Abstract: Michael Ondaatje's novel, Anil's Ghost, carries some common elements often seen in many of his works: archeologist, corpse, suspense, violence, and war. All these elements contribute to the protagonist's pursuit of self-identity. Coming back to her mother country as a UN forensic expert, Anil's mission is to seek the truth about the massacres during Sri Lanka's Civil War. Specifically speaking, her job is to identify a skeleton and reconstruct its face. The process of fulfilling her task somehow turns into a process of Anil's search for her own “roots” and her cogination on self-identity, a process that reflects the Buddhist culture in Sri Lanka and demonstrates the Buddhist idea of “interdependent origination.” Through the construction of the skeleton's identity, the way in which Anil's Ghost tackles the issue of the character's identity reveals, subtlely and profoundly, the concepts of “self” and “selflessness” in the Buddhist theory of “interdependent origination.” In Ondaatje's view, only by giving up the fixation on the “self” in pursuing self-identity and achieving the kind of “selflessness” that “dissolves all conflicts and oppositions” can the Civil War and violence in Sri Lanka come to an end. Ondaatje believes that Buddhist art can help the people of Sri Lanka regain their faith and attain peace.

Key words: Anil's Ghost, Self-Identification, Buddhism, interdependent origination, "selflessness", "self"