Fault Lines Literary Elements

Biography, Postcolonial Literature, Feminist Novel, A Memoir.

The setting of the novel is India, Sudan, Africa and England. The story has been written in the context of Meena's life and the problems that she faced because of living in different places.

The narrator of the book is Meena and the story has been told from her point of view I.e. from first person's point of view.

Chaotic, Grave, Pensive, Sad, Traumatic.

The protagonist of the book is Meena who was the daughter of a scientist. The antagonist of the story is the displacement that Meena undergoes in her life and the cultural and identity conflict which she faces during the course of her life.

The major conflict in the story is between Meena and the cultural differences she encounters in different places. She lives in India, Africa, Sudan and England and she remains in conflict with her identity. Another conflict in the story is between Meena and her childhood memories. Despite of living with her parents, she wants to go back to India.

The climax in the story comes when Meena reaches Sudan because of her father's immigration.

The title of the book foreshadows the cracks in the lives of the characters. Fault lines alludes towards the cracks in earth and in the novel, they foreshadows about the cracks in the life of Meena because of continuous displacement.

The understatement in the novel is the cultural differences between different countries and their effects on the immigrants. Another understatement in the story is the life of a woman in the postcolonial and patriarchal world.

There are allusions to India, Africa, Sudan, England, the life of immigrants, family, paradise lost, racism, grandfather, joint family system, feminism, cultural differences, attire, desire for home, relationships, motherhood, married life, identity crisis, displacement, life in exile, trauma of rootlessness, teaching, eldest sister and affect of childhood memories.

There are images of Meena happily living with her family and her grandfather in India. Then there are images of displacement, homelessness and trauma of exile in the novel. The author has also demonstrated Meena as wearing saree on one day and then the Western dresses on other day. She has been presented as a confused individual because of the cultural differences that she encounters during her stay in different parts of the world. The writer has also portrayed the images of racism and feminism in the novel because Meena faces racist attitudes because of her dark skin in England. In Sudan, she has been presented as resisting the societal restrictions and bondage owing to her female identity. The imagery of freedom is evident from her stay in England.

Meena was living with her parents but still she misses her family which is paradoxical. She yearns to go back to her home in India and suffers the traumatic effect of displacement despite of living a luxurious life with her parents and sisters.

A parallelism has been drawn between the life in Sudan, Africa and England. Meena feels herself bound by the restrictions that the society impose upon a female in Africa. In Sudan, she had to wear proper dress to cover her body. However, in England she was free from all the restrictions of society and she was allowed to wear whatever she wants.

An example of metonymy is Meena who represents all the people who are living their lives in exile and who are displaced from their homes owing to various reasons. An example of synecdoche is Meena's home which demonstrates her attachment to her family and especially her grandfather.

Meena's grandfather's smile, his garden, home, and memories have been personified in the book.