Holocaust as Narrative: An Intertextual Approach to Kazuo Ishiguros When We Were Orphans

Name of Author : Bibin Jossy J, Dr. G M Joseph Dunston

Abstract: Kazuo Ishiguro, one of the twenty-first-century revival writers, employs a wide range of techniques in his narratives to converse with the readers. ln When We Were Orphans , he wields a unique kind of narrative in which he successfully relies on his memory as one of the flashback methods to bring out the trauma of the holocaust to the present readers. In the novel, Ishiguro remoulds the holocaust- eras pathetic events with a tremendous degree of humanism through the protagonist, Christopher Banks. His parents mysterious disappearance shatters his investigative mission and puts him on the path of thorns. However, the loss of the parents makes him wiser, compassionate, focused and a dauntless detective to search for his menfolk. This paper explores through investigative mode of Banks, to unveil the mystical truths surrounding the orphans status, disruption and disastrous destiny. The burden of detachment and desultory minds as a result of the holocaust during the Second Sino - Japanese War brings out the harrowing experiences concentrating on how the tone of disaster weaves together the wholesome pathos.

Keywords : Holocaust, Narrative, Memory, Humanism, Pathos

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