49 pages • 1 hour read
Michael OndaatjeAnil's Ghost
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “The Grove of Ascetics”
Part 2, Pages 79-93 Summary
Sarath reflects on his teacher, Palipana, who called himself an epigraphist. Palipana was a demanding teacher, but also an inspiring one. As such, he took on few students, including Sarath, with whom he had fallings out after quarrels. Sarath has not seen his mentor in many years. Sarath notes that history was more vibrant to Palipana than the present. He lost the respect of his fellow architects after accusations of fabricating evidence to support his claims about the Indigenous past. Palipana, however, saw himself as rejecting Western narratives and methodologies and withdrew from the world to live in an abandoned forest monastery.
Sarath decides to seek out Palipana’s help with Sailor. Sarath and Anil learn that Palipana is now blind, living in what he calls the Grove of Ascetics. Palipana notices, through touching Sailor, that his skull was recently severed. Sarath admits doing this, and Palipana says that Sarath does nothing without good reason. Anil explains that they believe the government killed Sailor.
In an italicized vignette, the narrator describes the workday of Ananda Udugama, a miner in the gem pits. The work is dark and dangerous, and many of the workers rarely see the light of day. They descend in the early morning darkness and ascend at dusk. As soon as his work is complete, Ananda gets drunk.
Part 2, Pages 94-113 Summary
Palipana’s niece prepares food, and the group discusses Sailor over dinner. Sarath describes Anil’s more modern methods of analysis and her conclusions that Sailor was a young adult in his 20s. Sarath notes that, to be certain, they must conclusively identify the body. Palipana engages in a digression about the tradition of eye-painting in Indigenous history, telling them that a statue of the Buddha or another holy personage was merely “a lump of metal or stone” until the artist paints the eyes (97). He notes that the eye-painter could only do his work via a mirror; he may not gaze directly into the deity’s eyes. Later, Palipana will tell them that they must find an artist, an eye-painter, to help them reconstruct Sailor’s face. Anil remembers the last time she saw Cullis. He refused to let go of her, so she stabbed him in the arm. She quickly packed all her belongings and left, her heart aching, but her decision made.
Palipana remembers when he retrieved his niece after her parents’ murder. Traumatized, she feared every passing sound, so Palipana took her to the forest monastery. She is loyal to him, but remains relatively feral. He brings her to various archeological sites, teaching her something of their history, most drawn to the hidden or forgotten stories carved into stone. When Palipana dies, the narrator reveals, the niece carved one of Palipana’s own sayings into a large rock near the lake before she slips away into the forest. Though they are reluctant to leave the sanctuary of the forest monastery, Sarath and Anil return to Colombo to continue their work. On the drive, they see a man prostrate in front of a truck and find him nailed to the ground. They bundle the man, Gunesena, into the van, and Anil cares for him on the way to the hospital.
Part 2 Analysis
The Presence of the Past continues to be felt in Part 2, as boundaries between historical events and current concerns blur further. The character of Palipana embodies this space between the ancient past and the troubled present. His work straddles the line between Western colonialism and local independence, and when he ultimately takes the side of his country, it leads to his ostracization. This also emphasizes The Perversion of Politics, as the politics that should protect local culture and interests acts to silence those voices instead. In his fervor to reclaim Indigenous history, many colleagues believe that Palipana crossed a line, fabricating evidence to support his version of historical truth. However, for Palipana, his methods, which are skills developed by locals, serve to note the markers of history and their contributions to cultural development. He starts “to see as truth things that could only be guessed at” (83), which he feels is different from fabrication. Indeed, it only uncovers a more significant set of truths.
Ondaatje imbues Palipana’s blindness with symbolism and significance. His blindness links him to fellow poets Homer and Greek prophet Tiresias, reinforcing his enlightened status. Though the truth is not visible, Palipana—and potentially, Anil and Sarath—can still see it. For Palipana, “all history was filled with sunlight” (84), the promise of the truth. The legend of the eye-painters that he relates to Anil and Sarath also reinforces this symbol. The statues of holy figures are not sacred until they are gifted sight, Palipana tells them. When he recommends Anil and Sarath enlist an artist’s help, he links Anil’s quest to identify Sailor with endowing his skeleton with sacred connotations: Reconstructing his face is akin to painting the eyes onto a statue of Buddha. Palipana also emphasizes that no mortal should witness the awakening of a god; the eye painter must work by looking at a mirror. Thus, his suggestion that they hire an artist to reconstruct the face is also a warning of the inherent dangers of doing so. The significance of identifying Sailor is ambivalent at best, hazardous at worst. Even for Sailor, Rootlessness and Return to identity are complex and dangerous undertakings. Anil and Sarath’s reluctance to leave Palipana’s forest sanctuary also links to this theme. The elements that create an homelike atmosphere—tranquility and security—are hard-won, fleeting commodities in wartime.
While they are in the forest, the war continues around them, its political perversion and brutality unabated. The sanctuary of the forest monastery provides a brief respite from the turmoil. As soon as Anil and Sarath leave Palipana’s refuge, they encounter Gunesena “crucif[ied]” to the road. This is a stark contrast to the calm in the forest and a reminder that the real work is dangerous and untrustworthy. The comparison to crucifixion suggests that war makes martyrs of anyone caught on the wrong side at the wrong time, foreshadowing all the characters’ potential fates.
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By Michael Ondaatje
