57 pages • 1 hour read
Roshani ChokshiAru Shah and the End of Time
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Self-Discovery on a Hero’s Journey
Aru gets pulled into a magical world to fulfill a quest that features characters and elements from Hindu mythology, particularly the Mahabharata. In keeping with the grand scale of the source material, it is fitting that Aru embarks on a “hero’s journey,” the monomythic narrative structure seen in so many epic tales. However, Aru is ultimately a young girl, whose story is yet to unfold across four more installments of the series. In keeping with this, the narrative structure and themes in the book are equally influenced by Campbell’s hero’s journey, as well as the very real and relatable conflicts experienced by an adolescent child.
The first few chapters reflect the “Departure” on the journey: the “call the adventure”, “supernatural aid”, “crossing the threshold”, and “the belly of the whale” each take place through Aru lighting the lamp, Boo’s appearance, the journey to collect Mini and travel to the Otherworld, and the Claiming that takes place at the Court of Sky, respectively. Similarly, a large chunk of the remaining story sees the girls on the “Initiation” part of the journey, as they face numerous trials and ordeals, and meet with different allies like Valmiki, the Seasons, Chitrigupta, and even the Palace, who each give them gifts and advice to aid their quest. They even discover the secret of how to destroy the Sleeper.
The typical trajectory of the hero’s journey begins to waver when the girls do not achieve the Ultimate Boon stage during the Initiation: Although they thwart the Sleeper’s plan and unfreeze time, he manages to plant a seed of doubt in Aru’s mind and escape. Thus, although the girls do return to their old lives and homes, there are numerous questions that remain unanswered with new ones arising with the introduction of Aiden Acharya and the wolf girl.
These are a function of the book being part of a series; the hero’s journey remains incomplete because there are more quests left to complete in the subsequent books. Furthermore, being young, Aru and Mini also do have a considerable amount of growing up that lies ahead of them. Besides the larger conflicts they are battling, they are also struggling with the realities of being young, pre-adolescents in their mortal worlds. Their coming-of-age stage story will require more than one cycle of the hero’s journey as they explore different aspects of their lives and have multiple moments of self-discovery.
In this book, the moment of self-discovery comes for Aru when she faces her reasons for lighting the lamp. Because she often feels out of place, she never considers that she may be the one in the wrong when it comes to interacting with her peers. Aru must come to terms with the power she wields and realize that she should only use it for good, rather than as a way to hide her insecurities. Mini’s insecurity comes from her family’s failure to acknowledge her as the Pandava, mistaking her brother for the reincarnated one. This leaves Mini imposter syndrome and leads her to doubt herself at key moments in the narrative. Her self-discovery comes when she realizes that she has been worthy of being a Pandava the whole time and has nothing to prove.
Both Aru and Mini deal with the insecurities of discovering themselves as they grow up; some of this learning takes place through their quest while other moments of growth come from their interactions with their families and peers. They overcome obstacles of mythic proportions when they use the celestial weapons to save each other’s lives, and this helps them discover the value of loyalty and bravery over fleeting popularity, lessons they can take into their everyday middle-school lives. While Aru learns to wield magical skills, she is still flustered by the presence of good-looking new boy at school. In this manner, Chokshi manages to bring together the magic and grandeur of mythology and the ordinary events and conflicts of a middle-schooler to show that coming of age in the real world can be just as daunting as saving the world.
The Multiplicity of Perspectives in Truth and Morality
Aru’s story emphasizes that the world is not black and white; multiple perspectives can coexist, allowing for different interpretations of right and wrong. One of the ways Chokshi explores this is by challenging the idea of truth and honesty in different scenarios and introducing concepts such as imagination, memory, illusions, and secrets.
Aru has a vivid imagination. She paints an exaggerated picture of her life to her classmates in order to feel accepted. While what she tells them is rooted in truth, she puts an imaginative spin on the portrayal. She is consequently accused of lying, and the events in the book begin with Aru trying to save face in the face of one such lie. Her actions do cause her to feel guilty because she realizes that, in some cases, she stretches reality too far. However, she also arrives at a realization that imagination, which is one of her greatest strengths, is something that can be used for good.
Secrets, on the other hand, have dangerous effects on the events in the book. Krithika told Aru about the lamp and the demon trapped inside but not about the story’s connection to Aru and Krithika. This secrecy on Krithika’s part leads to the pain and resentment on Aru’s part, as she doesn’t know Krithika is searching for a way out of the prophecy. It also leaves Aru with an incomplete picture of her life story, as she does not know she is a reincarnated Pandava or that the Sleeper is her father. Thus, she is unprepared for the consequences of lighting the lamp and what lies ahead once the Sleeper is released.
Boo is secretive about his past, and Aru is secretive about how and why she lit the lamp; uncovering both these secrets leads to feelings of hurt and betrayal among the trio. They do eventually reconcile, and in both cases, the other parties accept why Boo and Aru chose to keep these secrets.
Illusions also challenge the line between truth and lies. From Madame Bee’s enchantments to the Palace of Illusions, the girls are constantly encountering illusions throughout their quest. Like imagination, illusions work to mask the truth in both positive and negative ways—Madame Bee uses them to trap her victims while the Palace used them to help give the Pandavas a grand and comfortable home. In every case, however, it becomes crucial for the girls to see through the illusions so that can advance in their journey.
The Palace asserts that memory is the biggest illusion of all. This is demonstrated with Shukra and the Bridge of Forgetting; he is both haunted and soothed by memory, and the mirrors represent both his need to remember and the pain it causes him; they allow him to admire his handsome face, which serves as a reminder of his loss.
Imagination, secrets, illusions, and memories all contain some amount of dishonesty, or the masking or distorting of truth. However, by exploring each of these in various scenarios, Chokshi seems to suggest that none of these are good or bad by themselves; depending on the intention and the context, each of these elements has a place in life. This perspective, which allows for the world to exist in shades of gray, is echoed throughout the story, especially in Chokshi’s characterizations: an antagonist with an alluring motivation; a mentor with a checkered past; and a hero who continues to doubt herself along the way.
The Interconnected Roles of Karma and Fate
In keeping with the focus on Indian mythology, ideas of fate, destiny, karma, and reincarnation feature throughout the book.
The concept of reincarnation is central to the story, with Aru presented as a reincarnation of one of the Pandavas; in fact, all the heroes of the series turn out to be reincarnations of the five brothers. The Hindu concept of reincarnation directly ties into the idea of karma: The sum of one’s actions, good and bad, are what determine how one’s next life will unfold.
This automatically poses a question regarding the opposing forces of destiny and free will. On one hand, previous karma ensures that certain aspects of one’s life are predetermined; this argument is further strengthened by elements in the book, such as prophecies and curses. For instance, Mini believes Aru’s hesitation to destroy the Sleeper comes from Shukra’s curse. The idea of prophecy makes Aru’s lighting of the lamp predestined, to some degree. In fact, Krithika’s attempts at thwarting the prophecy by imprisoning the Sleeper appear to have been futile; not only does he eventually escape it, but Krithika’s actions leave him feeling bitter, resentful, and more motivated toward destruction. He even explicitly blames Krithika and Aru for turning him into the Sleeper. Chokshi never confirms whether or not this is true, but it still shows the complex relationship between destiny and free will.
There is equally strong evidence throughout the book that people may not be bound by their fate or destiny. Prior to Krithika’s imprisonment, the Sleeper was aware of the prophecy surrounding him and was eager to negate it; even upon taking an evil form, he continues to seek ways to thwart his fate, albeit by destructive means. Similarly, Boo was evil in his previous life; however, he chooses differently this time around, swearing loyalty to the Pandavas and helping the girls on their quest. In this way, not only is he changing his destiny, but he is also “paying penance” for his past actions—which will help balance, though not completely eliminate, his bad karma.
There are questions surrounding Aru’s destiny, too. The vision that the Sleeper shows Aru and her place in the prophecy are not entirely clear yet; however, they cause Aru to doubt her own worthiness. Nevertheless, the sense that Aru, and the reader, are left with is that it is possible to change one’s destiny—or at least fight to do so.
