Love and Longing in Bombay Literary Elements

Love and Longing in Bombay Literary Elements

Genre

Anthological novel

Setting and Context

Written in the context of life in India

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person narrative by a mysterious narrator, Subramaniam

Tone and Mood

Ambitious, positive, moving

Protagonist and Antagonist

Shiv Subramaniam is the protagonist.

Major Conflict

The main conflict is when Major Antia amputates his leg without using anesthesia. The pain he goes through is unimaginable.

Climax

The climax in ‘Kama’ is when an investigating officer uncovers the underworld criminal activities in Mumbai and strategizes to end it.

Foreshadowing

The confrontation of the ghost in ‘Dharma’ foreshadowed Major Antia’s painful memories about the loss of his brother.

Understatement

Marriage life is understated. In the story 'Shanti,' the young Shiv falls in love with Shanti, a married woman. Instead of Shanti remaining in her marriage with her initial husband, she falls in love with Shiv, and they get married.

Allusions

The story alludes to the life history of the characters in the text.

Imagery

The painful memories manifested by the ghost in the story 'Dharma' depict sight imagery which aids readers to see the childhood life of Major Antia.

Paradox

There are two main paradoxes in the text. In the story 'Dharma', Major Antia is paradoxically guilt of the death of his brother, and yet it was an accident. Secondly, in the story 'Shanti,' despite knowing that Shanti is a married woman, the narrator falls in love with her.

Parallelism

Antia’s guilt over the death of his brother parallels reality because he completely has nothing to do with his death.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

N/A

Personification

Crime is personified as a human disrupter.

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