Layers of Palimpsest on Tridib’s Death Mystery in The Shadow Lines

Abstract

Amitav Ghosh’s attempt at retrieving the facts about Tridib’s death from the fragmentary details of other characters is chiefly made with the help of the palimpsest of memory. When historiography is missing the histories of other pasts in order to protect the logical coherence of the higher narrative, Ghosh utilizes those vacuums, fissures or ‘vanished’ episodes in his narratives exposing the loopholes of the master narratives. Ghosh very often seems to take many of the details of History for granted; but his search is intense and profound when the lapses are found. Ghosh’s palimpsest-like writing is strongly evidenced in The Shadow lines, especially while dealing with the mystery of Tridib’s death.