This article examines the theme of alienation in Amitav Ghosh?s novel The Shadow Lines, focusing on how characters experience identity crisis, isolation, displacement, and a persistent quest for freedom in a world fragmented by borders, class, caste, religion, and nationalism. Drawing on historical memories such as Partition, communal riots, and world wars, the study explores how personal trauma and political upheaval shape human relationships and consciousness. It analyzes major characters including Tridib, Tha?mma, Ila, May Price, and the narrator to show how imaginative freedom, cultural conflict, and existential anxiety define their lives. The paper argues that the ?shadow lines? separating nations and people are illusory, and that Ghosh presents freedom as a complex interplay of political, social, and psychic dimensions essential for meaningful human existence in the modern world.
PGT (English), Anugrah Kanya Senior Secondary School, Gaya
