73 pages • 2 hours read
Amitav GhoshA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Part 1, Chapters 1-5
Parts 1-2, Chapters 4-6
Part 2, Chapters 7-9
Part 2, Chapters 10-12
Parts 2-3, Chapters 13-15
Part 3, Chapters 16-18
Parts 3-4, Chapters 19-21
Part 4, Chapters 22-24
Part 5, Chapters 25-27
Part 5, Chapters 28-30
Parts 5-6, Chapters 31-33
Part 6, Chapters 34-36
Part 6, Chapters 37-39
Part 7, Chapters 40-48
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Rajkumar Raja is the key protagonist in The Glass Palace. Introduced as “an Indian, a boy of eleven [and] not an authority to be relied upon” (4), his growth from spindly young boy into a stiff-limbed old man is perhaps the main through-line of the novel. As an Indian boy who fled to Burma following a plague in his village, he seems at first to be little more than an innocent, orphan bystander, watching the pillage of the country by the British. But as the story progresses, his role in the colonization of Burma becomes more complicated. He indentures Indian workers to harvest Burmese oil and sells teak across the region, making himself a fortune in the process. Eventually, as Burmese attitudes turn against the Indian population in the country, it is Rajkumar’s actions that help explain to the audience why the ire of the local people is turned against their fellow South Asians, rather than the British. Rajkumar becomes emblematic of the infectious nature of colonialism and the manifestation of the subjugation of the Burmese people. That he makes a great deal of money doing so provides a hint as to the incessant nature of colonialism and why it is truly hard to eradicate.
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