Brotherless Night

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Essay Topics

How does the narrator try to redefine the term “terrorist”? How does the experience of terror inform the novel as a whole?

Analyze the novel as a coming-of-age story, focusing on how Sashi, K, and Seelan change over the course of the novel.

What role do libraries and books play in the novel? Be sure to include a discussion on the importance of preserving historical records and the role of propaganda.

How does Sashi’s work on the Reports affect her perspective on the war, on her country, and on her family?

What are the impacts of civil war on civil society? Using examples from the text, discuss how conflict impacts government authorities, militant insurgents, and civilians.

According to K, what is the purpose of his hunger strike? How does he become a pawn of larger forces?

Explain the role that the British colonists, India, and the United Nations play in the war. Discuss what the novel implies about foreign interventionism.

What is the impact of oppression, displacement, and exile on the Kulenthiren family?

How might the title, Brotherless Night, be interpreted? How is it symbolic of Sri Lanka itself?

10.

Sashi begins the novel by declaring that she “used to be what you would call a terrorist” (3). Discuss how the novel complicates the definition of terrorism. Which of Sashi’s actions during and after the Sri Lankan civil war could be interpreted as terrorism? Do you think her story ultimately absolves her? Explain why or why not.