The title of the novel is a Hindu word meaning one of three qualities that comprise all elements of being. “Tamas” is completely negative, however. A person whose tamas is inordinately strong will be full of rage, despair, hatred, laziness, apathy, and likely to live in a constant state of chaos at worst, and stagnation at best. Given the events of the novel, it is not hard to imagine that the worst of the characters—and even some of the best, morally speaking—are not suffering from an imbalance of tamas in their lives. In order for peace to be a reality, tamas must be reduced. And yet, its existence is built into all systems of organized religion that require the loathing of another faith as a core tenet.

India has known few times of peace. Since the time of the British colonists, the Indian people have been forced to rely on the scant protection and barely concealed disdain of imperial overseers. The British believed that the problems of colored people—and the disadvantages they see as inherent in being a person of color—can only be solved by whites. However, racism is not simply a problem between the whites and the Indians; the most intolerant of the Hindus and Muslims view people of other faiths as barely human.