TRAUMATIC REVERBERATIONS IN MICHAEL ONDAATJE’S ANIL’S GHOST

Abstract

In Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost, background details resonate with the cruelty of civil war. Ondaatje’s fictional description of Sri Lanka and its constant civil conflict primarily records in abundance the disappearances that have occurred and caused trauma for the Sri Lankans during the years. Traumatic reverberations are the traumatizing effects that have been faced by the characters in the novel and felt by the readers of the novel. Anil Tissera, the protagonist; Sarath, the hero; Gamini, a young doctor and Ananda, an artist from Anil’s Ghost; all are the victims of trauma in one way or the other. A sense of trauma pervades Sri Lankan public and private life from the very beginning; the reader is aware of the trauma that builds up through the narrative, even though Anil herself is not a direct victim of the violence.