Gun Island – Amitav Ghosh
📘 WORKSHEET – 1 | Gun Island – Amitav Ghosh
I. Browse through the digital copy of the novel to find the answer
1. Is Shakespeare mentioned in the novel? Or are his plays referred to in the novel?
2. What is the role of Nakhuda Ilyas in the legend of the Gun Merchant?
[Nakhuda means: Captain of a ship ]
Nakhuda Ilyas is the ship’s captain who helps the Gun Merchant escape from the wrath of Manasa Devi. He represents human agency, trade networks, and maritime mobility. Through him, the legend connects Bengal to distant lands, showing early global connections and migration routes.
3. Make a table: Important characters and their profession
4. Fill the table: Character Traits
5. What sort of comparison between the book and the mobile is presented at the end of the novel?
At the end of the novel, Ghosh compares books and mobile phones to show how knowledge transmission has changed. Books symbolize deep, slow, reflective understanding, while mobile phones represent instant, fragmented, and global connectivity. The comparison suggests that survival in the modern world requires adapting to new forms of knowledge while retaining historical memory.
II. Use ChatGPT prompts (answers filled)
6. Tell me something about Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island
Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island is a climate fiction novel that blends myth, history, and contemporary reality. The story follows Dinanath Datta, a rare book dealer, whose investigation into the legend of the Gun Merchant leads him across the Sundarbans, America, and Venice. Through migration, ecological disasters, and ancient myths, the novel highlights the impact of climate change on human lives. Ghosh challenges rationalist and Eurocentric worldviews by showing how folklore and history carry ecological truths. The novel presents climate change as a shared global crisis that reshapes identities and destinies.
7. What is the central theme of Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island?
The central theme of Gun Island is climate change and human migration. The novel explores how environmental destruction forces people to move across borders, linking ancient myths with modern refugee crises. It also examines the tension between myth and rationality, showing that folklore contains historical and ecological knowledge. Ultimately, the novel emphasizes global interconnectedness and humanity’s shared responsibility toward the planet.
📗 WORKSHEET – 2 | Gun Island – Amitav Ghosh
III. Browse through the novel / notes / videos
1. Write 10–12 words about climate change in the novel. Mention number of times they recur
2. Explain the title of the novel
[Key words: venedig, hazelnut]
The title Gun Island is derived from the Bengali word “Bonduki”, which comes from the Arabic “al-Bunduqeyya”, meaning Venice. Bunduq also means hazelnut, linking trade routes, language evolution, and migration. The title symbolizes historical connections between Bengal and Venice, showing how myths, commerce, and climate unite distant places.
3. Match the characters with the reasons for migration
4. Match the theorist with the theoretical approach
IV. ChatGPT-based answers
5. Summary of the article (Saikat Chakraborty)
The article argues that Gun Island critiques Eurocentric humanism by presenting a postcolonial and posthuman perspective. Ghosh challenges Western rationality by integrating myth, ecology, and non-human agency. The novel shows how climate change destabilizes human-centered thinking and calls for a broader ethical framework that includes nature, animals, and marginalized communities.
6. Research possibilities in Gun Island
Climate fiction and Anthropocene studies
Migration and refugee narratives
Myth as historical memory
Postcolonial ecocriticism
Language, etymology, and global trade
Human–nonhuman relationships
Eurocentrism and alternative epistemologies
7. Sonnet on Gun Island
8. Multiple Choice Questions
9. Five Italian words with Hindi & English translation
Thank You !
Comments
Post a Comment