IJFANS International Journal of Food and Nutritional Sciences

ISSN PRINT 2319 1775 Online 2320-7876

Perethaya’ a Buddhist mythology juxtaposed in Shyam Selvadurai’s The Hungry Ghost

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Dr. V. Rani Priyadharshini,A. Anto Vinfray Joshua

Abstract

In The Hungry Ghosts, Shyam Selvadurai fictionally depicts the social and political upheaval in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist mythological concept of "perethaya" serves as the inspiration for this novel, which examines the mental anguish of a society that has become like "perethaya," a being who cries out for a peaceful existence but never seems to find it. A hungry ghost is one whose thirst and hunger are eternal because of the wrongs he committed in a previous life. A perethaya's life will be filled with unending restlessness and the misery of unsatisfied hunger and thirst. The author incorporates this myth into the novel very deliberately in order to reflect symbolically on the problem in Sri Lanka produced by power mad parties and the resultant crisis and discontent, in the minds of the people, boiling slowly with a feeling of hopelessness and unfulfillment. The themes of homosexuality and immigration reappear throughout this book. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to analyse how Selvadurai juxtaposes the Buddhist story of 'Perethaya' with the novel's themes of ethnic crises, homosexuality, and immigration. More than that, this article is an analytical endeavour to comprehend and investigate the whole range of power politics in relation to these concerns.

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