Truth

The novel shows how bloody government regimes, flanked by insurgent rebels on one side and guerrilla fights on the other, make telling the truth a dangerous enterprise. Throughout Anil’s Ghost, Anil and Sarath both face a dilemma: Should they tell the truth about Sailor’s death, thereby risking perpetuating the violence in the country, and their own lives? Or should they suppress the evidence of the government’s involvement and remain alive?

While both Anil and Sarath ultimately choose to preserve and promote the truth over their own personal safety, the novel examines the subtleties of their different positions and the tensions that result. The novel frames Anil’s and Sarath’s attitudes towards truth in relation to the professions that they have chosen. Both Anil’s work as a forensic scientist and Sarath’s work as an archaeologist require that they seek to understand...