Navigating The Labyrinth: Aravind Adiga's Amnesty as a
Contemporary Diasporic Novel
Dr. Deepak H. Shinde
Assistant Professor Department of English Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women University
Jnanashakti Campus, Toravi Vijayapura, India
Received: 05 November 2025; Accepted: 12 November 2025; Published: 18 November 2025
ABSTRACT
This Paper Aims to Investigate Aravind Adiga’s The Novel Amnesty Through the Lens of Contemporary
Diasporic Approach. As It Delineates the Tale of an Illegal Immigrant in Australia, Who Land There with A
Student Visa and Later Decides to Stay Over Illegally. Thereby Manifests to Gain Legal and Permanent Status.
The Novel Echoes Several Diasporic Themes and Situations Depicting the Ordeals of Immigrants. This Study
Focuses on the Protagonist, Danny and His Diasporic Experiences as He Encounters Them Emphasizing on
Identity, Displacement, Cultural Hybridity and Assimilation.
Keywords: Navigation, Immigration, Identity, Displacement, Diaspora, Consciousness
Aravind Adiga is a renowned Indian author, has consistently distinguished himself through “incisive narratives
that illuminate the dynamic landscape of modern India” He is well known for his uncompromising exploration
of the “stark realities of inequality and social injustice’’ in his literary works which reflects in his most notable
work, Man Booker Prize-winning the White Tiger. In addition to exploring deep subjects like “neocolonialism,
globalization, and clash of tradition with progress,’’ Adiga’s works usually focus on “marginalized
individuals.” This authorial vision is celebrated for “reshaping Indian literature’’ and significantly contributing
to “postcolonial discourse”. Adiga’s experience as journalist for well-known magazines like Time and the
Financial Times imbues his fiction with keen observational eye and a critical engagement with socio-political
realities.
Amnesty is primarily set in Sydney, Australia, and the story revolves around the protagonist, Dhananjaya
Rajaratnam also known as Danny in the novel. He is young illegal immigrant from Sri Lanka. Danny arrives
on student visa, four years prior but chose to overstay, taking up the job of a cleaner. The novel’s narrative
unfolds intensely over the course of a single day, the narrative begins when, Danny learns that his former
client, Radha Thomas, has been murdered. Crucially, Danny has important information about Dr. Prakash, the
murderer, who also happens to be his client. This discovery thrust Danny into profound moral dilemma:
whether to come forward with his knowledge and risk his deportation, thereby jeopardizing his painstaking
constructed “new identity” and “new life” in Sydney, or to maintain silence.
This is the central conflict that compels Danny to, wrestle with his conscience to decide if a person without
rights still has responsibilities. This question elevates the novel above the level of a simple thriller and turns
into a deep philosophical investigation into what morality and citizenship means to people living in legally
ambiguous state. By posing this quandary, Adiga impels readers to critically examine the ethical implications
of denying fundamental human rights to individuals while expecting them to adhere to societal responsibilities,
thereby raising concern of understanding the social contract. Danny’s precarious situation is vested in his past;
he fled Sri Lanka due to civil strife and was denied refugee status. Amnesty profoundly embodies and critically
examines the key themes of diasporic literature through the character of Danny as an undocumented
immigrant. The novel offers a brutal critique of systematic injustice, globalized precarity and intricate
psychological terrain of identity and belonging in the host land.
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