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 Novel, Parable of the Sower had a major influence on social justice and climate change. Climate change is very a prevalent topic and it affects the world population day by day which is why this Novel is what I found the most interesting. Dystopian fiction, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic fiction has always been the genre that is very alarming but intriguing at the same time. The protagonist, Lauren is a resilient, intelligent, and well spoken girl who is a leader. She fought very hard to keep her circle safe. Octavia Butler was brilliant to mention “earth seed” in the novel meaning “god is change”. Lauren used “ Earth Seed” intending to restore humanity and bring faith back. In the Novel, it states that “ We do not worship God. We perceive and attend God. We learn from God. With forethought and work, We shape God. In the end, we yield to God. We adapt and endure, For we are Earthseed, and God is change “(3, Butler). Lauren had always been passionate about her religion and this made her stronger and able to find passion for survival. In the city where there is an apocalypse, you have no choice but to fight for survival. She ended up doing unimaginable things like killing people and fighting other people. It also states that “ I am Earthseed. Anyone can be someday. I think there will be alot of us. And I think we’ll have to seed ourselves farther and farther from this dying place. I’ve never felt that I was making any of this up – not the name, Earthseed not any of it. I mean, I’ve never felt that it was anything other than real : discovery rather than invention, exploration rather than creation” (8, Butler). She knew that the planet was deteriorating and the arsonists started burning the cities, but she still had hope which is what matters. As readers, we get to experience the beauty and power of reading Novels, and fiction is one of the genres that improves empathy. This makes people think about the future and makes us become critical thinkers and analyzers because we as people, imagine ourselves in that situation, and what would we do if the worst comes to worst. If there was to be an apocalypse, we would treat it as a fight for our lives because that would be the most important thing. This will have us scavenging for food, water, and shelter. 

From their first encounter, Kanai recognized a commonality between himself and Piya – being that they are both outsiders. Throughout the text, readers can also note that they both have very analytical personalities. Both Piya and Kanai are well-educated and are seen constantly analyzing throughout the text but the way they analyze is distinct.

Kanai analyzes to asses the value of, his way of analyzing comes off as arrogant as he tries to determine whether the subject can keep his interest. After assessing Piya when he met her, he determined she would be of value to him as a fling. Kanai unashamedly determines “It was not often such a perfectly crafted situation presented itself: with his departure foreordained in nine days, his escape was assured. If Piya decided to avail herself of his invitation, then there was no reason not to savor whatever pleasures might be on offer” (17). She was foreign and an outsider just like him, he has confidence in his abilities to woo her with his charm. After taking into consideration the situation, her presence (especially her attractiveness), and his abilities he resolved to have an entanglement with her. Upon meeting Moyna he not only forms interest for her but also and admiration for her. The line in particular that stood out was “It occurred to Kanai, as she was speaking, that for someone in her circumstances, Moyna possessed a sure grasp of the world and how to get by in it. It was astonishing to think of how much had changed in the tide country since his last visit, not just in material matters but in people’s hopes and desire” (140-141). Kanai clealy has low expectations of the people here and doesn’t hold much admiration for anyone other than Nilima, his aunt. For someone so self-absorbed, he thinks very highly of people like Nilima and Moyna that are passionate, educated, hard-working, and give back to their community. This is how Moyna becomes of value/interest to him because she is proof that there are interesting people in the tide country.

Piya, on the other hand, is analyzing to understand which fits with her character’s scientific interests. In her chapters she is constantly asking questions to further her own understand and to open the reader’s mind to asking more questions of the environment as well. “What, for instance, were the physiological mechanisms that attuned the animals to the flow of the tides? Obviously, it could not be their circadian rhythms since the timing of the tides changed from day to day. What happened in the monsoon, when the flow of fresh water increased and the balance of salinity changed?” (130). Her study is of marine mammals and it is important for her to understand how the location being the tide country affects them. But it also begs readers to ask questions about how animals are currently adapting to the changing environment, how they are managing to survive, and how it is negatively affecting them. This is not to say Piya is not also observant of the people around her but it is still in a scientific way (although observing of the body can come off as erotic). She notes “The boy, she noticed, had a slight pudginess that contrasted sharply with his father’s near-skeletal leanness: Fokir was all muscle and bone, a male anatomy reduced to its essentials” (145). She is analyzing his anatomy as a result of his environment and situation as she would any other animal she studies. She continues to ask questions about how and why Fokir’s body is pure muscle –  studying him. This reinforces the idea that humans are also animals and are just as affected by these environements as the non-human animals are, which is an idea we previously discussed with the past literary articles.

The first part of the book depicts the ups and downs of the life of people in Sundarbans, particularly in Lusibari. It demonstrates how different perspectives on life in Lusibari are all interconnected with the environment and nature. The book provides an insight into the lives of women in Sundarbans, especially those in Lusibari. Ghosh uses the connection between the people of Lusibari and their environment and nature to also hint at climate change and rising sea levels. 

Women in Lusibari were raised with the assumption that if they got married, they would become widows at a young age. Due to the dangers of the tide country, many men died young. As a result, many women became widows and even dressed in garments of widowhood when their husbands went fishing or hunting (67-68). At this point in the book, I noticed similarities between the lives of women in Lusibari and Robledo. In both places, women were married at a young age. Lauren talks about how she should be married and have children at her age, but in the state of Robledo, she didn’t think having children was a good option. The other low tide of women’s lives is that “Widowhood often meant a lifetime of dependence and years of abuse and exploitation.”(68). We see this with Kusum and her mother. After her father passed away, they were unable to provide for themselves. Dilipa, a sex trafficker, lies to Kusum’s mother about finding her work in the city. Dilipa sells her off, she ends up working in harsh and worse conditions. During a woman union meeting, an attendant details the abuse she suffered under her father-in-law, who attempted to rape her, but she fought back and flung a kerosine lamp at him, which caused severe burns. She suffered severe cuts on her arms while protecting herself and her son. In the end, she was kicked out of her marital home.  The high tide of the life of women correlates with Nilima, the Women’s Union, and the Trust. Through the Women’s Union, women have a place to share their grievances and ideas for Lusibari. We see women who have accomplished a lot, such as Moyna. She comes from another Sundarbans Island, where the fate of women was limited to being a wife and a mother. She broke the boundary and decided to receive an education and became a nurse. Women in Lusibari relate to their environment differently. They see it as a provider and a taker. A provider in the sense that it produces food, shelter, and protection. A taker in that within their shelter lies tigers and crocodiles who kill their husbands and leave them widowed and unable to take care of themselves and their children. As a result, led to unhappy lives for some women, such as being victims of attempted rape and victims of sex trafficking.

As previously noted, the women of Lusibari heavily depend on their husbands for their livelihoods. If their husbands are unable to continue working at sea, they will face several challenges in the future. The men of Lusibari currently work at sea, but there are indications that they will need to find alternative sources of income to support their families. According to Mashima(Nilima), “in fifteen years, the fish will be gone” (112). Moyna wants her husband Fokir to find other means to provide due to the dangers of fishing and the depleting fishery population, which offers no future in fishing. She adds, “It’s people like us who are going to suffer, and it’s up to us to think ahead” (112). While reading this line, Lauren came to my mind. She, like Moyna, notices the warning signs and decides to think ahead and prepare for the future. As I read about the rising sea levels in the Sundarbans, “the nearby islands are sliding gradually beneath the water, and soon, like icebergs in a polar sea, they will be mostly hidden…” (58), many critics popped up in my head. 

First, Rob Nixon’s “Slow Violence” came to mind. We see that the tides of the Sundarbans have changed, neighboring islands are slowly drowning due to rising sea levels, and it has impacted aquatic inhabitants in the region. In addition to overfishing, the fishery population has depleted. Nixon talks about how the novel can be a tool to talk about slow violence and climate change, specifically. This novel is a good example of Nixon’s argument. As Nirmal states in the novel, ” There’s nothing I can do to stop what lies ahead. But I was once a writer, perhaps I can make sure at least what happened here leaves some trace”(59). I thought of another critic, Frazier, who discussed women of color in science and climate fiction. It reminded me of Piya and her career in science, studying the inhabitants of the sea. We also noticed her worry about the contrast between her and Fokir, since her job is to study dolphins, while he is hunting fishes and crabs. Similar to Lauren, Piya’s identity is connected to her diaspora, in her case, the South Asian diaspora. I also noticed that Lusibari is similar to Mutu’s painting, “The Shady Promise.” In Lusibari, we see how people are deeply connected to their environment. For example, Kusum puts an insect in her mouth and closes her lips (77). People knock birds and snakes off their roofs, find dead fish in their beds, and have nets to prevent mosquitoes and other critters from entering their homes. The painting “The Shady Promise” by Mutu encourages us to examine the boundaries that separate us based on gender, ethnicity, humanity, animality, and other factors. Throughout the first part of the book, Kanai describes Piya as androgynous, and we see that the markers of gender are blurred. We also witness how the inhabitants of Lusibari come from diverse parts of India and different islands of the Sundarbans, yet they come together as a community. Lusibari, like Robledo, is made up of many families from various backgrounds who have chosen to become kin and safeguard their land. As Piya mentioned, “To nature, in short, who was it who said that the definition of “nature” was that it included everything not informed by human intention? But it was not her intention that had brought her here today, it was the crabs” (119). Haraway has a similar argument in her essay when she talks about how nature provides humans with resources to destroy nature, therefore humans cannot separate themselves from nature. She argues that the earth is an assemblage, and we, as humans, must connect with nature based on that assemblage. Morton suggested we must consider ecological thinking beyond the divisions, and therefore, we must overlook such divisions as class, humanity, or animality and become kin. Sir Daniel Hamilton had the same idea when he bought the islands. Lusibari is evidence of the legacy he wanted to leave behind.

Reading novels can always impact the view somebody has of the world. Depending on the message that the author wants to send everybody interprets it differently. Parable of the sorrows, was a book about climate change in the adventures that we follow with the main character, trying to implement their own religion. Through this novel you’re able to see the hard decisions one makes and the impact it has on the world.

we first start off with the main character Who ran away from her hometown due to all of the fires being ignited by a drug. She believes in the utopia, and she went to follow it, which is heading north. Through her  journey you are able to see the difficult she has to make whether to bring along somebody or to even trust anybody that they see along the way to the north. The people that have joined her question her own leader ship due to the fact that she has hyper empathy, meaning that she can feel what others feel. She had to make a rough decision, whether to kill man or to let them be free, in order to save herself, and she was feeling his suffering When she made the decision to kill the person that’s when they owe her and her morals. But they all decide to still stick along. This just goes to show how the decisions that she had to make impacted her and the world that she lived because she depended on those people that she decided to bring along. She chose these people due to the fact that they will help her survive.