Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

ecognizes not only that everyone has been affected by this same colonial experience and heartbreaking loss,
but that she will never be able to regain what has been taken from her. Sai has lost Gyan, the judge has lost
Mutt, and the cook has lost the pride of having a son in America. What results is a book that, like life, lacks
closure. Nothing has ended completely, and this ending portrays the idea that the effects of postcolonialism
are still alive and affecting Indians. Readers are left reeling with the rediscovery that loss is
irreversible. Nothing will ever be the same for the characters in this book, just as nothing is the same for
every country affected by colonialism.
Works Cited
Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts. New York:
Routledge, 2005. Print.
Desai, Kiran. The Inheritance of Loss. New York: Groove Press, 2006. Print.
Phelan, James. Experiencing Fiction: Judgments, Progressions, and the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative. Columbus:
The Ohio State University Press, 2007. Print.
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