Anil: An Analysis Of Persuasil's Poem

At the start of the novel, Anil did not have inspiration or courage to continue with her studies as an archeologist. Anil “[...] seemed timid to herself. She felt lost and emotional.” (Ondaatje 142). Anil was at a low point in her life, and felt vulnerable because her parents had died in a car crash and she was living in London – a city new to her. After a while she would meet a man from Colombo, who was a med student. This man “[...] focused his wits entirely on Anil [...]” (142) this man seemed perfect in the sense that he was “[...] a many-armed seducer and note writer and flower bringer and telephone-message leaver [...]” (142). He seemed like the perfect man for Anil, someone to make her special and loved. However, Anil relies on her self
In the course of a travelling life and a series of broken relationships, Anil has re-defined her self as that girl who “[…] live[s] here […] in the West.” (36). Anil has the advantage of re-defining her self in a new place because no one knows about her past life and what she has done, therefore; she may say anything to make her sound like she fits in, even though she does not know the language. To get to where Anil wanted to be (Sri Lanka), Anil has changed her name. “She gave her brother one hundred saved rupees, a pen set he had been eyeing for some time, a tin of fifty Gold Leaf cigarettes she had found, and a sexual favor he had demanded […].” (68). Not many girls would sleep with her brother, but she showed determination to get what she wanted, which ultimately; led to her courage becoming more important to her through her journey in Sri Lanka. After she had slept with her brother and gave him gifts, she had his name. Anil would go to an astrologer with her parents to finalize the name she had gotten from her brother. The astrologer offered “[…] the addition of an e, so she would be Anile. It would make her and her name more feminine; the e would allow the fury to curve away. But she refused even this.” (136). Anil made a bold move and denied adding the “e”, showing that she wants to be independent and wants to separate her self from