Amitav Ghosh's Shadow Lines challenges our understanding of reference points by examining the obscure boundaries between self and others' self-perceptions. The narrator depicts Tridib's internal struggle to become a heroic and active figure, as opposed to the passive figure May believes himself to be. Ghosh explores Tridib's attempts to create a coherent self-identity by considering what it means to be considered successful, what qualities constitute a hero, and how one can reconcile the conflict between one's active and passive characteristics. Ghosh's Shadow Lines thus examines how imagination can provide the means to negotiate the gap between oneself and the reflection of oneself obtained from others in the process of establishing a personal identity. Tridib receives conflicting feedback from people in his life about his identity. , which leads to internal inconsistency. Ghosh describes how the narrator and the grandmother disagree on whether Tridib can be considered a success. The narrator perceives Tridib as a creative heroic figure, a source of information about the world. In contrast, the grandmother perceives Tridib as a passive and unsuccessful failure. The narrator views Tridib as a heroic figure because he admires Tridib's active imagination. From Tridib, he learns that “a place does not just exist, you have to invent it in your imagination” (21). Tridib actively participates in constructing his perception of the world. He realizes that imagination provides the means to frame perception. The narrator has an extremely vivid memory of the past thanks to Tridib's influence. He recalls: "I could not forget because Tridib had given me worlds to travel to and he had given me eyes to see... middle of paper ......ard May and the grandmother believed him at first. . Tridib's sacrifice through his actions restores his imagined construction of himself as an active and strong figure. Tridib bridges multiple discrepancies to establish a coherent self-identity. He negotiates the gap between his actions and his words, between his view of himself and that of others, and between the active and passive aspects of his identity. Ghosh's Shadow Lines examines how imagination can provide the means to negotiate the gap between one's self and the reflection of oneself obtained from others. Tridib uses his imagination to construct a personal identity. The mirror metaphor represents the process of identity formation. Imagination becomes an essential means of processing memories of the past in order to form a coherent sense of the identity one desires..