Structure of Amnesty
Adiga structures Amnesty in sections of analog time over twenty-four hours. In between these dissections of Danny’s day, Adiga also includes four sections of Danny’s four years as “an illegal”. Through this structure, readers are able to gain a deeper and fuller understanding of Danny's life.
The contrast between the pinpointed, hyper-focused nature of Danny’s present moment to his past experiences living as an undocumented immigrant in Australia highlights his experience. The recount of Danny’s third year in Australia summarizes Danny’s good nature and moral compass. Adiga writes, “Danny had something else to add to the feast: hope” (135). Danny learns about amnesty and tells the rest. This section is particularly upsetting because we observe in the story this is not a reality for so many undocumented immigrants, including Danny.
There also is something disheartening about the way each of these sections is labeled. As readers, we become apprehensive about the last time we read about Danny’s years in Australia. Because we do not know what Danny will decide to do and his decision to talk to the police risks his deportation as Danny knows, “If I tell the Law what I know about Dr. Prakash, I tell the Law what I know about myself” (113). As time ticks away we become more aware of Danny’s conscience and feelings about the right thing to do.
The ending of the story symbolizes so much more than just “Honest Danny” in terms. It represents reality for so many undocumented immigrants’ experience. In essence, this story could be written from anyone’s perspective because each individual has a personal, empathetic life; but many privileged people tend to ignore that and only see the law or in terms of this book the police report printed on the last page. As readers we know that Danny is so much more than that police report. We know this because of the way that Adiga chose to write this story.
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