The Glass Palace
Amitav Ghosh
Contributed by Thurman Rieser
Themes
Themes are described as ideas that dominate a particular piece of literature. In almost all cases, pieces of literature will be centered a theme or a number of them.
Colonialism

Perhaps the most dominant theme in The Glass Palace is colonialism. All of the characters, the events, and the countries involved are affected. It is the domineering force that unites westerners, Indians, Burmese, and everyone else. The wide web of the novel is connected by the various strands of colonialism pervade every single sentence.

One of the most obvious ways in which the theme of colonialism impacts the novel is the structure. The division of the narrative into seven distinct parts tallies with important events that impact nations’ status as colonies and the changing political climate. The first part, for instance, deals with the British invasion of Burma and the exile of the royal family. The second section deals with Rajkumar’s growing business, and how he becomes implicated in the mechanisms of the Empire. The following parts travel to Malaya and Calcutta, providing an insight into other colonial ventures, while the rubber plantation, the arrival of the Second World War, and the eventual fight for Burmese independence occupy the remaining parts. Rather than the lives of the characters, which ebb and flow across the various parts, it is the Empire that dictates the organization of the novel. Just as the British impose their own order on the countries they colonize, the theme of colonialism imposes a structure on the narrative and dictates how it’s ordered.

When discussing colonialism in The Glass Palace, it is important to separate its various strands. There is a marked difference between the clear-cut colonialism of the British Empire in both Burma and India, while the more subtle suggestion of Indian colonial practices in Burma are more complicated and subtle. Nevertheless, both strands inform the theme and help the author to develop a robust critique of colonialism.

The role of the British in the novel is one of an absent master. There are very few actual representatives of the British power structure; the closest the novel comes to portraying a British figure with real political power is a portrait of Queen Victoria, which hangs in Uma’s home. Instead, the British are represented by lower-ranking officers in the military and Indian (and Burmese) people whom they have appointed to carry out their orders. In the first regard, the British military officers are examples of colonial practices–they are the conquering imperial army–but they are also bound up in institutional concerns. Buckland, one of the few British characters who figures in the narrative for an extended period, is merely a part of the army and has little control over its actions; he simply follows orders and obeys the rules of the institution. It’s these rules that he finds are undermined by the presence of Indians such as Hardy and Arjun in the officer class. To Buckland, the Empire is a British affair and the inclusion of Indians in officer positions will be the fundamental undoing of the army. He is happy to tell this to Arjun, who has heard similar sentiments during his time in the armed forces. This strange method of blame– laying the inadequacies of the colonial forces at the feet of the colonial subjects– seems to be an attempt to ignore the imminent collapse of the Empire. The British seem aloof, distant, and unwilling to see the reality as it manifests in front of them. Despite this, they continue to wield all of the power.

These power dynamics are an important part of how colonialism is portrayed in the text. The British invasion of Burma is over a matter as seemingly trivial as teak. But this is in accordance with the common understanding of colonialism—that is it an extraction of wealth from a country. The British see what they want and they take it, their superior strength allowing them to act as a colonizing force. They explicitly project this power dynamic on Burma and remove the royal family as a show of strength and to guard against future uprisings. The dynamic between the British and their colonial subjects is clear and the novel portrays this relationship in a very negative light.

However, the colonial relationship between Burma and India is much more complicated. On numerous occasions, Indians (and in particular, Rajkumar) are accused of acting just like the British. The importation of Indian workers and the extraction of wealth from the country reflect that of a colonizing force, adding credence to this accusation. However, the Indians lack a power structure comparable to that of the British. While men like Rajkumar act in a similar fashion to the British (and, indeed, as an important part of the imperial machine), they do not have the bureaucratic or legal oversight that the British possess.

Instead, the Indians are swallowed up into the overarching colonial power structure. As well as Rajkumar, men like the collector are portrayed as subservient to the British, enacting colonial practices without the wider benefits the British enjoy. As Uma realizes after the death of her husband, no matter what the collector achieved in his role, he would always be considered inferior in the eyes of the British. It’s witnessed by Arjun, too, who sees higher-ranking Indian officers ignored in favor of British nationals. While the novel is still critical of these practices, it makes note of the subtle shift in the power dynamics when considering the two types of colonization.

The Weight of History

In many ways, the Glass Palace is about history and the effect it has on relationships. The narrative tracks a single family as they navigate through one of the most tumultuous centuries in human history; important historical events are peppered through the prose to signify wider changes in the world. The Great Depression is blamed for Rajkumar’s faltering business, while the assassination of Franz Ferdinand becomes a conversational subject, rather than an epoch-defining event. As such, characters feel the weight of history pressing against them, even if they do little to alter the course of world events.

Certain characters do have importance in the wider historical context. The most obvious of these is the Burmese royal family. King Thebaw is one of the few characters based on a real person, and much of his story is an accurate portrayal of events. But the reader is introduced to the royal family at their nadir. As soon as the queen is introduced, she is furious at the imminent collapse of her kingdom. She is the real power behind a throne that is about to mean nothing. While she feels this– and, in exile, loathes the British–King Thebaw is less attuned to the weight of history. He seems to harbor ambitions of returning to Burma one day, while Supayalat knows it will be impossible. That she is a better reader of these historical tea leaves is one of the many ways in which the text rates her intelligence higher than that of her husband, adding credence to the importance of history in the context of the novel.

Just as the collapse of the Burmese royal family seems unavoidable once it has begun, there are many ways in which history is treated as an unstoppable force. Though characters’ actions mostly affect their surroundings on a small scale, global events have an unavoidable influence. One example is the repeated references to the First and Second World Wars. Once introduced into the text, there seems nothing that can be done to stop the flow of history. Even the invasion of the Japanese, though unexpected, seems inevitable. These characters are too inconsequential to push back against the weight of history.

But as well as global history, there are many ways in which the personal histories of the characters weigh heavy on their lives. When Dolly miscarries and, later, nurses Dinu back to health, the novel suggests that these events have cast a shadow across her life that she struggles to shake. Dinu’s illness weighs heavy on both mother and son; it can be traced to Dolly’s desire to retire to the nunnery and to Dinu’s failures to build social connections. Both are introverts, their conditions made more serious by this event. Though a child contracting polio might seem inconsequential in comparison to the World Wars, the narrative of The Glass Palace imbues it with a far greater weight.

Family

At its heart, The Glass Palace is the story of a family. It traces Rajkumar and the connections he makes over the course of decades. Few themes are more acute in the text than family and this is evidenced throughout the book.

Even the most esoteric family bonds are shown to carry great weight in the novel. For instance, when Alison loses both her parents, Dinu is sent to comfort her. By all accounts, they have only ever met briefly and are not related. But Dinu is seen as a way in which Alison can escape her mourning, sent by Uma and the family as a solution to a problem. That they eventually fall in love only serves to consecrate this notion: they aim to strengthen the familial bond they possess, though they are never able to realize this ambition.

In many ways, weddings are used as a reminder of the importance of family. As the wedding of Manju and Neel, the entire cast seems to assemble in one place. It is not just the immediate families, but people like Kishan Singh who are caught up in the celebrations. In this respect, family events become an important point of ideological exchange. The discussions held between Uma and Arjun help to further explore the theme of colonialism, while Bela’s interaction with Kishan is an important development in her character. She is intrigued by this man who has been welcomed in by her family but abstains from temptation, avoiding any physical relations. Though the characters at events such as the wedding might seem ideologically opposed or, in the case of Dinu and Arjun, appear to be ambivalent toward one another, they are united by family nevertheless and no one dares to question this bond.

The idea of family can be malleable. While it’s easy to spot the relationships between immediate family members – fathers, mother, sons, and daughters – there are more distant relationships that are treated as equally important. Uma, for example, never has children of her own. Despite this, she is never lacking for support in her life and Bela and Jaya become almost surrogate daughters to her, as does the nation of India, to a certain extent. She cares for them, protects them, and lavishes all of the love and attention on them that she might to her own children. Likewise, Ilongo is recognized throughout the text as being Rajkumar’s bastard son. Despite the illicit nature of this bond, Ilongo is treated with respect and dignity by Uma and Saya John, as well as Dinu, his half-brother. Though their shared blood is never explicitly discussed, Dinu recognizes a shared understanding with Ilongo and treats him almost as though he were a member of the family. He is far closer to Ilongo than to Arjun, for example, even if they might not be related in the legal sense.

At first, it seems as though there is a marked difference between the royal family of Burma and supposed regular families. The living arrangements, material wealth, and status of the royal family marks them as being apart. However, as the novel progresses, an equilibrium is drawn between Rajkumar’s family and the royal family. The royal family is literally and figuratively brought down to the level of commoners. They’re removed from their kingdom, stripped of their material wealth, and held hostage in a foreign city. Increasingly, they are subject to scandal, such as when princesses run away or marry people below their station. More and more, their travails seem similar to those of a so-called regular family.

At the same time, Rajkumar establishes a dynasty of his own. At the beginning of the story, the author repeatedly emphasizes Rajkumar’s orphan status. He is a man devoid of family and searches for substitutes in the form of Ma Cho and Saya John. Eventually, he is able to create a family of his own. In doing so, the family accrues material wealth, status and their living arrangements improve. Even the title of the novel equates the two types of family: the title originally refers to the story of the Burmese royal family. By appropriating this title and awarding it to the story of Rajkumar’s family, Ghosh imbues the story with the same level of importance and cache. The ordinary becomes extraordinary, while the extraordinary becomes ordinary. At the heart of it all, however, family remains a consistent and important theme.

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