The Shadow Lines

Tridib is a Calcutta intellectual of wide-ranging interests. He studies archaeology and myth, and is conversant with the world of finance, but he lacks a singular ambition for his life. It is Tridib’s insatiable curiosity about the world that sparks the Narrator’s imagination and desire to tell his story. It is impossible for the Narrator not to be excited about whatever Tridib says, and Tridib is always looking for new things to learn. But he does not serve as an overt mentor. Tridib acts, speaks, and thinks according to his personal desires and interests, and this in turn influences everyone who encounters him. When he sacrifices himself to save May’s life, it is a fitting culmination of a life that was intriguing but relatively directionless.

Tha’mma is the Narrator’s grandmother. She serves as the bridge between the old India—including its traditions—and the new. Her views on Muslims and refugees are archaic, and she cannot be convinced that the old ways are not the best ways. This is most evident in how she speaks about Ila to the Narrator. Because Ila wears her hair short and lives in London, she calls her a “whore” because she cannot imagine a woman wanting to live alone, apart from family, for any reason other than to pursue impure desires.

Tha’mma was raised in challenging circumstances with a domineering grandfather. At the age of 32, she lost her husband. She worked for several decades as a teacher, and then as the headmaster, of a girls’ school. After retirement, she sees little purpose in her life until she learns that her uncle Jethamoshai is still living in the town of Dhaka. Bringing him back to Calcutta becomes her purpose, although she ultimately fails.

Ila is the spoiled daughter of an Indian diplomat. She gravitates towards bohemianism and views the class divisions of Indian society with revulsion. Ila has lived all over the world and has been exposed to many different cultures, which has the ironic result of leaving her without a culture of her own. Ila seems determined to rebel against nearly everything, but her actions never seem to be anything but rebellion for its own sake. She rejects the Narrator after he falls in love with her, choosing instead to enter a terrible marriage with Nick Price. Ila is one of the only characters that does not mature over the course of the novel.

May is Tridib’s lover. She is a composite of the author’s views on British society, from its slums to its most cosmopolitan heights. May plays the oboe in the London symphony and spends a great deal of her free time collecting money for international relief funds. She is one of the only characters who treats all social and ethnic groups equally. May believes that if enough people work for the betterment of society, without respect to skin color, history, or political creed, the world can improve. Late in the novel, she serves as a mother figure and lover to the Narrator, who has come to depend on her for comfort and advice in Tridib’s absence.