Truth In Anil's Ghost

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Recommended: Postmodernism literary criticism

Truth can elucidate the multiple perspectives of a judgment. However, this may not be applicable in some cases, as the truth is indefinite. In the novel Anil’s Ghost, Michael Ondaatje writes about Sri Lanka’s political corruptions during the grievous civil war, allowing the multiple perceptions of truth to be expressed. Throughout this novel, Ondaatje illuminates the complexity of truth which persistently contrasts the subjectivity and objectivity of truth via the use of various voices. The composer’s portrayal of Anil’s perspective on truth reveals her objective acts during the investigation of sailor to derive the absolute truth, whereas her standpoint is juxtaposed with Palipana’s perspective on his version of the hypothetical truth.

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Ondaatje’s characterization of Palipana conveys his personal opinions towards truth, where all his claims on the discovery and translations of historical subtexts had “no real evidence” and “they were a fiction”. Ondaatje heavily influences Palipana’s point of view with postmodernist principles, which contradicts Anil’s positivist mindset. The integration of both perceptions construct a dichotomous effect to reveal the empirical and experiential viewpoints to present the complexity of truth. During the exposition of Ananda, Palipana states “without the eyes there is not just blindness, there is nothing. There is no existence” which acts as a symbol for the the relativist truth. Ondaatje symbolizes the eyes of the Buddha to reflect on Palipana’s perception of truth. The correspondence of the eyes and truth contribute the exposition of Palipana’s relativist perspectives. The composer undermines the provable truth by the establishment of Palipana’s post colonialist perspective, in which he neglects the empirical

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