Environmental Consciousness and Climate Concern: A Study of Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13684192

Environmental Consciousness and Climate Concern: A Study of Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13684192

Author(s): Atul Kumar & Dr. Rachana

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13684192

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Volume 15 | Issue 4 | August 2024

Pages: 213-221

The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol. 15, Issue-IV, August 2024 ISSN: 0976-8165
www.the-criterion.com
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
Environmental Consciousness and Climate Concern: A Study of Amitav
Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide
Atul Kumar
Research Scholar,
Department of English,
CMP PG College (University of Allahabad),
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India.
&
Dr. Rachana
Assistant Professor,
Department of English,
CMP PG College (University of Allahabad),
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Article History: Submitted-01/08/2024, Revised-15/08/2024, Accepted-25/08/2024, Published-31/08/2024.
Abstract:
In this paper, an attempt is made to estimate that The Hungry Tide foregrounds
environmental consciousness and climatic concern. Due to environmental degradation, climate
change and eco-system imbalance environmental consciousness and climate concern are the
spotlighting issues in the world. This paper tracks the issues of environmental crisis and its
alarming declension narratives about species loss, catastrophe of tide and ebb, global warming in
select novel. Almost all organisms now exist in an environment drastically changed by humans.
Due to environmental destruction, increased technology and irregular geographical conditions the
landscapes of Sundarban got changed. Consequently, the natural species and human beings of this
particular region are in jeopardy today. As a result, the cultivation of life is in ruins. Amitav Ghosh
is portraying these challenges and issues in his novels. Almost all of his novels are dealing with
the sense of consciousness about global warming and climate change. This novel discusses about
the eco-system and ecological community of Sunderban delta that is located in the Bay of Bengal.
This paper highlights the human-nature relationships in the climate change era. The article
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13684192

Environmental Consciousness and Climate Concern: A Study of Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide
www.the-criterion.com
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
concludes that how the environmental narratives and fictionalization of environmental issues,
contribute in the discussions of environmental consciousness, ecological awareness in the selected
novel .
Keywords: Environmental degradation, astroenvironmentalism, eco-criticism, climate
change, climate fiction.
1. Introduction1
“If we can go to the Moon, why can’t we eliminate pollution?”2
While economic development implies improvement in the quality of life but ambient environment
and natural resources are same important for human beings. Literature maps out environmental
issues, human conditions and their relations with humankind. It is the outcome of its particular
environmental and geographical conditions. In the era of environmental derangement;
environmental issues and climatic challenges are burning themes in literature especially in its genre
as novels, poetry and essays. Amitav Ghosh’s novels deal with themes of environmental issues
and climate change. The environmental problem is of the major concern. Eco-criticism draws a
link between humankind and environment. Remarkably, The Hungry Tide brims with issues of
environmental degradation, climate changes, migrations and ecological imbalance that’s why this
novel comes under the category of ‘cli-fi’3. Most of his novels deal with the themes and issues of
environment and climate change. Being a popular environmental thinker and literary person
Amitav Ghosh, First, visits at the setting of his novels and makes survey then fixes its themes. Not
only he discuss issues of climate change but also narrativizes that how these changes affect social
and cultural life of particular region.
2. Environmental Consciousness and Climate Concern:
In many cases, environment is a part of life support system for human and non-human as well
as sub human. It is widely acknowledged that there is an inseparable relation among earth, men
and environment. EC Sample states that “Man is a product of the earth’s surface; this, means not

1 Amitav Ghosh is a very prolific novelist in India and abroad. Currently, he teaches at Colombia University. He was awarded
the Crossword Book Prize for The Hungry Tide in 2004, in 2007 Padma Shri award and in 2024 wins Errasmus prize for writing
on climate change.
2 LarryE. Ruff, Economics of the Environment, p.20.
3 Climate Fiction
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merely that he is a child of the earth, the dust of her, but that the earth has mothered him, set him
the tasks, directed his thoughts, confronted him with difficulties …and at the same time whispered
hints for their solutions.”4 The problem of environmental degradation and climate change is
global cum local. Its effects on human, non-human and sub-human cannot be measured easily so,
it can be called intangible or “nonpecuniary”. It is a wide-ranging discussion. The malady of
climate change is one of the biggest problems that India as well as the whole world is facing now
days. India is among the one of the sensitive countries where submersion of the sea level has been
increased. It is possible to argue that water and air quality are of great concern about which, Ghosh
is trying to explore in his novels. In the light of Climate change and environmental degradation
The Hungry Tide primarily discusses about water resources and forest; costal region, alter tidal
range in rivers and bays, increase in the high waves, change in the location where river deposits
the sediments. It seemingly seems that environmental concerns have been part of almost all novels
of Ghosh including The Hungry Tide.

The main focus of the paper is to examine and describe the issue intertwined with change
in biodiversity and degradation in eco-system. It can be stated that the characters and the setting
of his novels in the form of story- telling and fictionalization of environment into the literature are
the matter of chief concern. And other purpose of this paper is to analyze Amitav Ghosh’s art of
fictionalization, which deals with such real problem, Climate change and environment in The
Hungry Tide.
3. The Hungry Tide: An assessment in light of environmental consciousness and climate
concern
The present global environmental problems are climate change and change in biodiversity that
deal in the works of Ghosh, have been narrated in the form of story-telling and storying. It is
indeed, Amitav Ghosh’s novel that can be categorized as a search for environmental activism in
writing especially in novels. The text which is a path breaking novel in environmental studies that
deals with the value of Eco balance about the region of the Sundarban5 Islands. The novel has
been divided into two parts, the Ebb: Bhata and the Flood: Jowar. In the very beginning of the
novel it can be assumed that the narrative of the novel unfolded with water. Especially two

4 Sample, 1911, p1.
5 A mangrove forest in the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganga, Bramaputa and Meghana rivers in Bay of Bengal.
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significant issues have been discussed in the novel first is the problem of refugees and second is
degradation of eco-system which are the tragedy of the commons for a century of climate change.
Here, it seems that novelist is trying to attract the readers’ attention toward the issue of water
through using the imagery of water in the manner of flood. It is very noteworthy that Amitav Ghosh
is very conscious about the disaster of water as series of writers such as – S. T. Coleridge, T.S.
Eliot, Margret Atwood, etc who were concerned in their times the same. It is very famous statement
that T.S. Eliot quote in The waste land (1922) ‘that but there is no water’. In Surfacing Margret
Atwood postulates that ‘everything is made of water even the rocks’. It means that Amitav Ghosh
is trying to asses and explore the problem of water that is spotlighting catastrophe on the earth as
a planet. It seems that the novelist has realized ecosystem oriented disasters in the novel and
wrapped it in the form of story-telling.
The Hungry Tide is a novel about global ecological hazards. Ghosh has selected a bio-
region or eco-region, which is a geological territory named ‘Sunderban’. In the novel it is presented
that animal especially tigers are more important than the life of human kind. The life of humans is
of secondary importance to the government while the project tiger is of primary concern. The
indigenous people are being displaced for the conservation of animal habitant like project tiger
that is denoting human greed. Here, humans are victims of environmental devastation caused by
red-tape bureaucrat decision-makers, ecology managers and eco-tourism operators.
Environmental issues and climatic challenges are global concerns. Due to environmental
destruction and increased technology geographical condition and landscapes of Sundarban have
been changed which play an important role in the setting and structure of the novel. Directly and
indirectly both, the environmental conditions affect culture, tradition and human beings which
become the subject matters of any text in literature. Eco-criticism is the study of literature and the
environment from an interdisciplinary point of view. In it all sciences, come together to analyze
the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary
environmental situation. In this method of criticism literary scholars analyse texts that illustrate
environmental concerns and examine the various ways, literature treats the subject of nature. As
in literature it is accepted that eco-criticism deals with, how environmental challenges and, issues
concerning the environment are presented and analyzed in the text. One of the main objectives of
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eco-criticism is to study how individuals in society behave and react to the nature and ecological
aspects.
“This island has to be saved for its trees, it has to be saved for its animals, it is a part of a
reserve forest, it
belongs to a project to save tigers, which is paid for by people from
all around the world.’ … people, I wondered, who love animals so much that they are
willing to kill us for them? Do they know what is being done in their names?”6
Between the conversation Kenai and Piya Roy7 are talking about the Sunderban (the coastal
island), the tidal island at the mouth of the Ganga. Here, within the dialogue, Amitav Ghosh is
trying to encapsulate the present devastating and grievous condition of Sunderban8. The people
have been forced to move away from their native place that used to be flowering with bio-diversity
and thick forest before years. It shows the very own story-telling of Ghosh in many respects
because he first visit the place and observes the condition of the place than intertwined it in the
story telling form. It can be observed that Ghosh is trying to postulate that the animals and human
beings are interlinked in a particular eco-system.
When the tide creates new land, overnight mangroves begin to gestate, and if the conditions
are right, they can spread so fast as to cover a new island within a few short years. A
mangrove forest is a universe . . . there are no towering, vine–looped trees, no ferns, no
wildflowers, no chattering monkeys or cockatoos . . . Every year, dozens of people perish
in the embrace of that dense foliage, killed by tigers, snakes and crocodiles.9
Due to environmental degradation and environmental change of Sunderban, especially Lusibari,
got changed. It has changed the life style of human-beings. Animals have been killed or migrated
from actual habitants. Sea level merges or submerges. Flood often destroys the life of Lusibai
which is central village of Sundraba. Fokir says…
“Ah, there, that beach happened twenty years ago, and it was neither storm nor flood that
caused it.” 10

6 The Hungry Tide, 262.
7 An American scientist studying cetacean species
8 The beautiful forest
9 The Hungry Tide, 7.
10 The Hungry Tide, 202.
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As it is known that ecocriticism is a critical and persuasive approach to examine the representation
of nature in particular cultural text. It seeks out the interconnection between literature and the
physical environment. Ecocriticism analyze the text in significance of the role of place, nature land
scape, relationship between human and non-human. Amitav Ghosh is attempting to picture out
how things are being changed very fast just because of ecological changes and degradations. Piyali
Roy says:
Piyali came from Cambodia to Sunderban study about the Gangatic dolphin and the whole
ecology of this region. Through the study she found that earlier there were many species of fish in
this delta. It was much more than could be found in the whole of Europe. Nevertheless, now
ecology had been changed including local flora and fauna. It seems that due to change in
biodiversity species as well as bio-diversity came in the catastrophic situation. Due to change in
the river catchment area the turmoil of stream climax emerged. The aquatic life of sunderban
(including India and Bangladesh) has been extinct. Now these are in the category of endangered
species such as Gangatic dolphin, saus etc. Lack of salinity in the water, the situation of the
extinction of trees and plant especially the mangrove forest of this region became evident.
The waters of river and sea did not intermingle evenly in this part of the delta; rather they
interpenetrated each other, creating hundreds of different ecological niches, with stream of
fresh water running along the floors of some channels creating variations of salinity and
turbidity.11
It can be assumed that Amitav Ghosh is not merely writing about the environment and ecology but
he is picturing literature into environment. In many ways he is using environment and its issues as
a tool in the form of story, conversation, folklore, myth and dialogue of the characters. It seems
that in literature, writing about the environment is secondary but intertwining the literature in
environment is primary. This study focusses that how environmental consciousness and climate
concern can be written in the narrative form. In general speaking Ghosh is sketching the characters
of the novel. The island seems to have given a kind of narrative tools to the story telling.

11 The Hungry Tide, 125.
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Undoubtedly, it can be state in many grounds that the novelist is also trying to become the
voice of the voiceless living being on the earth. He is becoming the voice of rivers, mountains,
water, flora and fauna as well.
Methodology:
In order to understand existing topics that deal with environmental consciousness and climate
concerns, the major part of the study based on primary text12 . This study has also based on literary
survey of secondary sources. Textual, discourse analysis and interpretation methodology have
been used to interpret and justify the objectives.
4. Conclusion:
There can be no theory of any account unless it corroborate the theory of the earth13. It can be
assumed that concern about the consciousness of the earth is spotlighting issue in era of climate
change. Martin Puchner states that Amitav Ghosh may be taken as a canon who foregrounds
planetary issue in his novels in the manner of fictionalization and narrativization. It is required to
clearly note that despite Amitav ghosh long list of anthropologist, botanist, zoologist,
environmentalist, geographers are raising the issue of environment and climate changes but in
literature especially novel he is formidable writer who is trying to churn out these devastating
problems concerned with environment in the novel. Notwithstanding, many novels written by him
deal with the issues of environment, natural disaster triggered off by human activities, that put
development gains in risk. The Hungry Tide is masterpiece to throw the light in significance of
ecocriticism. Based on the above analysis and interpretation it can be assume that selected study
is highlighting selected novel saturated with environmental consciousness and climate Concern.

Works Cited:
Primary source:
Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide, HarperCollins Publisher India, 2004.

12 The Hungry Tide.
13 Walt Whiteman, Song of the Rolling Earth.
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Ghosh, Amitav. “The Town by the Sea”. Incendiary Circumstances. A Chronicle of the Turmoil
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