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Library's collection Library's IT development CancelMichael Ondaatje, as the author of post-colonialism novel, tries to
portray the condition of post-colonialism that happens to the colonized immigrant
in the colonizer countries. In his novel, Anil?s Ghost, he tells that the main
character was born in Sri Lanka, grew up in Western and came back to the Sri
Lanka again. From that condition, I find out that Anil, as the main character, faces
the problem of identity. That?s how I am interested to analyze her ambivalent
identity and the reasons of her ambivalence. To analyze it, I try to consult some
post-colonialism concepts such as identity, memory, nation-nationalism, and
ambivalence. From the analysis, I try to explain about the ambivalent identity of
Anil and the reason why she has ambivalent identity including the reasons of
abandonment and the reasons of preservation. I find that there are two reasons
why she tries to abandon her Ceylonese identity: first, she has painful memories
that impose her to omit her original identity; second, she is influenced by her
Western friends that seem more attractive to her. Furthermore, there are also two
reasons why she maintains her Ceylonese identity: first, her nice memories on Sri
Lanka emerge when she got to this country; and second, indirectly her Sri Lanka
friends influence her in rising up her nationalism that has been buried. Finally, the
effects of post-colonialism cause Anil to face any difficulty in finding her true
identity.