In the Hungry tide by Amitav Ghosh we are introduced to the two main characters Piya and Kanai. Although from India they both have grown up in primarily different cultures. Piya for one is an American from Seattle. She has come to India as a marine biologist to study a rare species of dolphins. Kanai is a translator who is deemed as a very arrogant but well educated individual. In part one of the novel a recurring theme similar to The parable of the sower by Octavia butler is survival. In the beginning of The Hungry Tide we see the need for characters to put their survival instincts and their guard up in order to stay alive.
        We first see this right when Kanai reaches Lusibari and his aunt is showing him how the rivers have changed. “It came to a halt and the crew proceeded to extrude a long gangplank that led directly into the mudbank. Kanai froze in disbelief” (Ghosh 21). Even something as small as traveling is a challenge because of the thick mud and shallow waters. Nilimia explains that she can no longer do it because of her knees. The question arises how do elderly people who need to travel get by. What about smaller children? We see how dangerous the mud can be when Piya falls inside of it from the boat. Her experience goes as follows, “…but inhaled mud. It had entered her mouth, her nose, her throat, her eyes, – it had become a shroud closing in on her…” (Ghosh 47). Usually one would consider swimming a good survival skill when faced with immediate danger. Piyal, although a pretty good swimmer, was not able to help herself in a life or death situation. If it wasn’t for Fokir pulling her and sucking the mud out of her lungs she could’ve suffocated. Although mud is a huge factor in nature that can prohibit survival the people also have to deal with wild animals and tigers. Piya when checking to see how deep the water was she almost got her hand bitten off by crocodiles if it weren’t for Fokir saving her yet again (Ghosh 144).
          Despite having to deal with nature we also see the theme of human v. Humans. After Piya had finally gotten through the office and was met with her assigned guard and tour guide she encountered multiple situations with these two men alone. The tour guide was gesturing towards sexual behavior. Not only that but the guard had also hit Piya in her shoulder when they first interacted with Fokir. From the time she and the guard met up with the tour guide she could already sense the interaction was sketchy and regretted even going with them. They never had her best interest at heart to begin with.
Piya’s background causes her to not have the necessary knowledge in order to survive certain moments. Without Fokir her fate could have been very different. The interactions with the crocodiles, although nothing happened, could have been avoided. This relates to the first interaction between Kanai and Piya when he noticed she was an American and made the remark that does anyone have a choice but to excuse an American (Ghosh 9). His remark comes off that Americans can seem incompetent at moments.

The authors Nixon, Lemenager, and Ghosh discuss the ways in which people are not able to grasp the concept of slow violence of climate change such that we are able to identify the problem and create a solution. The author Nixon describes slow violence as a “violence that occurs slowly and out of sight” (Nixon 2356). He explains that this violence is spread out across a period of time. When a violence like this occurs, it is hard for people as well as the media to report and pay attention to it since it happens over a long period of time. People begin to lose interest in this violence. Nixon explains this by juxtaposing violence and slow violence. He brings up what summers had proposed which was an act of slow violence and explained that had he went to Africa with weapons and cause destruction then people would see this as conventional violence and be attentive. An example of conventional violence would be the holocaust which was a mass genocide against Jewish people that still is talked about today. There are museums, books, pictures, and artifacts that tell the story of what occurred during that time. An example of slow violence that Nixon provides is the “jellyfish babies” that were still being born onto Marshall Islands even after what occurred.

The Novels play a special role in helping us think more critically and create a deeper understanding of climate change by evoking more feelings and emotions compared to a conventional news article.  Lemenager gives the example of Barbra Kingsolver’s cli-fi about the monarch butterflies as the main characters (Lemenager 18).  When you present an issue like climate change through a novel people develop strong emotions such as empathy, love, and understanding towards those characters. This similarly relates to watching a movie, tv show, or another novel. Some people grow attachments towards the character and when something terrible happens to the said character the audience may get sad and even show emotions through tears. When you discuss climate change through a novel that is able to touch the audience emotionally people can then hopefully begin to look outside of the novel and at real life and realize the same thing is happening in the world we live in today and make the necessary changes within their own lives. As the author you are able to send the message to the audience through universal emotions such as love, sadness, and empathy.