65 pages • 2 hours read
Shehan KarunatilakaThe Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Mara Tree
In Buddhism, Mara is a demon associated with death, rebirth, and desire. Mara is a challenge to Buddha’s enlightenment, and therefore, overcoming death and desire effectively defeats this demon. The Mara tree is part of this cycle of death, rebirth, and desire. Maali meditates in the tree to hear his name on the wind and find those who are still thinking of or talking about him. While this is a useful tool when Maali is exploring the In Between and trying to figure out the story of his murder, it also holds him back from rebirth because it keeps him tied to the land of the living. The Mara tree symbolizes Maali’s desire to be a part of the living world again. When he no longer needs to visit the Mara tree, Maali is ready to give up his expectations and move on with his spiritual self.
Nikon
The Nikon camera Maali wears around his neck is a symbol of his courage, his identity, and a clue about his murder. Even in the In Between, Maali takes pictures. It is an impulse for him to use his camera to record the wonderous things going on in the world. The camera is part of his identity. A gift from his estranged father, the Nikon represents Maali’s sense of individual purpose. The Nikon is also a powerful weapon. In camera terms, words like “shooting” and “capture” are part of the vernacular and parallel the language of shooting a gun or capturing an innocent person in the Palace. This reveals that Maali is a fighter, in his own way. He uses his camera instead of a bomb or a gun to fight and speak truth to power. His camera is also chipped because Stanley used it to beat him to death. Thus, Maali’s most cherished possession becomes a murder weapon.
Ghosts, Demons, Ghouls
In the In Between, Maali meets a host of ghosts, demons, and ghouls. Demons are evil entities, ghouls feed off other spirits, and ghosts are the good spirits of the deceased. Sena becomes a ghoul because he uses other ghosts to trump up his own reputation with demons. Demons are more powerful than ghouls and can make spirit life more difficult for ghouls and ghosts alike. These are symbolic of the spirit a person has while living. In life, Sena acted like a ghoul because he embraced violence to give himself more power, even if that power was an illusion. In death, Sena replicates his habits in life and is therefore ghoulish in both life and death. In contrast, Maali is a ghost because his living life was informed by trying to do good for others and, while self-destructive, causing others little harm. As a ghost, Maali tries to do good by exposing his photographs to the world and saving Jaki’s life. Karunatilaka’s magical realist take on the afterlife is a metaphorical space that mirrors the living world, emphasizing his social critique of the way humans treat one another. The reader learns that they should not fear supernatural forces so much as their fellow human.
