Metamorphosis a synopsis

Metamorphosis is a fictive novel in Swedish language and it contains four parts. In the first part the scene is Myanmar/Burma, so that part has been translated from Swedish to Burmese. Metamorphosis is a very complicated love story because of all the cultural and religious differences and prejudices that the main characters in the novel, Katja and Aung Aung, has to face. In the first part Katja, who lives in Sweden, comes to Myanmar for the third time to meet her boyfriend Aung Aung in Nyaung Shwe. Nothing becomes like she has expected, because he has changed since last time they met. To get a longer visa, Katja ends up in a Buddhist monastery in Yangon. She has promised Aung Aung to return as fast as possible, but its not as easy as she thought to get back to Nyaung Shwe. During her stay in Yangon religious tensions between Buddhists and Muslims are sparkled by a rumor of a rape of a Buddhist girl in Mandalay. Riots starts and Katja, who just have accepted Buddhism, gets confused. Things become worse because Aung Aung get attacked of religious reasons. Finally Katja learns that his father is a Muslim. Because of the attack, Aung Aung decides to leave his mothers religion (Buddhism) and becomes a Muslim instead. This makes Katja even more confused. Daw Mya, who lives at Inle Lake and who have been married to Aung Aungs Muslim uncle, tells Katja she should take Aung Aung with her to Sweden. They get married, even thought Katjas parents does not approve of it.

In the second part of the story Katja waits for Aung Aung in Thailand and meets refugees from Myanmar there. Religious conflicts are present in this part also, but these conflicts are between Christian Karen and Burmese Buddhists. Since the Burmese Buddhists are less along the border between Myanmar and Thailand, they represent a minority and have to face minority problems. While Katja is waiting for Aung Aung to come, she meets Maung Khaing, and because falling in love is a bad habit for her, she likes him more than she should (one of the ideas with the story is to show how samsara works, so Katja's moral problems gets her into trouble many times). She also meets her Swedish friend Markus in Bangkok and things that should not happen, happens. Finally Aung Aung arrives to Bangkok and they apply for a residence permit in Sweden at the Swedish Embassy. Because getting the permit takes a long time, Katja has to return to Sweden for work and Aung Aung stays in Thailand together with Maung Khaing and some other dissidents from Myanmar. When Katja comes to Sweden, her father is very upset because of her marriage to Aung Aung. She has to live in her parents house and things gets difficult, so she decides to live on

her own instead. No one in her family believes that Aung Aung will come to Sweden because it takes such a long time and they think everything she wrote in her letters from Myanmar was a lie. She gets very frustrated about not being believed. The only one she can talk to is her work mate Rune, who belongs to a Christian congregation. She still feels confused about religion because of her experiences in Myanmar and when he asks her to join a religious meeting she accepts. Because her parents are away for a journey to Norway, her younger sister Susanna wants to follow with her to the meeting. Katja gets terrified of the emotional meeting with people crying and shouting Halleluja, but Susanna likes it. She becomes a part of the congregation and when their parents comes home from the journey, their father is upset about it and accuses Katja for taking her sister to the meeting. The situation in Katjas family is hard and she is also worried about Aung Aung. Maybe he regrets their marriage? He and the Karen girl Naw Htoo Lay, who is married to Maung Khaings friend Zaw Min, have to stay together in an apartment in Bangkok while the other men work illegally at a construction site. When Zaw Min gets under arrest at a police raid at the work place and ends up in jail for illegal immigration in Thailand, Katja gets even more worried. Suddenly Aung Aung tells Katja he will follow Naw Htoo Lay back to her mother in a refugee camp at the border between Myanmar and Thailand, and that makes her suspicions grow even more. She is constantly worried about getting back what she has done by herself. She is afraid of the karma law and it makes her jealous. She tries to meditate, but its not as easy as it was on the Buddhist monastery in Yangon where she stayed before, because shes alone. Finally, she gets a letter from the Swedish Migration Board about Aung Aungs residence permit. He is allowed to stay in Sweden.

In the third part Aung Aung comes to Sweden. Katjas parents dont like him because he is a foreigner and especially because he is a Muslim. To protect him and also because she is very jealous of a female Muslim classmate he has in his Swedish class, Katja converts to Islam and starts using a veil. Her parents get very upset because of this. Katjas father gets cancer and it makes him religiously extreme (hes Christian). His relationship with Aung Aung gets worse and Aung Aung wants to return to Myanmar. To encourage Aung Aung to stay and to give her father strength to fight his disease, Katja gets pregnant. The third part ends with her fathers successful operation.

In the last part of the story Katja and Aung Aung gets a child, Jacob. But not even a child can make things better between Katja, Aung Aung and Katjas parents. The pressure on Katja

only gets stronger. Her parents wants her to be a Christian, her Muslim friends wants her to be a better Muslim, her Atheist sister tells her that religion is only a source of trouble, but she silently still believes in Buddhism. When Katja gives birth to Jacob, her and Aung Aungs life turns upside down because of the change and she gets depressed. The problems with the environment make the depression worse and eventually Katja gets enough and decides to give up everything. She, Aung Aung and her father die in a car accident in the end of part four. Katja is reborn as a boy in Myanmar, Aung Aung is reborn in Sweden and Katjas father in Finland. Metamorphosis ends with the new birth of them all.

The story will continue, but I only have it in my head so far. The name of the new story will be The escape to Myanmar and its a story about these three reborn persons 20 years later. There is a religious war in Europe between Christians and Muslims and people from Europe have to escape to Asia as refugees. In Myanmar there has been a lot of progress and there is a great need of qualified workers. The Myanmar government makes an agreement with UNHCR to accept quota refugees. Some of these refugees come from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. They are taken care of by a former tourist guide, Nay Lin Aung (who was Katja in his former life). The Swedish man Victor (Aung Aung in his former life) is one of the refugees. On the contrary to the other refugees, he adapts well to the new life in Myanmar, he learns the language fast and starts to dress and act like a Burmese. When the refugees are sent to Nyaung Shwe for working at the vegetable plantations on Inle Lake, he feels like he has been there before. He and Nay Lin Aung get a very close relationship (well, they were husband and wife in a former life). Also their son Jacob and Katjas mother Anita ends up as refugees in Myanmar and also Katjas father who was reborn in Finland. He is now a young Christian missionary called Esaias. They will all meet again, but I dont know how the story will end yet.