LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 14:1 January 2014
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Theme of Nationalism and Violence in Amitav Ghosh’s
The Shadow Lines

Rahul Singh, M.A. (English), NET, Ph.D. Scholar

Introduction

In Indo-Anglian fiction the division of Bengal and suffering caused by partition is first highlighted by Amitav Ghosh in The Shadow Lines. The focus in this research paper is on the meaning and nuances of political freedom in contemporary life. Communal strife and the irresistible urge of Nationalism are also highlighted by Amitav Ghosh in this novel. Nationalism and political freedom acquired different shades of meaning after independence and partition. Earlier, Indian Nationalism was a weapon utilized by the freedom fighters in their struggle against foreign rulers. Partition was viewed as the price for political freedom from British Colonial rule. But after partition, Nationalism, in the Indian context changed its meaning to exclude people on the other side of the border. A. N. Kaul observes, “The novel, according to the blurb, focuses on nationalism, the Shadow Line we draw between people and nations, which is both an absurd illusion and source of terrifying violence” (Kaul 299).

Tha’mma’s Concept of Nationalism

The Shadow Lines undercut nationalism by questioning history on which the idea of a nation is constructed. For a clear understanding of the novel’s stance in the connection of nationalism, one has to begin by analyzing Tha’mma’s (Grandmother of the narrator of the story) concept of nationalism. To begin with it was the lure of freedom from the colonial rule that ingrained the strong emotion of nationalism in her. She tells her grandson how she was fascinated, “by the stories she had heard about the terrorists.... she had wanted to do something for the terrorists, work for them in a small way, steal a little bit of their glory for hers” (The Shadow Lines 39). Sacrifice for the country is the ultimate unifying force for her. It is abstract entity of nationalism that inspires her to bring the old man, her Jethamoshai to India. She says, “I am worried about him, poor old man, all by himself, abandoned in that country…. Imagine what it must be to die in another country, abandoned and alone in your old age” (The Shadow Lines 135).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Rahul Singh, M.A. (English), NET
Ph.D. Scholar from CCS University, Meerut
H. No. 2316, Block-B, Urban Estate
Jind-126102
Haryana
India
rahuls2316@gmail.com
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