'Gun Island' Novel By Amitav Ghosh : A Brief Discussion

Introduction : This blog is written as a response to the thinking activity assigned by Dr Dilip Barad with regards to Amitav Ghosh's Climate Fiction 'Gun Island' (2019) with a discussion on few questions.

1. How does this novel develop your understanding of a rather new genre known as 'cli-fi'? 

Answer : Climate Fiction as literary genre is Post-Modernist invention invented to meet the crucial need of cautioning by narrating the rapidly changing climate, and atmospheric dynamics which is grave concern for the earth and thus to all the life living on it. 

Concerning the novel 'Gun Island,' being climate fiction, we find several references apertaining to climate change and its impact on aquatic animals like beaching of dolphins, immigration of bark-beetles, gradual land-grabbing by the rising level of sea.

Let us have a look at some references that have the theme of climate change in the novel : 

In the ninth chapter 'Los Angeles' from the first part 'The Gun Merchant,' the narrator Dinanath Datta hints at the climate change with reference to a historian who is going to deliver a speech on the topic 'Climate and Apocalypse in the Seventeenth

Century' : 

'The opening speaker, however, was conspicuously not of our ilk: he was

a trendy young historian who had gained a reputation as a peddler of Big

Ideas. The subject that he had elected to speak on (as we discovered on

entering the auditorium) was ‘Climate and Apocalypse in the Seventeenth

Century.' 

Nupur and Sanjit also write : 

'The Climate crisis has become one of the major global threats in the Anthropocene. The whole world is witnessing the devastating consequences of climate change. Both human-centric culture and lifestyle at the expense of Nature have been held responsible for driving climate change. The impulse to exploit natural resources has posed grave threats to the survival of life on the planet.' (Pancholi) 

Second reference occurs in the fifth chapter 'Dream' from the second part 'Venice' : 

'‘If a fleet of civilian vessels shows up to support the refugees,’ said Palash, ‘maybe it’ll speak to the world’s conscience. Across the planet everyone’s eyes are on the Blue Boat now: it has become a symbol of everything that’s going wrong with the world – inequality, climate change, capitalism, corruption, the arms trade, the oil industry. There’s a lot of hope

that this will be a historic moment. Maybe now, while there’s still time to

make changes, people will wake up and see what’s going on.’' 

Third major reference occurs in the twelfth chapter 'The Storm' of the second part 'Venice' : 

'In the hubbub that followed I heard Piya’s voice whispering in my right

ear: ‘He’s wrong you know – there’s a scientific explanation for everything

that happened there. It was just a series of migratory patterns intersecting in

an unusual way.’ 

‘Even the bioluminescence?’ 

‘Sure. That kind of bioluminescence is caused by dinoflagellates, and some species of dynos are known to migrate.’ 

‘Have you heard of anything like this happening before?’ 

‘No,’ whispered Piya. ‘But animal migrations are being hugely impacted

by climate change so nothing is surprising now. I’m sure we’ll see more of these intersecting events in the future.’' 

Another reference of beaching of the dolphins comes : 

'Two weeks before, in Eugene, Oregon, Piya had received an email message

from an unknown sender. The message was written in the style of a news

report and it described a mass beaching of dozens of Irrawaddy dolphins at

Garjontola Island in the Sundarbans.' 

Nupur and Sanjit further write : 

'Additionally, Ghosh’s Gun Island, draws attention that due to global warming distribution of flora and fauna of ecosystems is being reconstructed. Deen witnesses a venomous spider, Brown Recluse at Cinta’s apartment that is used to be found in relatively warm regions. Ghosh argues that rising temperatures across the globe caused by global warming is changing habitats of various kinds of animals, such as spiders, shipworms, cobras, snakes among others.' 

Now all such grace concerns startle the psyche of humans and red-signal them for being wary as the destruction of climate change caused by humans's rash and reckless use of natural resources without knowing that we all are in synchronization and interconnected with earth. That is why the Upnishadik concept of the entire world is one family also tells the fact : 

'अयं बन्धुरयं नेति गणना लघुचेतसाम् । उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैवकुटुम्बकम् ॥ (महोपनिषद्, अध्याय ६, मंत्र ७१)' 

(Translation : 'This belongs to me and that is not' - such insular reckoning is done by narrow-minded people. But for those who are broad-minded and developed ones, the entire world with its all living as well as non-living is one family.) 

This can be inferred with the astute reading of the novel 'Gun Islan' written by Amita Ghosh. 

2. What are your views on the use of myth and history in the novel 'Gun Island' to draw attention of the reader towards contemporary issues like climate change and migration? 

Answer : The issues of Climate Change and Migration are interconnected on grounds of animal-habitat concept and are grievously growing in present time. The people living in vicinity of nature are blessed to have good health on one hand, but are also cursed that anytime nature would go insane and slay down all the living within it. This dichotomy is what the people of all the earth live with. It is the simple logic that people inhabiting the are - be it island, forest, or a river bank - will start moving towards land part as soon as the gradual or sudden land-grabbing will follow their huts and houses due to climate change caused by rash and reckless exploitation of natural resources by human beings. 

The novel may seem to give message of preservation of nature through the mythification of history with historification of myth. These both extremes keep the mystery oscillating between them. The both vary in scientific and mythical phenomena : 

Myth of the Gun Merchant -> Mythical -> Insubstantial Evidences -> Weak Conception 

History of the Gun Merchant -> Historical -> Can Be Proven with Evidences -> Strong Conception

The general conception of thinking that the ancient sages mythified the scientific facts for the laymen so that the preservation of nature can further itself, this over the course of time taken place of religion with its stagnant belief systems and then the destructive idea of Sanskritization emerged in the later period which unfortunately still continues in todays with depressing jingoism and hyper-nationalism. 

3. Generate Fan Literature on the novel 'Gun Island' with ChatGPT Open AI. : 

Answer : When the prompts were given to ChatGPT Open AI, it gave following results : 

(1) Prompt : Generate micro fiction on Amitav Ghosh's novel 'Gun Island' 

Response : Raj was a rare book dealer, specializing in ancient texts and manuscripts. He had always been fascinated by the stories of Gun Island, an island in the Sundarbans where legend had it that the goddess Bon Bibi had defeated the demon king, Dakkhin Rai. 

One day, a customer brought him a copy of a book called Gun Island, by Amitav Ghosh. Raj was intrigued and started reading it immediately. As he delved deeper into the book, he found himself drawn into the story of Deen, a dealer in rare books who was on a quest to unravel the mysteries of Gun Island. 

Deen's journey took him from Kolkata to Venice and back to the Sundarbans, as he searched for answers about the enigmatic Gun Island. Along the way, he encountered a cast of fascinating characters, including a marine biologist, a human smuggler, and a transgender artist. 

As Raj read the book, he felt like he was on his own journey of discovery, exploring the hidden depths of Ghosh's novel. And when he finally closed the book, he knew that he would never forget the haunting tale of Gun Island, and the power of stories to transport us to new worlds. 

Regenerated Response : Rajeev was on a solo trip to Kolkata when he stumbled upon an old bookshop, where he found a rare copy of Amitav Ghosh's novel, Gun Island. As he started reading it, he got completely engrossed in the story of Deen, a rare book dealer who embarks on a journey from Kolkata to Los Angeles, tracing the legend of the Gun Merchant and the mysterious Gun Island. 

As Rajeev reached the end of the book, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu. He realized that he had unknowingly followed Deen's footsteps and had ended up in the very same bookshop where Deen had found the ancient manuscript that had set him on his adventure. 

Rajeev looked up from the book, and to his surprise, he saw an old man with a wry smile sitting across from him. "You have discovered the truth, my boy," the old man said, and Rajeev realized that he was none other than the Gun Merchant himself. 

In that moment, Rajeev knew that he had been chosen to continue Deen's quest and to uncover the secrets of Gun Island. With a sense of determination and awe, he thanked the Gun Merchant and set off on his own journey, just like Deen had done before him. 

(2) Prompt : Generate a poem on Amitav Ghosh's novel 'Gun Island' 

Response : 

From the streets of Kolkata,

Raj's journey did begin,

An antique book dealer,

Drawn to a tale within. 

Gun Island, the story goes,

A place of mystery and lore,

Where truth and myth intertwine,

And secrets wait in store. 

With each step he took,

He found new friends and foes,

A motley crew of characters,

From far and wide they rose. 

Together they uncovered,

The island's hidden past,

And learned that climate change,

Had a grip upon it fast. 

They worked to save Gun Island,

Their knowledge and skills combined,

To protect its fragile ecosystem,

Before it was consigned. 

For in the end, they realized,

The stories we create,

Can shape our lives and our world,

And the fate of our own fate. 

Gun Island's legacy lives on,

A testament to the power of story,

Of how we can change our world,

And claim our own true glory. 

Here we find that the AI is responding in continuation with the previous response thus the factual error of putting 'Raj' as protagonist occurs. 

Conclusion : Throughout the globe, the initiative is rising on warfooting to save natural world which we are also part of. Many have come on campaigning for the inclusive well-being of all the living species as well as preservation of non-living elements which combine to form the living ones, the very essence of who we intrinsically are. 

Thank you! 

Works Cited : 

“॥महोपिनषत्॥ - Sanskrit Documents Collection.” Translated by Sunder Hattangadi, Sanskrit Document Information, Sanskritdocuments.org, 20 Aug. 2017, https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_upanishhat/maha.pdf. 

“Chatgpt.” ChatGPT, https://chat.apps.openai.com/auth/login.

Ghosh, Amitav. Gun Island: A Novel. Penguin Random House India, 2019. 

Pancholi, Nupur, and Sanjit Kumar Mishra. “The Era of Environmental Derangement: Witnessing Climate ... - Rupkatha.” The Era of Environmental Derangement: Witnessing Climate Crisis in Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island, Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities (ISSN 0975-2935) Indexed by Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ, ERIHPLUS, 15 June 2021, https://rupkatha.com/V13/n2/v13n229.pdf.