“[N]owhere was there anything green”: Exploring Human Ecology and Gendered Perceptions of Land Disaster in Sea of Poppies

Abstract

Environmental fiction with a human ecological perspective fosters a deep connection between humans and the natural world. It examines several areas of human-ecosystem interaction to raise environmental awareness in the literature. It functions as a human ecological approach that examines environmental concerns in relation to psychological and social factors affecting individuals. Amitav Ghosh’s novel Sea of Poppies employs a postcolonial ecocritical framework to address the pressing issue of environmental degradation, examining its historical origins in India’s colonial governance. Deeti in the novel shows how colonialism is unethical and illegal, leading to the destruction of ecosystems and regions. Deeti witnesses an ecological catastrophe during the First Opium War between Britain and China. Deeti’s loss reminds us that people’s insatiable desire to exploit natural resources for profit destroys the environment. Her narrative encompasses not only her arduous existence but also a fractured biosphere. This study employs a human ecological approach, utilising the theories of Murray Bookchin and postcolonial ecocriticism, to examine the representation of environmental devastation intertwined with social and psychological effects on colonised societies in the novel. The human ecological approach raises awareness and encourages ethical behaviour, protecting the biosphere from human avarice and its harms. Research indicates that colonialism and its associated technological-industrial complex harm the natural environment, social harmony, production, and human psyche and community interactions, as illustrated in Sea of Poppies. Through Deeti, Ghosh establishes a direct conceptual connection between postcolonialism and ecocriticism.