In Amitav Ghosh’s “The Hungry Tide,” the author conveys a deep message about the intricate connection between humans and nature. This overarching theme is carefully woven into the narrative through several key elements.

The Sundarbans setting serves as a foundation for this message. This unique and ecologically rich region, where land and water seamlessly merge, underscores the profound interplay between humans and nature. It’s a place of astonishing natural beauty and constant peril, where humans and wildlife coexist in a delicate equilibrium. This can be seen in the text when Nirmal states, “It’s only in films, you know, that jungles are empty of people. Here there are places that are as crowded as any Kolkata bazaar. And on some rivers, you’ll find more boats than there are trucks on Grand Truck Road.” ( Ghosh 19)

The Sundarbans effectively become an example, vividly highlighting the interdependence between the two.

The character Piya, a marine biologist, seems to personify the human desire to understand and connect with the natural world. Her research on dolphins acts as a testament to scientific curiosity and the human desire to learn about and protect the environment. Kanai, a central character who is a translator, plays a pivotal role in emphasizing the necessity for communication between humans and their environment. He symbolizes the bridge between diverse cultures and languages, mirroring the idea that effective communication and comprehension of the natural world are fundamental to coexisting harmoniously with it.

Moyna and Fokir, local characters making a living as honey collectors, provide a poignant image of the profound bond between humans and nature. Their lives are intricately intertwined with the environment, and their challenges and triumphs underscore the intimate connection between them. They work to represent the indigenous knowledge and wisdom passed down through generations.

The myths and mysticism surrounding the Sundarbans further underscore the profound link between humans and their environment. As seen in the references to local religion and poetry throughout the beginning of the novel. These narratives, often centered around nature and animals, are an integral part of the region’s cultural and spiritual life, emphasizing the age-old connection between people and their surroundings.

I’m very interested to see the many ways that, in the novel, we see the human and environmental relationship be represented, and what Ghosh wants to see / exhibit as the kind of relationship he wants to argue that people should have with nature and the ways he goes about developing that.

In the opening chapters of ‘Parable of the Sower,” Octavia Butler establishes the dystopian setting of the world and atmosphere by illustrating the community that Lauren Olamina lives in as one in extremely dire conditions. The world is greatly impacted by climate change and as well as several years along into a full societal collapse. Through world-building Butler gradually reveals this world’s backstory, explaining how society reached this state of collapse. Butler’s world is rife with climate change, political instability, and economic disparity. Basic needs like gas and water have become incredibly expensive and hard to access. It’s stated that. “Dad says water now costs several times as much as gasoline. But, except for arsonists and the rich, most people have given up buying gasoline. No one I know uses a gas-powered car, truck, or cycle. Vehicles like that are rusting is driveways…It’s a lot harder to give up water.” (13).  While Butler’s world is intended to feel extreme, it’s impossible to ignore the many parallels it has to our own, as these deteriorating social and economic conditions have profound impacts on Lauren’s family and their neighborhood, Butler seems to make a commentary on the contemporary issues of her and our time. Hyperinflation has rendered the currency almost worthless, leading to extreme poverty and scarcity. Lauren’s family struggles to make ends meet, and the desperation for basic necessities is palpable. All of these problems mirror contemporary concerns about income inequality, economic instability, and the vulnerability of marginalized communities in times of crisis.

The world that Butler has made as a form of contemporary criticism leaves the reader with a rather bleak view of reality. There are so many different cruelties, with people outside of the community walls living and dying in abject poverty, the police become something no one can afford to employ or rely on, and there is intense brutality throughout. It is no surprise that Lauren’s idea of God is one that is moralless and without feeling, “My God doesn’t love me or hate me or watch over me or know me at all, and I feel no love for or loyalty to my God. My God just is.” (16) Earthseed is Lauren’s spiritual belief system that she begins to develop in response to the harsh conditions of her world. It’s interesting how in the collapse of traditional societal structures, through Lauren, Butler gives us not an example of someone collapsing under these struggles but instead takes up a powerful form of creation. Personally, I find Earthseed very moving, as I am not religious myself and I feel like her stanzas are empowering. There is something very powerful about a faith system that doesn’t ask you to obey or follow planned-out ways of being but instead asks you to cultivate one of your own. 

I felt throughout the opening chapters of Parable that Bulter was asking the reader, what do we have left when/if the societal framework collapses? What is the culture that we have cultivated to fall back on?  The world that she shows us, that which illustrates the culture we have cultivated already is one that is very worrying. The political parties are legalizing a form of slavery for poor workers, wherein they have no right to clean or safe working conditions in exchange for room and board. People are murdered and raped with no government or police that works to stop these crimes or protect its citizens. After a member of the community puts together his own form of religion, one that allows him to become a ruler and protector of women, and target beautiful homeless women so he can keep them in polyamorous relationships, Lauren states, “Is that the way it’s going to be, I wonder? Is that the future? Large numbers of people stuck in either President-elect Donner’s version of slavery or Richard Moss’s.” (21) 

By creating a world that highlights these weaknesses of contemporary society, such as a lack of community and an excessive focus on individualism and greed, Butler highlights the importance of community. Lauren’s father is a wonderful example of this as he spends his life as a leader in their cul-de-sac, encouraging the people to take care of and protect one another despite any personal disputes they may have. Through this tightly-knit community, we witness these people thrive in a certain way. They’re able to educate their children through homeschooling, they band together to continue their religious beliefs and sacraments, they trade goods amongst themselves, and when under threat of robbers they even institute a kind of community watch. 

Lauren’s father’s response to adversity in all these forms has been to band together with his people, and through it we witness them gain strength and protection. With Lauren’s own hyper-empathy, she feels that being around others and working with them is just another kind of weakness. As she shares their pain, she fears that this trait will weaken her and does what she can to keep it hidden. Through such a brilliant and strong character, combined with her stunning ability for empathy, I wonder the kind of statement Butler is going to work to make throughout Parable about community and its complexities.

Novels play a special role in the discourse around climate change, as they not only illustrate how we as a society currently perceive its role and effects in our life but they as well are the space in which we explore our own reactions to it, both emotional and real. Nixon uses the term slow violence, which he defines as a form of violence that while equally as life threatening as events like 9/11, happens over a period of time. He argues that because this form of violence does not catch the eye of media today with its short attention span and sensationalist tendencies we as a culture do not recognize its harm or call it the right amount of attention. It seems then that he argues it is the role of media, in its many forms including literature, to represent these issues outside of social media. Ghosh tackles the issues of representation around climate change in literature by condemning the way that climate change is only addressed or known within sci-if. It seems that by only discussing such a topic within sci-if or fantasy we acknowledge that climate change is not realistic nor something that could happen within our own world. The novel exists as a tool wherein we not only explore our current world but imagine a new one. This is the space that climate change needs as it continues to have an effect on our lives today.