)
One of the things i liked was that the author didn't try to establish heroes in the book. This was the first book i've read by him, so i don't know if this is typical. At one point i was so involved in the brother's stories that i was sure the focus of the book had changed.
deb
Shomeret - thanks for the observation re Hindu oriented significance. I would suggest that it's more likely to be Buddhist oriented significance considering the descriptions in the book and Sri Lanka's own history but I'm no expert by any means. It's cool that multiple layers of meaning can be found.I'm often not good at picking up that kind of meaning. I find it especially interesting that Anil's dance could be alluding to a deity; I was interpreting it as her way of sort of rebelling against the restrictive situation and intrigue she's in, bringing her back to a familiar headspace and also, just de-stressing.
deb - no worries, thanks for reading!
I got caught up in the other stories too and I like how the author is able to write multiple compelling characters, main or supporting. I think it does seem typical for the author from what I remember of his other books.
Book:
Author:
born September 12, 1943), OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.
wiki link- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...
When: The discussion begins January 14, 2012
You do not have to have the book read by that date, just start reading it by that date.
Where: The discussion is held in this thread
Spoiler etiquette: Please put the chapter # or page number at the top of the post if you are giving aways a plot element.
Also type - Spoiler Warning
Book Details:
Paperback: 307 pages
Publisher: Vintage; First Edition edition (April 24, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375724370
Synopsis:
Anil’s Ghost transports us to Sri Lanka, a country steeped in centuries of tradition, now forced into the late twentieth century by the ravages of civil war. Into this maelstrom steps Anil Tissera, a young woman born in Sri Lanka, educated in England and America, who returns to her homeland as a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human rights group to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island. What follows is a story about love, about family, about identity, about the unknown enemy, about the quest to unlock the hidden past–a story propelled by a riveting mystery. Unfolding against the deeply evocative background of Sri Lanka’s landscape and ancient civilization, Anil’s Ghost is a literary spellbinder–Michael Ondaatje’s most powerful novel yet.
Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Anils-Ghost-Nov...