ANIL’S GHOST
~ Grove of the Ascetics
Outline
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General Introduction & Plot Summary
Questions
General Introduction:
Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009)
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Conflicts between Tamils and Sinhalese, escalating till the civil
war erupted in 1983. (e.g. Black July [depicted in Funny Boy]
started with the killing of 13 Sinhalese, followed by the riot in
Colombo against Tamils)
War between the government and LTTE, also known as the
Tamil Tigers, a separatist militant organization which fought to
create an independent Tamil state named Tamil Eelam in the
north and the east of the island.
Author’s note – + antigovernment insurgents in the south.
pp. 17; 42
[later] -- a suicide bomber's assassination of a fictional Sri
Lankan president
General Introduction: Central Issues
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Anil’s Past experience in Sri Lanka
Anil’s Relations with Sarath, and with Cullis—both as
an outsider (to Sri Lanka and to a marriage)
The role of Sri Lankan “teachers” (monk and
academic), historical sites and landscape
[Later] Sarath’s Brothers, Sri Lankan artists
Archaeology and Forensic – implied meanings
Facts vs. Fiction, Power vs. Law
Destruction by the War; Life and Death
Fragments in Italics
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Miner's folk song
Anil with forensic team in Guatemala
P. 12 Cave 14, one of the Buddhist cave temples,
was desecrated.
P. 31 *A government official is murdered on a train.
P. 39 The National Atlas of Sri Lanka: what it
includes and leaves out; pp. 41 list of people who
disappeared
p. 91-A day in the life of Ananda, a miner.
Sarath
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pp. 9- 11 Anil lands in Sri Lanka. Anil and her
homeland.
pp. 13 - Anil at work: she examines victims of political
violence, hands trembling when realizing how close the
time of death was.
Anil in Serath’s lab (a ship): she examines skeletons from
an ancient sacred cave and finds a fragment of bone
which is recent.
pp. 22- Anil and her homeland: Anil visits Lalitha, an
elderly Tamil woman she knew as a child.
Anil vs. Sarath: 27, 29, 44, 53, 63-64
pp. 33 Anil and her past lover: Cullis 99,102
Sarath
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pp. 44 Anil at work: driving to Bandarawela with Sarath,
talking about their family members, and also about Sarath’s
teachers--Palipana and Narada
pp. 50 as they excavate deep in the caves, Anil finds a
whole skeleton which is new; they name it Sailor.
pp. 57 -- Anil at the rest house: about Sarath’s wife, about
Anil’s illness, dreams, talks long distance to her friend Leaf;
pp. 64- returns to Colombo and she continues to examine
the skeleton.
pp. 66- Anil at work and her homeland: her name and
swimming, pp. 70- Anil at work: gets Chitra to help find the
first location of Sailor
Sarath
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pp. 74-- Sarath at work: puts plastics on the skeleton and
cuts off Sailor's skull. Knows that they need help.
Grove of Aesthetics
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pp. 79 Palipana: Sarath’s teacher, the most
respected, and then after an academic scandal, he
retired into the forest to live in the ruins of an
ancient monastery
pp. 84- blind, and cared for by a young girl,
Lakma, his niece (90). Sarath and Anil go there,
bringing the skull.
Grove of Aesthetics
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pp. 96-99 To identify the skeleton, Palipana says they should find
a ritual painter; he describes Netra Mangala (the ritual of painting
eyes on statues).
Experience of loss pp. 99-101 Cullis
Experience of loss and gain: pp. 103- Lakma's story: as a 12-yearold, she saw her parents killed and became frightened of
everything; the mutual support of Palipana and Lakma
Pp. 106: ritual of Palipana's death-- Lakma will carve an
inscription for him at the edge of the water as he is dying. Palipana
tells the visitors that the ritual painter he has in mind became a
drunk now works in the mines.
pp.109 - murder again – On the road back to Colombo, they find
a truck driver (Gunasena) crucified alive on the road, and bring
him to the hospital.
rock graffiti in Sigiriya (pp. 81
Image source: http://www.lanka.com/sri-lanka/guide-to-sigiriya.html
Discussion Questions
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Where do you see influences of both colonialism
and the civil war? (e.g. 12; 55-56; the hospital
scene 38, on Lakma, and a truck driver)
How does Anil relate to Sri Lanka and her past
(ghost 53 and pp. 22, 47, 67)?
What is Anil’s emotional status like as she goes back
to Sri Lanka? e.g. Cullis and Leaf (63)
The work of forensic and archaeology and their
connections with history, truth and power: 54-56,
65-66; 69
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What can be the purposes of Anil’s work?
Discussion Questions
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The other related themes:
 Sri Lankan “spiritual teachers” (the monk and
academic), 80-81; 104-105
 historical sites and landscape,
 Trauma and embodiment of grief, and
 continuation of life after death