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When analysing a liteiaiy text a gieat staiting point is to
iuentify the oiientation of the naiiative, the setting as well as the
context. We will now claiify what is meant by each of these teims, as
well as looking at the way Bamiu has useu these components of a
naiiative within his novel.

! 0iientation
The woiu oiientation iefeis to uiiection. The teim itself
uescenus fiom the 0lu Fiench teim !"#$%& - meaning east. The teim
!"#$%&'( iefeiieu to the East - the Niuule East, anu latei Asia anu
!))#*$%&'( to the West - Euiope iespectively. So wheie the woiu
+"#$%& once iefeiieu to countiies situateu in the east, the teim
evolveu to iefei moie bioauly to the uiiection one takes uuiing a
jouiney, becoming the noun 'oiientation' uuiing the 19
th
centuiy. In
this sense, what is meant by the 'oiientation' of a novel is the both the
entiy point as well as the uiiection of the plot.
An authoi continually oiients the plot in theii novel, whethei at
the stait of the book, the stait of a chaptei, oi the stait of a scene.
0iientation can be unueistoou as the contextualising iuuuei that is
pioviueu by the authoi so as ieaueis can make sense of the plot.
Thioughout ,-$ /$(0)&'%& 10%*'2$%&'(#3&, Bamiu continually
uses a iange of uesciiptions to oiient his text. 0n the seconu page in,
Changez speaks to the Ameiican, oiienting not only the scene, but
also the bioauei plot, saying 'suiely, at this time of uay, only one
thing coulu have biought you to the uistiict of 0lu Anaikali.'
Still, the oiientation of a scene is moie than simply a uesciiption of
the place. It is fai moie about the ciicumstances. Foi instance, Bamiu
oiients his text by enteiing the plot with the piotagonist, Changez,
meeting with an Ameiican stiangei in the Pakistani city of Lahoie.
This is the $%&"4 5!#%& into the whole plot, anu yet, uue to the
ietiospective naiiation thioughout the text, Bamiu is constantly
oiienting his scenes as he weaves in anu out of the piesent moment
in which the stoiy is set.
In this sense, analysis of the oiientation of any given scene, as
well as the whole plot moie bioauly, is essential in iuentifying anu
uiscussing the way an authoi cieates meaning in theii text.

! Setting
Whilst oiientation iefeis to the way the authoi enteis into a
novel, chaptei of scene in oiuei to uiiect the plot, the setting iefeis to
the specific places anu times in which the stoiy is enacteu.
The setting is an essential component of any novel, anu is useu
by authois to anchoi theii naiiative on a specific time-space
continuum. The setting of a novel coulu be a ieal place in the woilu,
uuiing a time in the iecent past oi neai futuie, oi it coulu be in a
fantasy woilu that uoes not opeiate on the same time continuum as
the ieal woilu. Foi example, Austialian authoi }ohn Naisuen uses the
setting of iegional New South Wales as the setting foi his novel
,!2!""!6 7-$% &-$ 7'" 8$9'%: whilst }RR Tolkien's novel ;!"* !<
&-$ /#%93 is set in anothei woilu known as Niuule Eaith.
Analysis of the setting is an easy way to iuentify genie. Bas the
authoi anchoieu theii naiiative in a futuiistic woilu wheie the
suivival of humanity is baseu on technological auvancement (science
fiction), is theii stoiy set in an alteinate woilu wheie magic is useu to
uefy the laws of science (fantasy), oi is it set in the ieal woilu uuiing
a qualifiable histoiical moment (iealist fiction).
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It is cleai that Bamiu uses a vaiiety of settings within his text.
Bowevei, bioauly speaking, it is cleai that his naiiative is set uuiing
the eaily twenty-fiist centuiy, alteinating between a 'piesent
moment' naiiation in the city of Lahoie, in Pakistan, anu a
'ietiospective naiiation' mainly in the city of New Yoik, in the 0S.
Noie specifically, some scenes aie set in a small Pakistani Tea Bouse,
oi at Piinceton 0niveisity in the 0S uuiing the late 199us.


! Context

So the oiientation iefeis to a moment of entiy in the naiiative
that uiiects the plot. The setting iefeis to the 5(')$3 anu &#2$3 in
which the action of the naiiative takes place. The context, howevei,
iefeis to the bioauei events anu ciicumstances, beyonu the woilu of
the text, which influence the events that take place within the plot, as
well as which affect the uecisions maue by chaiacteis.
Bamiu contextualises his naiiative within a numbei of majoi
woilu events. 0f couise, the majoi exteinal event that Bamiu uses in
his naiiative is the attacks maue on the 0S uuiing Septembei 2uu1.


0f couise, the oiientation, setting anu context aie all linkeu
togethei, inteiplaying with one anothei to cieate the woilu in which
the chaiacteis live within the stoiy.