Abstract

From the beginning of civilization people have shifted from one place to another for better living and for seeking different opportunities. It is true that globalization is changing this world to a small village but people are becoming more and more forlorn and alienated. In most of the third world countries, western world is considered to be a better place to live in; this leads to disillusionment in several of the cases. Hari Kunzru’s <i>Transmission</i> deals with a character named Arjun Mehta, a programmer, who goes to America to pursue his dreams in the corporate world. Soon he learns he is just a contract employee despite all his capabilities. His largest blow comes when he realizes his job life is about to end. He is isolated though he is surrounded by people and co-workers. To prove his worth, he creates a virus which generated a global havoc. The writer very skilfully introduces another character named Guy Swift whose life goes parallel to Arjun. Unlike Arjun, Guy enjoys all the luxuries of the world; the contrast is perplexing. The virus which Arjun created affected Guy’s life too, showing the smallness of this world and how everything more or less affects everyone. Hary Kunzru tactfully put Guy in a situation where he was deported to another country due to a confusion regarding his identity; the writer has turned the table and showed how it can be when one person is not from a powerful country. Our world does not treat everyone equally: in this globalized world, people are alienated and are given false hope. Arjun lost his identity and his sense of home: he did not have any place to belong. This paper has worked with the disenchantment of Arjun and how his life changed by going to America. This paper has discussed about the brutal world of materialism where people are considered just as a working body: with no feelings whatsoever. The borders are said to be vanishing but people are becoming more and more depressed and lonely. Everyone wants to leave a mark, everyone wants to be noticed like Arjun but most of the times they go unnoticed. This paper has tried to discuss the reason behind these crises and hoped to come up with some answers.

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