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Sailor/Ruwan
Ananda is Sirissa’s husband. Ananda once worked ceremonially painting the eyes of statues of the Buddha, but after Sirissa goes missing during a massacre in the Ratnapura district, he falls into despair and begins drinking heavily. At Palipana’s suggestion, Sarath and Anil enlist Ananda to help them reconstruct Sailor’s face in an attempt to identify Sailor. Ananda’s arc throughout the novel—as he goes from a fulfilling vocation to despair before finding a renewed sense of hope through work—reflects the cost of Sri Lanka’s civil war on the lives of innocent people. That is, the novel shows how, though Ananda and Sirissa did nothing to put themselves in harm’s way, they nevertheless became victims of the war. The war then ostensibly takes Sirissa’s life, and Ananda must spend the rest of his own life living with the impact of his wife’s disappearance and the wanton violence that defines the war.
Ananda Quotes in Anil’s Ghost
The Anil’s Ghost quotes below are all either spoken by Ananda or refer to Ananda. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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4. Ananda Quotes
Now Ananda picked up the skeleton and carried it in his arms.
She was in no way appalled by what he was doing. There had been hours when, locked in her investigations and too focussed by hours of intricacy, she too would need to reach forward and lift Sailor into her arms, to remind herself he was like her. Not just evidence, but someone with charms and flaws, part of a family, a member of a village who in the sudden lightning of politics raised his hands at the last minute, so they were broken.
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While Ananda, Sarath, and Anil are in Ekneligoda, Ananda works on reconstructing Sailor’s face to help with the identification process. This passage underlines the two-fold nature of the work that Anil, Ananda, and Sarath are undertaking. On the one hand, they are trying to achieve justice for all of the victims of the government’s war crimes and extrajudicial killings. However, the quote suggests that when pursuing that large-scale goal, it’s also of the utmost importance that Anil, Sarath, and Ananda don’t lose sight of the humanity of the individual person whom they are currently trying to achieve justice for. The Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impe
It was her favourite time, like putting away the senses one by one, this shop of drinks, this cassette store, these vegetables packed away, and the street growing darker and darker as she walked on. And a bicycle riding off with three sacks of potatoes balanced on it into even purer darkness. Into the other life. That existence. For when people leave our company in our time we are never certain of seeing them again, or seeing them unaltered.
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While Ananda, Sarath, and Anil are in Ekneligoda and Ananda is working on reconstructing Sailor’s face, an italicized section describes Sirissa’s last day before she disappeared. The passage points to the precarity of life during the civil war in Sri Lanka. As the quote says, one can never be certain of seeing someone again, or of seeing them “unaltered.” That foreshadows Sirissa’s disappearance and also underlines the pain that Ananda will experience in the wake of that disappearance. In that way, the quote suggests that Ananda is the person whose company Sirissa leaves, and, after she leaves, Ananda will never Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque
She remembered Clyde Snow, her teacher in Oklahoma, speaking about human rights work in Kurdistan: One village can speak for many villages. One victim can speak for many victims. She and Sarath both knew that in all the turbulent history of the island’s recent civil wars, in all the token police investigations, not one murder charge had been made during the troubles. But this could be a clear case against the government.
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When Ananda, Sarath, and Anil are in Ekneligoda, Anil thinks about the importance of identifying Sailor. As the quote says, thus far, the government hasn’t been charged with any crimes and has therefore been able to commit those crimes, involving extrajudicial killings and state-sponsored terrorism, with impunity. Sailor is then of paramount importance because he, as Anil’s teacher Clyde Snow says, could be the one victim who helps give voice to several other victims. By identifying Sailor, then, Anil and Sarath may have an opportunity to hold the government accountable for its crimes and to ensure that the government stops Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qu
8. Distance Quotes
The sun lit the green bamboo of the ladder. He could feel its partial warmth on his arms, saw it light the brocade costume he wore over Sarath’s cotton shirt—the one he had promised himself he would wear for this morning’s ceremony. He and the woman Anil would always carry the ghost of Sarath Diyasena.
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At the end of the novel, Ananda thinks of Sarath as he resumes his role of ceremonially painting the eyes of statues of the Buddha. The fact that Ananda has resumed his work points first to the novel’s view about the way work can provide one with a renewed sense of meaning and purpose. In this case, after Sirissa died, Ananda experienced such profound despair that he attempted to take his own life. Now, though, he has taken on his old job once more, and, in some ways, it has provided him with a new lease on life. Notably, the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possim
Ananda briefly saw this angle of the world. There was a seduction for him here. The eyes he had cut and focussed with his father’s chisel showed him this. The birds dove towards gaps within the trees! They flew through the shelves of heat currents. The tiniest of hearts in them beating exhausted and fast, the way Sirissa had died in the story he invented for her in the vacuum of her disappearance. A small brave heart. In the heights she loved and in the dark she feared.
He felt the boy’s concerned hand on his. This sweet touch from the world.
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At the end of the novel, with his nephew’s help, Ananda paints the eyes on a statue of the Buddha. This passage explores in further depth the novel’s view of the role that work can play in providing one with a renewed sense of purpose. In this case, Ananda fell into despair after the disappearance of his wife, Sirissa, and it once seemed like he would never be able to find his way out of that despair. Through his work, though, Ananda is now able to grasp a kind of meaning that appears spiritual in nature, as he momentarily seems Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia e
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Ananda Character Timeline in Anil’s Ghost
The timeline below shows where the character Ananda appears in Anil’s Ghost. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
2. The Grove of Ascetics
An italicized segment then describes a man named Ananda going to work in a gem pit. His shift begins early in the morning, and...
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4. Ananda
...Anil and Sarath stop to meet the artist Palipana told them about, whose name is Ananda. Ananda once painted the eyes of statues of the Buddha but has since fallen on...
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Anil, Sarath, and Ananda arrive at a house in Ekneligoda that belongs to Sri Lanka’s Archaeology Society. The house...
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Sarath must return to Colombo three days a week. When Sarath is gone, Anil and Ananda rarely speak. At night, Ananda drinks heavily. One night, Anil sees Ananda cradle Sailor’s skeleton...
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Anil then gets an idea. She asks Ananda why he squats when he works. Ananda replies that he got used to doing it...
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On the weekend, Ananda approaches Sarath and Anil to tell them that he has finished reconstructing Sailor’s face. When...
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...deep sleep. She tries to get her bearings and then hears a sound coming from Ananda’s room. She rushes to his door, and when she opens it, she sees him stabbing...
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Sarath returns to the house that afternoon. He tells Anil that Ananda is going to survive. The doctor says that Anil’s quick thinking saved Ananda and that...
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8. Distance
...When they don’t find anything, they flee, leaving the statue damaged. Authorities then call in Ananda to oversee the reconstruction of the statue. Ananda works tirelessly and institutes innovative methods that...
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When the new statue is finished, Ananda is appointed to perform the ceremony to paint the Buddha’s eyes. Only after those eyes...
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