ACROPOLIS INSTITUE OF TECHNOLOGY

AND RESEARCH

THE SHADOW LINES

BY :- AMITAV GHOSH

PRESENTED BY :- GUIDED BY :- HARDIK SHAH MISS. VANSHIKA

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CONTENT Title of novel About the Author Era Theme Summary About the Characters Techniques Others review My Own review

ABOUT THE TITLE  It is a book that captures perspective of time and

events, of lines that bring people together and hold them apart.

Lines that exist in the memory of one, and therefore in another's imagination.

A narrative built out of an intricate, constantly crisscrossing web of memories of many people, it never pretends to tell a story. Instead, it invites the reader to invent one, out of the memories of those involved, memories that hold mirrors of differing shades to the same experience.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AMITAV GHOSH is an Indian-American author best known for

his work in English fiction.

Born :  July 11, 1956 (age 60), Kolkata

Spouse : Deborah Baker (wife)

Awards : Arthur C. Clarke Award, Padma Shri

Education : University of Oxford, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, University of Delhi, St Edmund Hall, Oxford, The Doon School

Nominations : Man Booker Prize, Man Booker International Prize, Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

THE SHADOW LINES

Author - Amitav Ghosh Country - India Language - English Genre - Fiction Publisher - Ravi Dayal Publishers Publication Date - 1988 Media type - Print (Hardback)

ERA The novel deals with the concerns of our period.

The search for identity.

The need for independence.

The difficult relationship with colonial culture.

It magnificently interweaves facts , friction & reminiscence.

It is a continuous narrative which replicates the pattern of violence not only for 1964 but also for 21st Century.

THEME An important theme of the novel The Shadow Lines is the

concept of nationalism that is gaining ground in today’s world. The author has held the extreme form of nationalism

responsible for many a problem these days. Love of the country, passion inspired nationalism and

intoxication of patriotism cannot but lead to jingoism. Thus nationalism which had and which has great uses can

become the greatest obstacle to world unity and world peace. This tribal instinct has been magnified beyond all measures

resulting in political and economic megalomania. And the novel in its enthusiasm to prove the point has gone a

little too far to proclaim that nationalism is a defunct force.

CHARACTERS Tridib - The protagonist is a middle class boy who grows up in a

middle-class family . He is the narrator's uncle.

Tha'mma (the narrator's grandmother) - She was the headmistress of a girls' school in Calcutta.

ILA - She is the narrator's cousin who lives in Stockwell, London.

May - She is the Price family's daughter. She is in love with Tridib.

Nick - He is the Price family's son. He marries ILA during the course of the novel.

Mayadebi - She is the narrator's grandmother's younger sister and Tridib's mother.

TECHNIQUES Amitav Ghosh is one of the most important Indian

English writer of present time .

He mainly deals in the epic themes of travel . His novels relates history ,political struggle , communal violence , love, loss of values etc .

He deliberately crosses the boundary between anthropology and artistic work .

His narratives are categorically transnational in sweep .

His stories move restlessly across countries , continents and even oceans .

His narratives always reflect the wisdom of an Oxford scholar.

His views and opinions are meticulously researched and learned . In every book an epic scale of scholarship is directly discernable.

SUMMARY Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines deals with political

freedom in the modern world, nationalism and the shadow lines we people draw between us and nations.

In its simplest form, the story is about a young boy in India (who is the narrator). The story begins in India and later transfers to London. The story moves through the young boy's memories and especially concentrates on the memory of his cousin, Ila, who he is attracted to.

However, because of the social constrictions of his society, the narrator stays with a platonic relationship. Another interaction Ghosh focuses on is that of the narrator's relationship with another male cousin: Tridib.

This part of the story focuses on the love between the Indian and the English. As the narrator goes on in his personal narrative many historic events in India's history are revealed (even the second world war and incidents in Calcutta).

But in analyzing the title of the work, the real truth comes in the delineation of borders and boundaries between nations, hence the term "shadow lines." The author shows how these lines are created, kept, broken, and even invisible.

The concept of Post Colonial Criticism talks about the negativity of borders made by man. Why? They pit one society against another. As is evidenced by the story, this was especially true in India when it was divided into three sections: India (proper), Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Only conflict resulted in that division.

OWN VIEWS

This is a book about people and places and the connections between them. For me, the most poignant parts of the book are the times when the narrator contemplates the meaning of maps and borders, or the difficulty of rendering meaning to violence with language.

SUCCESSFUL OTHERS REVIEWS SHUBHANSHU DUBEY I think this is the perfect book. It isn't a novel. It is something beyond

what words can comprehend. Our lives are made up of memories. Maybe proper, maybe improper. This is a live example of that.

AKSHAY DASGUPTA Amitav Ghosh is such an excellent writer. Be it 'The Glass Palace' or

'The Shadow Lines', his books are well researched and informative.

SHURVO DAS One of the best books I've read in recent times. The easy and lucid

diction if Amitav Ghosh takes us in the places where the events of the book take place.

THANK YOU