Ecology, Displacement, and Human-Nonhuman Relations in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide

Abstract

Background: This paper examines Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide through an ecocritical lens to explore the intertwined themes of ecology, displacement, and human–nonhuman relations. Amitav Ghosh, a prominent Indian English-language novelist known for postcolonial and environmental concerns, published The Hungry Tide in 2004. The novel is set in the Sundarbans, a vast mangrove forest where tides reshape islands daily, and humans, tigers, and dolphins  coexist in         fragile  tension.Methods: Using qualitative textual analysis grounded in ecocriticism, especially drawing on the theoretical insights from Lawrence Buell’s Environmental Imagination and Rob Nixon’s Slow Violence, this paper addresses five research questions: how the Sundarbans is represented as an active agent; how human–nonhuman interdependence is depicted; how marginalized communities are affected by ecological vulnerability and state politics; how Ghosh critiques conservation practices that justify displacement; and whether the novel proposes an alternative ecological         ethics.Results: This article finds that Ghosh redefines nature as an active, agentic force; exposes ethical ambiguities in human-nonhuman relations; reveals the Morichjhapi massacre as an example of slow violence; contrasts Western science with indigenous knowledge without romanticizing either; and proposes an ecological ethics based on humility, interdependence, and       care.Conclusion: This article attempts to contribute to ecocritical scholarship by foregrounding nonhuman agency, an underexplored dimension in Ghosh’s existing criticism. Novelty: This paper offers insights into contemporary debates on climate change, Indigenous knowledge, and environmental justice, foregrounding nonhuman agency in The Hungry Tide.