Ecofeminist Perspectives in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide and Gun Island

Abstract

Indian Writing in English is a distinctive genre which comprises plenty of themes. Ecofeminism has been always an issue of debate in it. Particularly, the novels of Kamala Markandaya, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, and Amitav Ghosh have covered broadly the theme of ecofeminism. Kamala Markandaya’s novels focus on rural substance covering the vulnerability of the rural India. Human migration, gender discrimination, women predicament, cultural revolt, environmental crises etc. are the major themes in her novels. Arundhati Roy’s novels are also replete with such themes. Her fictional world exhibits the interior and structural marginalization of women. Amitav Ghosh’s novels reflect ecofeminism in a very artistic manner. His The Hungry Tide is a famous novel which has tackled the issues of ecofeminism. In his Gun Island, Amitav Ghosh has presented his critical views about the impending need to improve relationship between the human beings and the natural world. Both these novels have protective appeal for local traditions. Through the mouths of his female protagonists like Vandana Shiva, Maria Mies, and Greta Gaard, Amitav Ghosh has presented his own outlook regarding the nature and human world. He slightly attacks over the expansion of industrialization that is swallowing Environmental phenomenon. The present research paper intends to focus on those elements of Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide and Gun Island exhibiting the themes of ecofeminism in rural as well as in urban areas.