The five introductory sections in Hungry Ghosts are some of the most valuable parts of the entire novel. Each section gives us a backstory (aside from Deadwater, technically) about some of the novels most important characters. In these sections, we get a peek into the past and gain insight as to why the current-day versions of our characters exist.

  “A Gate to Hell” Introduces Krishna, Han’s son and one of, if not the most, important character(s) in the story. A Gate to Hell serves to show us why Krishna is who he is. He is bullied in school for being the only kid there that was from the barrack. When he fights back, he enlists his cousin Tarak to help him. When they get caught, Tarak offers to take the fall but Krishna doesn’t let him. “Tarak was willing to take the fall, but Krishna wanted them to know it was him”[p.4] That sentence alone perfectly encapsulates Krishna himself and his relationship with his dad. He was ready, willing, and able to push back and disrupt. He wasn’t as willing to bend the knee at any moment as his father Hans was. He wanted the school to know he retaliated. He wouldn’t back down because he was supposed to yield to the more privileged kids. He wanted to fight against societal norms. Hans not being willing to do this in his own life was what Krishna despised him most for. “A Small Sacrifice” gives us the backstory of Marlee Changoor. Marlee was the niece of an unnamed fisherman. Marlee was not her name, and we never found out what her name was. She was 16 when he died, and she went on to work at “The Oyster House” which was a brothel. She eventually met a man she would describe as “rural”. That man was Dalton Changoor. He impressed her with his dagger (the one we learn about from Rudra and Rostam). Dalton took a liking to her. The rest is history. She becomes Marlee Changoor. “The hard times are over. The past is dead and long behind” [p.94] Marlee thinks to herself. She thinks she’s escaped her chaotic fate. Yet more horrors await her A Father’s Sacrifice, one of the most important sections in the book, is concerned with the father of the twins Rudra and Rustam. Their father tried his best to turn the twins into the worst human beings possible (a reflection of himself) “Wives must stay with their husbands. Sons must always love their fathers. Anything else is an affront to nature” [p.191] is what the man told Rudra and Rustam. He was a pirate smuggler who stole from Dalton Changoor and planned to kill his family if he ever got caught. He got caught and attempted to kill his sons, but they escaped. A Clean Break explores a scene with Hans and his mother when he was a child. She left them one day when they were out fishing. Hans and his brother called out for her and she didn’t answer until she appeared and acted as if everything was fine. We learn his mother eventually killed herself. “At her cremation, her husband only had three words: ‘She was weak’” [p.237] Han’s father was abusive and didn’t love his mother. She killed herself to escape. All his father had to say for her was that she was weak. His father is exactly the man Hans tried his best not to become. Deadwater is a small passage about the village waking Shweta up to alert her of Krishna’s untimely death.

Each of these sections provides a backstory for the main characters. It may also provide some justification for their actions, or inaction, in some cases. It humanizes the characters a little more and ultimately hammers home the theme of generational and familial trauma. It also shows us how interconnected everybody actually was. We learned early of Krishna’s demeanor and what he was about. It sets us up to understand the actions he takes later on in the book. It lets us know he isn’t just some rebellious kid just for the sake of being rebellious. Marlee had no idea what she was in life, and through her time with Dalton, she was turned into this show puppy. She never knew who she was or what she wanted to do. She was the lowest of the low until she was the highest of the high. But she was still ultimately unhappy with Dalton and the man he was. Rudra and Rostam had perhaps the most traumatic upbringing. Their mother was a slave and their father was a psycho who tried to kill them. They did nothing but be kids, and yet throughout the story their reputation was completely tarnished due to who their father was. It turns out, they are probably the most redeemable characters in the entire story, even when nobody could’ve blamed them if they were actually as evil as they were made out to be. Han’s backstory shows us the trauma he went through and how he ultimately did not want to be like his father. However, he lost his way in the process, in trying to be a man for Shweta he never truly let her love him. So he jumped at the chance to be with Marlee as she was this “other” that he never experienced. While he didn’t wind up being his father, he somehow ended up being worse. Krishna winds up paying for this. This is what we see in Deadwater, where Shweta is woken up to be told her son was found dead by a river. These sections are extremely important to the book, as they allow us as readers to come to our own full judgment of the characters. Whether we believe their trauma justifies their actions or we believe it’s being used as an excuse. It also connects the plot in ways like learning about the twin’s father, who is mentioned when Krishna is arrested. Learning about the dagger that Dalton almost killed the twins with. Learning that Hans also had a tough upbringing. The one backstory we don’t get in this way is Shwetas. Which is peculiar. Perhaps this is because her traumas are all happening in the current day. Shweta is the most wholesome character in the book, but even she is made to pay for the sins of others. 

 Every section is a reminder that there was a large amount of hurt at some point in these characters’ lives. A lot of it is from fathers or lack of fathers. But in every case, it’s trauma that perpetuates more trauma. As they say, “hurt people, hurt people”. Sons will always pay for the sins of their fathers. It is very apparent in the twin’s case, in Hans’ case, and unfortunately, in Krishna’s case. Unfortunately, wives will also pay for the sins of their husbands as well. 

Hosein, Kevin Jared. Hungry Ghosts. Harper Collins, 2023.