The Hungry Tide as Blue Literature: Eco-Critical Reflections from the Sundarbans

Abstract

This paper examines the book through the lens of Blue Humanities from the Eco-Critical aspects describing water resources, hides the hazard behinds its magnificence, despite being a provider. The book The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh is set in an alluring Sundarbans displays a connection between human and nature and it also explores the theme of man vs. nature, environmentalism  and globalization. It also highlights water being the key means of living, but sometimes it ends up in sacrifices of life. The book drives the reader to the Sundarbans by the two main characters Piyali Roy and Kanai Dutt who ascend a deep connection between water and people. Piya in spite of her language, as a hindrance, builds a great interest to research on the aquatic mammals. Ghosh also portrays the difficulties in survival through the means of culture, language, food above all unexpected climate changes. When the book unfolds we could understand the relationship of water and human when, Fokir a local fisherman, who helps Piya to explore Garjontola a place in Sundarbans and Horen and Kanai had the knowledge to predict the cyclone ahead. Therefore, The Hungry Tide exhibit the Sundarbans as a forceful aquatic environment where human and animals lives are interconnected and shaped by the unpredictable forces like tide, storm, river, sea and predatory tigers. Thus this paper exemplifies that blue humanities reference through eco-criticism is accentuated in this intertidal book.