Nowadays, novels have a special role where they can cover about a niche topic that the media wouldn’t cover, with climate change being one of the major topics. Over the years, media has changed and reprogrammed us as humans to take in shorter content that can grab viewers’ attention quickly, and as a result has caused us to filter out the longer and uninteresting forms of content. As Nixon put it, “To people accustomed to the spectacles of war and sudden natural disasters, violence that is inflicted over the course of decades seems unreal (Nixon 2353). One of the first examples of “slow violence” that Nixon brings up is the radiation that was causing mothers to give birth to deformed babies that would die within a few hours. The source of the radiation was from nuclear tests that were conducted around the beginning of the Cold War. At that time, the media was pushing the “Red Scare” and the fear of communism onto the viewers because it was pulling in the views, and it was what everyone was talking about. As a result, at the time of the nuclear tests, many didn’t consider the slow violence that would occur after the tests. Everyone was more concerned of the Soviet Union as it was deemed an immediate danger to the United States, along with the fact that the tests were done on islands that were pretty remote and unknown, which also contributes to the issue of slow violence. While the news will always appeal to the government and feed the viewers biased or incorrect information, books don’t have this restriction in trying to keep the government or the viewers happy.

While media such as the news can cover recent events quickly, books take time to write, proofread, and publish. This makes it hard to get a book out about a current event that is popping up everywhere and doesn’t incentivize writers to write about a major eye-catching event. On the contrary, the book would probably do worse if it was about a major event that the news has covered many times as it would become redundant or irrelevant by the time the book is out. Once in a lifetime event such as 9/11 will take the spotlight away from everything which will take people’s attention away from stuff such as climate change as well as making them perceive it as minor compared to the major event. As Nixon puts it, “The fiery spectacle of the collapsing towers was burned into the national psyche as the definitive image of violence, setting back by years attempts to rally public sentiment against climate change, a threat that is incremental, exponential, and far less sensationally visible” (Nixon 2366). The media has to cover recent news to be relevant as that is what the viewers want. Books however can write about virtually anything without much loss in viewership due to irrelevancy. On top of that, every year the news will always have someone related to 9/11 on 9/11 while books don’t have to cater to the public and show themselves grieving over something that happened over 2 decades ago. This allows for more variety in books as people who want current events would watch the news while someone who wants something casual, historical, or informative would go look into books. Because of this, novels have a special role to play in helping us think more richly, more clearly, and more deeply about climate change that modern media is unable to fulfill.

Novels help by opening the eyes to the reader on issues of the real world. As Rob Nixon mentioned a word In his novel Slow Death in the Anthropocene which the issue of climate change is an example of slow Violence. Before even reading the novel people already knew about the fact that climate change is something that is harming the world as a whole. According to Nixon Slow violence is “a violence that occurs gradually and out of sight” (Nixon, 2356). Through novels you can see the issues and how it may affect people in the present and future. 

In the same novel of Nixon, it bluntly tells the readers the effects of climate change. It tells the audience that the effects of Climate change are many things like “ acidifying oceans and host of other slowly unfolding environmental catastrophes..” (Nixon, 2356) in saying that it brings light to the horrible effects of climate change to show to the readers that this slow violence is an issue. Being told the issues allows the reader to open their mind to the problem at hand. 

Though being told bluntly about the issue they won’t actually see it until they see the results of the problem. In the novel The Great Derangement Climate Change and the Unthinkable by Amitav Ghost he speaks on the results of climate change. In the first chapter Ghost tells a story about a village that was drowned due to the river suddenly changing course (Ghost, 2). This caused many deaths in said village. This type of result will open the eyes of the reader. 

All the novels have their way of showing the reader that climate change is challenging the world and harming it slowly but with a powerful punch. 

Climate change is something that has been overcooked for centuries. Unfortunately, humans do not share the concern for the deterioration of our habitat. Authors Nixon and Ghosh have taken to the papers, their interesting  take on the trend to write about Anthropocene eras. 

Nixon discusses the reality of how human’s decisions and behaviors are leading civilization to a path of destruction. His reference to “slow violence” is parallel to the saying of “slow burn”. The dangerously unexpected build up of something so negative, inevitably leading to the downfall of a civilization. Nixon points out that capitalists have been taking advantage of nature’s resources for quite some time. While the poor are stuck getting the short end of the stick and being used as a dump site, capitalists are not thinking about the consequences. Nixon references a case study,

“ Casualties of slow violence become light- weight, disposable casualties, with dire consequences for the ways wars are remembered…” (14).

In this case study, it was found that the dioxin levels of Bien Hoa residents were 135 times that of residents from a different region. This was a result of an experiment that happened several years prior. The slow violence happening here is years after the tainting of the natural resources increased these people’s likelihood of becoming sick with parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease. 

Ghosh takes on an approach of questioning the distinction between recognition and first encounters. What does this have to do with climate change? To Nixon’s point there is a moment following the initial act where realization sets and the occurrence is recognized as violence. 

As ghosh so eloquently phrased, “Recognition is famously a passage from ignorance to knowledge”(2). 

Ghosh moves onto personifying natural disasters. He discusses the terrible incident of 1988 in the Congo where 1700 people died due to the immense amount of carbon dioxide in the air. He refers to these natural disasters as ”forces” that cannot be predicted or stopped, essentially calling out humans as powerless. 

The brilliant depiction of climate change and nature turning its back on humans inspires conversation about people’s power to control or rather respond to the seemingly inevitable  disaster that will destroy the Earth. By realizing that there is a larger “force” at play than humans greedily consuming Earth’s resources, thought processes can change from a capitalist’s perspective to that of a poorer people (Ghosh,2). People without the resources are usually the ones who resist the use of them. This is due to the fact that those without access to these resources are the ones most impacted by “slow violence”(Nixon, 1). In order to get this message across, Nixon and Ghosh both exposed a reality where humans are just little people who actually don’t have much power at all except to make the decision to treat their habitat better. In return people might just be granted some longevity. 

Rob Nixon defines slow violence as environmental violence that is often overlooked because it happens slowly, is spread out over space and time, and is not immediately visible. He provides examples such as nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, Agent Orange, and climate change. Nixon argues that since slow violence is not visible, many people are not aware of it. He also argues that slow violence receives different attention spans from people when compared to literal violence. In his essay, he emphasizes the fast-paced nature of the internet era, which makes it difficult for people to see climate change. People pay attention to fast, loud, and huge events such as 9/11, and engage with them more. As a result, Nixon believed that the way to bring attention to climate change was by writers-activists to write about climate change.

Writer-activists need to modify the term “slow violence” to better illustrate the unacceptable speed of environmental degradation. Rob Nixon suggests using “glacial” instead. It’s also important to use language that conveys urgency, such as “accelerated species loss” and “rapid climate change.” (Nixon,13). This terminology grabs the audience’s attention and highlights the pressing need for action. Writer-activists can also employ various techniques, such as creating imaginative and dramatic stories, to raise awareness about the critical issue of climate change.

Novels can be a powerful tool in helping readers understand climate change. Nixon suggests that imaginative writing can make abstract concepts tangible and accessible by humanizing the threats that are not immediately apparent. (Nixon, 16). Writer-activists can use their imagination to convey the urgency and impact of climate change to their audience. For instance, they can describe how major cities may end up underwater due to rising sea levels. By making the story personal, readers can imagine their favorite places and monuments underwater, thus understanding the impact of climate change on the environment. Storytelling can help people understand climate change, which to some may seem novel and complex. By breaking it down, people can gain a better and clearer understanding of the issue. Novels can also encourage people to talk about climate change more. Those who learn about it through books or comics can share their knowledge with others.

In his essay, Nixon raises the issue of writer-activists writing on slow violence, such as climate change, and makes valuable points throughout. He also discusses how the aftermath of 9/11 reinforced a hyper-visible image of what constitutes a violent threat, which resulted in setbacks to the efforts to make forms of slow violence more urgently visible. (Nixon,13). However, I find this insensitive as it takes away the urgency and problems from 9/11. It is also worth noting that 9/11 can be considered an example of slow violence as decades later, people still suffer from the physical and psychological aftermath of the attack. Moreover, it has permanently changed the air quality of NYC, causing people to continue to suffer. Instead of regarding the attack as a setback, he could use it as an example of slow violence and attract people’s attention as something they can relate to. Writer-activists must be cautious with language to avoid diminishing other forms of violence while raising awareness of slow violence.

         Novels play an important role in helping us think more richly, more deeply and more clearly about climate change.All three of the authors (Nixon ,and Ghosh)Were able to Discuss climate change in their own unique way.  Nixon describes “slow violence “as violence that occurs out of sight and slowly over time. We are used to thinking about the word violence as something that happens abruptly causing an immediate and noticeable effect .as nixon stated ”By slow violence I mean a violence that occurs gradually and out of sight, a violence of delayed destruction dispersed across time and space, an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all.”(Nixon,pg. 4). He explains how climate breakdown, toxic drift, oil spills, and Agent Orange are all examples of  slow violence that is affecting  nature and the people. He talked about how time can be a camouflage for the long term damage in our society. Nixon also talked about the major effect Slow violence has on people from low income communities . These people have to face two problems ,slow violence and poverty. As Nixon stated in the novel “Their unseen poverty is compounded by the invisibil-ity of the slow violence that permeates so many of their lives. Our media bias toward spectacular violence exacerbates the vulnerability of ecosystems treated as disposable by turbo- capitalism while simultaneously exacerbating the vulnerability of those whom Kevin Bales, in another context, has called “disposable people.” “ Because of their poverty these people are unable to see the damaging effects of slow violence on their people and nature .Nixon points out that people lacking resources are the first casualties of slow violence.  Ghosh makes us think more deeply as he debates whether geological structures were the result of sudden, catastrophic events or slow, gradual change. Through the novel we can see how Ghosh talks about  how we live in a world where storms, droughts, and heat waves are becoming more common.  All of this is ignored by many decide to build in areas by the water or areas that they have been warned about. “As I watched these events unfold it occurred to me to wonder what would happen if a similar storm were to hit Mumbai. I reassured myself with the thought that this was very unlikely.”(Ghosh,40). Ghosh  acknowledges that he himself has also taken part in being ignorant and choosing his self interests .We all think that the place we live in  and the community we belong to will always be safe and that the rest of the world doesn’t really matter as much as long as we are safe.this way of thinking contributes to the slow violence towards our society.