The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Maali Almeida is the central protagonist and titular character of The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Through a second-person point-of-view, he is also the narrator. The reader journeys with Maali through the afterlife and flashbacks of his lived existence. As the narrator, Maali has an omniscient perspective because he can witness everything and even get into people’s dreams.

The external adventures of the novel inform Maali’s character development. He has two arcs: The person he was becoming while alive, and the person he becomes in the afterlife. In his lived existence, Maali is characterized by his flaws. He has a gambling addiction and possibly a sex addiction, which he calls his “sluttiness.” Maali is in love with DD but has a difficult time committing to him. He lives life on the edge; he has multiple sexual partners, even though the discovery of his sexuality could get him arrested in Sri Lanka, and he photographs Civil War atrocities, thereby experiencing the brutal violence of the war firsthand. Maali identifies as Sri Lankan and refuses to identify based on his ethnic heritage. This highlights that Maali is not interested in ethnic factions and divisions; he is instead interested in the culture, beauty, and history of his nation. Just before his death, Maali resolves to start a new chapter in his life. He settles his gambling debts, quit his photojournalist jobs, and is planning on leaving Sri Lanka with DD. Instead, his murder at the hands of DD’s father curtails the person Maali might have become on Earth.

In death, Maali experiences another arc. He must come to terms with his death, and he is desperate to publish his hidden photographs that expose the Sri Lankan government’s corruption. He has unresolved resentment over his family, particularly regarding his father’s other second family, death, and his mother’s coldness. But as Maali starts to make shady dealings with demons in the In Between, he starts to learn that human actions have little meaning. This nihilism paradoxically helps him appreciate the people he loved in his lifetime, and he develops compassion for the nuanced layers of the human experience. He watches as his loved ones struggle to grapple with his death and put their lives at risk to publish his photographs. Ultimately, he learns that his photographs don’t matter in the grand scheme of the universe. Maali attains peace by defending human beings against senseless, vengeful violence. He is reincarnated as a Helper for other spirits to find the Light and resolves to trust in the universe, of which he is a part. He forgives himself for his human fallibility and forgives others for their bigotry and violence.

Jaki is Maali’s best friend. She is Stanley’s niece and DD’s cousin. Jaki has had a more privileged upbringing, but she is a virulent fighter for justice in Sri Lanka. She is a journalist who seeks to expose the truth. Jaki comes into Maali’s life as a potential girlfriend, but she soon learns that he is interested in men. Instead of judging him or exposing his secret, Jaki supports Maali from afar. When Maali dies, Jaki is the primary player in uncovering the truth about his murder and publishing his secret photographs. Though she never finds out that Stanley is Maali’s murderer, she does listen to the signs Maali leaves for her and recovers his photographs. Jaki is Maali’s biggest champion; she risks her safety to fulfill his unfinished business. Jaki is courageous and loyal and is nearly tortured and killed for her commitment to Maali. Jaki is a secondary character whose moral code and heroism represent The Possibility and Hope for Change and the best possible version of humanity.

DD is Maali’s boyfriend and the son of a powerful government Minister. DD was educated abroad and was raised in a privileged, Westernized version of Sri Lanka. Though his upbringing represents the British imperialistic norms of wealthy Sri Lankans, he is committed to saving Sri Lanka from itself and not following in his father’s footsteps. He has many opportunities to leave the danger of Sri Lanka behind, but he consistently chooses to advocate for environmentalism in Sri Lanka.

DD is a closeted gay man who agonizes over his love for Maali, who he knows is unfaithful to him. He is jealous of Maali’s life and other lovers, but he and Maali can neither break up nor commit to a monogamous relationship. DD helps Jaki uncover Maali’s photographs after his death. Despite the tension in their relationship, he works hard to maintain the Maali’s dignity and reputation. When his father is killed in a bombing, DD is free to live a new life. He finds a boyfriend and is freed from his father’s anti-gay bias and Westernized expectations.

Sena is a former JVP insurgent who is murdered and enters spirit life as a vengeful ghost. Sena’s goal is to avenge his and others’ deaths. As in life, Sena becomes a follower in a hierarchy. He pledges allegiance to both Crow Man and the Mahakali, who promise him powerful skills in exchange for his loyalty, his service, and his recruitment of other souls. Sena doesn’t know or care that he’s being taken advantage of by powerful forces; in death, he repeats the mistakes he made in life. Sena tries to coax Maali into joining the afterlife’s demonic forces. He holds onto resentments from his lived experience and replicates cycles of violence in the In Between. Sena is an antagonist, but he is also the victim of his society’s oppression. In short, Sena is a lost soul.

Stanley is a powerful figure in the Sri Lankan government. His influence and affluence mostly protect his son DD from harm, but Stanley can’t control DD’s desires and ambitions. Stanley cannot accept that DD is gay and in a relationship with Maali. On the surface, Stanley defends his loved ones and investigates Maali’s disappearance, but his surface geniality hides his bigoted and violent streak. Stanley murders Maali in a hate crime, enraged that Maali has had sex with DD and plans on having a life-long romantic and sexual relationship with him. Stanley is an antagonist who follows the literary trope of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. He seems amicable and good, but he is secretly dangerous and violent.

There are three antagonists in this novel who are different versions of the same archetype. Colonel Wijeratne and Major Raja are official Sri Lankan government officials who abuse their power and oversee the torture, disappearance, and murder of tens of thousands of people. They rule with impunity and feel no remorse for the escalation of the Civil War. They are motivated by power and greed. This antagonism echoes that of the Mahakali, who is an afterlife mirror of Wijeratne and Raja. The Mahakali is a superior demon who manipulates others into giving up their power to him and following him on his mission to wreak havoc. These three characters are stock evil figures; as antagonists, they have no redeeming qualities and represent pure evil. Every society has a Mahakali, as Karunatilaka demonstrates through the deplorable actions of Wijeratne and Raja.