Plot Summary

A continuation of “Bawa Duka”; via Peduru’s family, the narrative exposes the social stasis/class discrimination encouraged by the local Sinhalese Buddhist clergy, while the arrival of the Christian missionaries signals a more progressive mindset, though at the cost of conversion to a monotheistic faith. Tyranny is not only practiced by the British colonials but equally facilitated by local traditional institutions--thus, the resultant suffering (Duka) of Peduru is a combination of the two.