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IIS Univ.J.A. Vol.10 (2), 54-62 (2021)ISSN 2319-5339
54
Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island : An Ecocritical
Exploration
Shijo Kanjirathingal & Saikat Banerjee
Abstract
In literature, the representation of nature has played a signicant role.
With the advent of ecocriticism, the interaction of the physical environ-
ment with human beings became a focal point in literature. Amitav Ghosh
is one among the few Indian writers who explore the effects of human
being’s inordinate use of nature for his/her selsh motives by using leg-
ends, myth, and history in his ction. The present paper examines how
the materialistic and anthropocentric attitudes of human beings cause ex-
treme climatic changes and the displacement of human beings and other
living beings. This study on Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island also aims at
bringing awareness among the readers about the impending calamities of
the global environment and thus a warning to mend exploitative attitudes
towards our Mother Nature.
Keywords: Anthropocentricism; Displacement; Ecocriticism.
Introduction
Representation of nature both in art and literature is not a recent phenom-
enon, but it has been in practice since ages. Due to shifting perceptions
and philosophies of human beings, the representation of nature varied
in different periods of literature. The people who understood nature as a
separate entity, independent of human society and human beings as just a
part of this nature took shelter in the lap of nature. On the contrary, peo-
ple who considered human needs and human society as the touchstone
for humanity’s attitude towards nature practised exploitative attitudes to-
wards nature. The alarming environmental problems faced by the entire
world paved the way to a new outlook in literature, which consequently
led to the emergence of ecocriticism as a eld of study. The present paper
tries to evaluate how the environmental crises are man-made and how
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Kanjirathingal & Banerjee 2021
these crises cause displacement of human beings and other living organ-
isms.
The term ecocriticism was coined in the late 1970s and got recognition
through the two seminal publications: The Ecocriticism Reader edited by
Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm and The Environmental Imagination
by Lawrence Buell. William Howarth explains the etymological meaning
of ecocriticism as: “ Eco and critic both derive from Greek, oikos and kritis,
and in tandem they mean “house judge,” … so the oikos is nature, a place
Edward Hoagland calls “our widest home,” and the kritos is an arbiter
of taste who wants the house kept in good order…”(Howarth 69). The
Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms denes ecocriticism as “Ecocriticism
studies literary texts with reference to the interaction between human
activity and the vast range of natural or non-human phenomena which
bears upon human experience encompassing issues concerning fauna, o-
ra, landscape, environment and weather”(Childs and Fowler 65). Thus,
in short, we can say ecocriticism as a eld of study tries to explore con-
nections between literature and nature. We can trace mainly two waves
in ecocriticism. The rst wave of ecocriticism focusses on nature poetry
while the second wave focuses on environmental justice to degraded
landscapes. The revisionist aspect in Ecocritical theory makes its role a
prophetic one. It is prophetic by warning human beings regarding the
cause of the environmental crisis as anthropocentric1 and also encourag-
ing to revive the false thinking of a conqueror of nature for a better future.
An Ecocritical Exploration of the Novel
Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island is divided into two parts. Part one is
named as ‘The Gun Merchant’ and second as ‘Venice.’ Part one focuses on
Sundarbans2 while part two focuses on Venice and the immigrants. In part
one through the Dinanath’s exploration of dhaam of ‘Manasa Devi3,’ Am-
itav Ghosh limns the current situation of Sundarbans. The main focus is
on the changing living conditions of the people, aquatic animals as well as
1. M. H Abrams and Harphams A Glossary of Literary Terms denes Anthropocentricism as
an ideology which is oriented to the interests of human beings. Anthropocentricism pro-
motes superiority of human beings to Nature. Human beings being superior to Nature takes
the freedom to exploit Nature without thinking it’s after effects.(Abrams 88)
2. “The Indian Sundarbans Delta is part of the delta of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna
basin in Asia. The Sundarbans, shared between India and Bangladesh is home to one of the
largest mangrove forest in the world. It is also home for over 4.5 million people” (Danda and
Gayathri 1)
3. “Manasa Devi is also known as the snake Goddess who is worshipped mainly in Bengal and other
North-Eastern states of India. According to Devi Bhagavatam Manasa is the mind born daughter of
sage Kashyapa and Kadru” (Das “Manasa”).
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IIS Univ.J.A. Vol.10 (2), 54-62 (2021)
the drastic changes in climatic conditions. Ghosh identies the reason for
the changing scenario in Sundarbans as demonic possession. The demon
that possessed human beings is the demon of anthropocentric greed. The
demon exercises its freedom to exploit nature for the greed, which in turn
converts Sundarbans to a place which can be a home for neither human
beings nor living organisms. The greed, Amitav Ghosh mentions, would
bring Pralaya which will destroy the entire world. Tipu explains to Deen
clearly about greed and his effects.
Hey, Pops, I got news for you: greed’s real, it’s big. You got greed,
I got greed, we all got greed…, it’s not parasites we got inside
of us, it’s greed! If that’s what a demon is, there’s no way It’s
imaginary. Shit no! We’re all demons… That’s really bad news,
because according to Hindu mythology when demons take over
is when the world ends. (Ghosh 113)
The greediness of human beings made Sundarbans a eld of war. Ghosh
points out this explicitly when he says “…where commerce and the wil-
derness look each other directly in the eye; that exactly where the war be-
tween prot and Nature is fought” (13). Converting everything for one’s
prot is a psyche of a coloniser. Coloniser never thinks about the other
(Nature). In the colonial context, the other which is the colonised is in-
ferior to self. The very existence of an inferior other gives identity to the
self, which is superior. Other has no meaning beyond self; thus, it always
remains at the mercy of self. This concept of othering is practised by hu-
man beings too. He considers himself as the crown of all creations. With
self-proclaimed superiority, human beings try to load its power over the
other even to the extent of exploitation of other. So the other becomes a mere
object for the self. Being an object, the other becomes for you, merely an
object to explore and use it until it is fruitless. Here other is nature and self
is human beings. The self (human beings) who claims to be the subject
thinks that everything is under him and created for him, thus denes other
(nature) in relation to the subject (human beings).
The visit of Dinanath to Sundarbans dhaam of The Gun Merchant reveals
the effects of greediness or the materialistic tendencies of the people. In
the quest for better living conditions, human beings almost forgot/ne-
glected nature. The bareness of Sundarbans is nothing but the repercus-
sions of the exploitative quest undertaken by the people. The situation in
Sundarbans is genuinely alarming. It is no more human who considered
himself as the dening factor that controls Sundarbans but nature (other)
who is a giver through furious climatic disasters started controlling land
and making Sundarbans barren. Nature started reacting against the de-
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mon of greed by not providing the abundance of its treasure. The people
of Sundarbans started experiencing the cramp;
It seemed both land and water were turning against those who
lived in the Sundarbans. When people tried to dig wells, an arse-
nic – laced brew gushed out of the soil; when they tried to shore
up embankments the tides rose higher and pulled them down
again. Even sherman could barely get by; where once their boats
would come back with catch, now they counted themselves lucky
if they netted a handful of fry. (54)
The staggering impacts reected in the land of Sundarbans were caused
not only by the sole greed of the people of Sundarbans but also by the
populace outside the Sundarbans. The water transport and other ameni-
ties of Sundarbans attracted industries that fullled human greed. The
chemical wastes were directly channelised to the rivers causing changes
in the banks as well in the diverse population of plant and animal species,
both terrestrial and aquatic.
When human beings crossed the limits of exploitation of nature, nature
which is generally pictured as ‘giver’ started reacting and thus slowly
became a ‘destroyer’. Nature’s reaction against the anthropocentric man
caused not only barrenness of land but also poverty, migration, human
trafcking and thus the displacement of human beings. Tipu puts this sit-
uation more clearly as
…I did have a passport back then. But it expired and I haven’t re-
newed it. Who needs to spend all that time in government ofces?
There are easier ways of getting passport, and if you’ve got the
money you can choose whichever kind you want – Bangladeshi,
Indian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan, you name it… The people- moving
industry, Pops, he said, grinning. It’s already one of the world’s
biggest and still growing fast (64).
As a result the people end up in situations beyond human understanding
not because they loved to be there as immigrants, sex workers or being
trafcked but “What would anyone do? If you’re young you can’t just
sit on your butt till you starve to death” (65). The alarming situation is
that even nature’s fury did not mend the ways of people but instead, they
searched for further prospect in technology rather than turning to the
Mother Nature. “… And one of them is called internet… the internet is the
migrants magic carpet; it’s their conveyor belt. It doesn’t matter whether
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IIS Univ.J.A. Vol.10 (2), 54-62 (2021)
they’re travelling by plane or bus or boat: it’s the internet that moves the
wetware” (66).
In the novel, the characters Nilima and Piya are the social activists, who
managed the NGO ‘Badabon Development Trust’ to help the displaced.
This Trust, through its workshops and employment generation schemes,
tried to rehabilitate people who out of poverty ended up as sex workers
and victims of human trafcking but the trust could not offer much mon-
etarily. So the rehabilitated victims started returning to their old condi-
tions. “Unfortunately, Moyna told me, this was a losing battle. The trust’s
experience showed that many, if not most, of the rescued women, would
soon go back to the lives they had been living before” (53). Thus, one thing
to be very clear is that when nature turns to be the ‘destroyer’ no one can
stand, even the helping hands like NGO, unless there is a mass movement
to protect Mother Nature.
While depicting the devastations of climatic changes Amitav Ghosh want-
ed to give a warning to humanity. Through the characters of Piya and Nili-
ma Ghosh tries to drive home the message that it is high time to stop the
coloniser’s attitude of dominating nature and start thinking that human
beings are just an iota of the eco-system and not the sole dictator. Nilima’s
concern for writing about The Gun Merchants’ dhaam comes from a fear
of dhaams’ future. Piya’s concern for the displaced people as well as the
aquatic mammals shows that human beings are not alone in this ecosys-
tem. Our inordinate thirst for exploring and conquering gravely upsets
the lives of other living organisms too. Piyas’ saving of the dolphin Rani
from the nylon net and Rani’s expression of appreciation to Piya and her
perception of the rivers “Each of these rivers … is like a moving forest,
populated by an incredible variety of life forms… it carries traces of ev-
erything that happens upriver” (97 -98), must make our greedy heart melt.
“Piya wasted no time in cutting Rani loose and after that, the dolphin had
begun to make eye contact with her, …a manner that suggested some-
thing more than mere recognition”(95).
Piya’s concern for the aquatic animals and the way she is disturbed when
she lost contact with dolphin Rani serves as a wakeup call to care for the
other who is suffering by the anthropocentric explorations that would
fetch the best to one’s self i.e. Other.
Human being thinks that they are the sole rulers of the universe and often
forgets that they are merely a part of a living matrix and thus subject to the
law of reciprocity. The materialistic tendencies of human beings towards
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Kanjirathingal & Banerjee 2021
nature not only affected human’s existence but the existence of other liv-
ing organisms as well. In Sundarbans, it is not only the human beings who
are stricken badly but the living organisms in the river like dolphins, crab
and other organisms too due to the creation of river dead zones. Due to
the discharge of chemical fertilisers and factory efuents, river dead zones
are created making these zones no more habitats for living organisms.
The creation of such dead zones causes migration of living organisms that
once inhabited the place. Migration is terrible for aquatic beings, especial-
ly dolphins like Rani and her Pod.
And it must be hardest on Rani knowing that the young ones
depend on her. There she is, perfectly adapted to her environ-
ment, perfectly at home in it – and then things being to change,
so that all those years of learning become useless, the places you
know best can’t sustain you any more …everything she was fa-
miliar with the water, the currents, the earth itself – was rising up
against her. (100-101)
Suffering due to one’s own mischievous action could somehow be justi-
ed but suffering due to others mischievous and greedy actions can only
be looked at with pity and anger. The industry’s function for satisfying
the insatiability of people affects marine mammals severely. Marine Mam-
mals use echo location to navigate and the manmade sounds from sub-
marines and sonar equipment disorient these mammals which cause the
beaching. This has become a frequent phenomenon in Sundarbans now.
The author puts this situation aptly saying “we’re in a new world now.
No one knows where they belong any more, neither humans nor animals’’
(100).
Amitav Ghosh while exploring the anthropocentric attitude of human be-
ings which turns Mother Nature to a ‘destroyer’ from ‘giver’ even sug-
gests how one can revive this fury of nature through the legend of ‘The
Gun Merchant.’ In the novel, when the ‘Bhola Cyclone’ hit Sundarbans
in 1970, the particular hamlet where the dhaam of ‘The Gun Merchant’
existed protected the people by alarming the people. Thus, even during
the ‘Bhola Cyclone’, people who stayed closer to nature were protected.
However, it was only an admonition given to the people to come closer to
nature and accordingly carry on with the life based on bio-centric mental-
ity rather than being anthropocentric.
Although Amitav Ghosh majorly focusses on Sundarbans, he never for-
gets the ecological crisis that happens in the west too. Global warming
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IIS Univ.J.A. Vol.10 (2), 54-62 (2021)
severely affected the West as well; however, it is not as dreadful as in
the colonised nations. The attack of bark beetles in the vicinity of Oregon
city,the appearance of a yellow-bellied snake in the beaches of California
due to warming up of seas in the west and forest re are all part of the
crisis that is being seen in the West too. Colonisers’ aggression although
ended geographically but it has taken newer shapes. The instance of li-
brarians’ utterance “we have to show the Mother Nature that we’re not
quitters” (127) attests it.
In the part, two of the novel named ‘Venice’ we see how climatic changes
lead to migration of people to faraway lands. Millions of people are forced
to move from their homes due to shoreline erosion, coastal ooding, agri-
cultural disruption, droughts and natural disasters. In the novel, the Sun-
derbans is also undergoing various climatic changes. The People of the
Sunderbans had to migrate in search of better habitat. The experience of
Tippu and Raf while migrating to faraway lands depicts how horrifying
migration can be. When they move illicitly from one place to another, they
risk their life from the gunshots of the territorial army “… you have to run
like crazy, over steep slopes. The soldiers on the Turkish side shoot if they
see anyone trying to cross” (93).
The life of Tippu and Raf in the novel gives us a picture of how climate
change brings disruption in the human population. Tippu and Raf, who
migrated to distant lands in search for a better future, suffer badly. They
are drawn between ‘daalals’ and hunted as ‘jihadis’. They overcome all
this to reach to a safer place. “For the next year and half we were beat-
en, tortured, and sold by one gang to another. They made us work from
morning to night, paying us almost nothing and giving us only bread
to eat. We were like slaves; what we went through was something that
should not happen to any human being” (195).
The sacrice that Raf is ready to undertake for bringing his friend Tippu
to an agreeable spot is admirable and should be replicated in our relation
to Mother Nature. Human beings need to do certain sacrices to keep
Mother Nature safe even to the extent of killing the demon called ‘greed’.
Tippu’s gesture of keeping his mother happy by sending photoshopped
group photos of Tippu being happy in Bangalore awakens in the reader
the love and responsibility for keeping Mother Nature safe and happy.
Both Raf and Tippu is concerned more about the other and others safety
and happiness. The mindset of Raf and Tippu to keep the other happy
even if they are going through difcult times of their life is something to
be copied by every individual in their relation to Mother Nature to kep
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her safe and happy.
Conclusion
The study is intended to remind the entire humanity the old story of The
Kalidas Mistake, in which Kalidas, started cutting the branch on which he
was sitting. It is common sense not to cut the branch of the tree on which
one is sitting. Similarly, Human beings are doing what Kalidas and some-
times even exceed their act of destroying nature than Kalidas. In Kalida-
sa’s case, only Kalidas reaped the fruit of his foolishness but the anthro-
pocentric attitude of human beings is not only going to bring doom to
human beings but the entire living organisms are going to be affected.
Mankind’s desire to conquer is bringing far reaching undesirable changes
in the climate which are detrimental to human beings as well as other
living organisms. We have to put a full stop to the culture of death that
is creeping into our culture. The longer we wait, the harder it would be
to put things in order. Gun Island reminds us that we are going through a
man-made existential crisis that threatens one’s own existence and that of
other living organisms. The novel warns us not to be a bait to ‘greed’. Our
Mother Earth is giving ample signals through different climatic disasters
about what the future holds for us if we go in the pace of gratifying our
own comforts at the expense of nature. The alarming situation of our
generation is that even if some activists want to speak or work against the
disastrous moves, the system that is controlled by money tries to target
them and thus killing their enthusiasm, which is showcased through the
character of Piya in the novel. Piya faced it while working against the re-
nery that polluted the Sundarbans. Like Piya many of us are also facing
it but we have to bell the cat “Maybe now, while there’s still time to make
changes, people will wake up and see what’s going on” (201), otherwise
the future generation would ask like Greta Thunberg the climatic activist
from Sweden “How dare you?” (“Greta” 0.26-27).
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