THE ILLUMINATED LINES IN AMITAV GHOSH’S THE SHADOW LINES

Abstract

The lines that create new states and separate people based on their religious, cultural, and political beliefs are real and can reshape the identity they bear. People living in a new territory with a new national identity can only dive into the memory to have a glimpse of the days gone by. There is no way to think that the separating lines are obscure and that people can cross the lines with ease. In The Shadow Lines the narrator’s grandmother, who was born and raised in Dhaka and now is a citizen of India, tries to cross the lines but fails. She has to pay heavily for her attempt. Her traumatic experience and adopted nationalism along with the line of geo-political divide are the direct consequences of the shadow lines drawn ironically. The Shadow Lines, in fact, presents the existence of clearly discernable lines at more than one level. Apart from the political lines (borders) between two nations, there are lines across religion, culture, and ethnicity. No such lines are shadowy rather vivid. Therefore, The Shadow Lines presents multiple layers of bold lines, which are shadowy only apparently. On each side of the lines there exist a different truth and a different reality.