Hello friends
I am Nehalba Gohil and I am student of Department of English, MKBU.This blog is a part of my classroom thinking activity The Gun Island and this activity given by Dr Dilip Barad Sir
Amitav Ghosh
Amitav Ghosh is an Indian author. Born in 1956 in Calcutta, he has lived in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, and currently resides in New York. Ghosh began writing at an early age and studied at Delhi University and Oxford University. He has lectured at several prestigious colleges, in addition to contributing to various newspapers and journals. During his first job, he worked at the Indian Express newspaper and his debut novel, The Circle of Reason, was published in 1986. He has since written a number of fiction and non-fiction works, his most recent being Gun Island, which was published in 2019. His writing has earned him a number of accolades and widespread critical acclaim. These awards include the Jnanpith Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Ananda Puraskar, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the International e-Book Award, the Crossword Book Prize, the India Plaza Golden Quill Award, the Prix Médicis, the Blue Metropolis Grand Prix, and the Utah Award for the Environmental Humanities, to name a few. Recently, Ghosh has used his writing to raise awareness about climate change and its impact. A notable example of Ghosh's critical work and climate activism can be found in The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable.
About Novel
Ghosh’s latest (after Flood of Fire) is an intellectual romp that traces Bengali folklore, modern human trafficking, and the devastating effects of climate change across generations and countries. Dinanath Datta, who goes by the more Americanized Deen, is an antiques and rare-books dealer in Brooklyn. While in Calcutta, Deen encounters the tale of the Bonduki Sadagar, or the gun merchant, a localized riff on the familiar Bengali tale of a merchant and Manasa Devi, the goddess of snakes and poisonous creatures. Intrigued, Deen pays a visit to the Sundarbans, the borderlands from which the myth originated. At the shrine said to be protected by Manasa Devi, Deen encounters a snake that bites one of the young men with him, with nonfatal but mystical consequences. Shaken, but convinced that it was just a freak coincidence, the rationalist Deen returns to America, where his trip still haunts him. A tumultuous year and a half later, under the patronage of his dear friend Cinta, a glamorous Italian academic, Deen arrives in Venice for the book’s second half, where he befriends the local Bengali community and further uncovers the tale of the Bonduki Sadagar as he is drawn into relief efforts for the refugee crisis. Ghosh writes with deep intelligence and illuminating clarity about complex issues. This ambitious novel memorably draws connections among history, politics, and mythology.
Questions and Answers
1.) How does Amitabh Ghosh use myth of Gun Merchant "Bonduki Sadagar" and Mansa Devi to initiate discussion on the issue of Climate Change and Migration/ Refugee Crisis/ Human Trafficking?
Ghosh wants to convey about the major situation we are facing today: climate change and migration, in Gun Island, by using myth. This tale of The Gun Merchant and Manasa Devi was cleverly exploited by Amitav Ghosh. The entire drama revolves around the pilgrimage of both Gun gun and Dinanath. Both the characters and the events are interconnected. It's a storey that's somewhat comparable. Ghosh aims to convey the message of climate change and migration to the world through myth.Gun Island is a narrative of migration and journey, laced with myth and folklore, and set against the backdrop of climate change's worsening crisis. It is a complex plot that weaves together human and animal characters, past and present, natural and supernatural elements. Gun Island looks at several types of migration, from people and entire communities being uprooted from their native place to the recent severe shifts in migratory patterns of various species.
2. How does Amitav Ghosh make use of the 'etymology' of common words to sustain mystery and suspense in the narrative?
Etymology is the study of the history of words.By extension, the etymology of a word means its origin and development throughout history.In this novel Ghosh uses many words with its etymology.
- 1.Gun Island
- 2.Bhut - Ghost
- 3.Possession
- 4.Land of Palm Sugar Candy
- 5.Land of Kerchieves
- 6.Island of Chains
1.Gun Island
Gun here is refer as a reference of foundry.There is one foundry where armaments, including bullets, were cast. And the word used for foundry in Venetian dialect is "ghetto". And the world "ghetto" is derived from "getto" and it is connected with Jews.But again there is no reference of Jews in the novel.
2.Bhut - Ghost
Deen explains that in Bangla bhoot/bhuta means according to Sanskrit root "bhu" means "to be" or "to manifest". So "bhuta" simply means "a being" or "an existing presence". This word "bhuta" also refers to the past, in the sense of "a past state of being".
3.Possession
There is reference to the word possession in the novel. Possession is when someone is taken over by a demon. And the demon is nothing but it's just a metaphor for greed, an imaginary thing. So possession is not like someone's soul comes into our body and all things ! It's our greed that we have taken over that greed. It is a kind of awakening also, you are waking up to things that you had never imagined or sensed before.
4.Land of Palm Sugar Candy
The Bengali word for this is "taal-misrir-dish". Desh = country, taal= kind of palm tree that produces a sugar syrup, Bengali word for sugar candy is misri. Cinta said that the Arabic word "Misr" is used for Egypt. So this place is referred to as Egypt.
5.Land of Kerchieves
Cinta asked for the Bengali translation of this word. Deen told her it was called Rumaali-desh. In Bengali Rumaal is a handkerchief. Chinta said it is about Rumelia, and this Rumeli-Hisari is located in Turkey.
6.Island of Chains
The Bengali word for this is "shikol-dwip". And this is a reference to Sikelia and that is now Sicily. So the Island of Chains is used for Sicily.
5 ) Is there any connection between 'The Great Derangement' and 'Gun Island'?
Yes, there is a connection between "The Great Derangement" and "Gun Island". "The Great Derangement" is a non-fiction book by Indian author Amitav Ghosh that deals with the themes of climate change and the failure of our societies to grasp the scale and urgency of this global crisis. "Gun Island" is a novel by Amitav Ghosh that blends elements of mythology, folklore, and history to explore themes related to climate change and migration. Both books reflect Ghosh's interest in the intersection of environmental and cultural issues, and how they shape our understanding of the world around us.
