A Golden Age

Themes

• Memory: her memory of the children were scrambled and vague then later they act as a video reel

• Loss and separation: Losing her children to Faiz and Parveen

                                          Losing her husband

• Love and (complex) family relations

• Voiceless/ Powerlessness: Her not being able to muster up a response in court.

                                                    She is young and a widow
                                                    She is unable to take care of herself moreover her children

• Patriarchy

Characterization

• Rehanna: initially come off as helpless (victim) and powerless.

• Iqbal: a overtly cautious, domineering and controlling character.

      Even though we do not meet him we are aware of his efforts to protects his property, an insight to this is even his line of work, an insurance broker.
      The repetition of "just in case"

• Fiaz: doesn't belive in the doting of women. Almost Stoic.

• Parveen: tall, sulky, barren, desperate for children, unconventional woman.

• Mrs. Chowdury: Loud, aggressive, angry at life

• Silvi

• Sohail: distant, prefers red, silent

• Maya: outgoing,  prefers blue, more verbal, enjoys playing in the mud

Setting

• Lahore described as Garden City suggests more appealing environment as opposed Dhaka

• Karachi

Narrative Technique

• Epistolary form

• Flashback

• Stream of consciousness

• Chaging Narration :primarily 3rd person but is interrupted by 1st person

Literary Devices

• Metaphors

• Similies

• Imagery

• Alliteration

• Irony

• Symbolism

Structure

• Unconventional arrangement of chapters in a sort of diary format. Anam divides the novel into a sort of timeline that is in sync with the 9 month duration of the Bangladeshi War of Independence.

Style

• Use of different languages: English, Urdu

• Use of italics, for emphasis

• Use of short sentences, provide suspense, tension