How does this piece function as an introduction to the main setting of the novel? Why does Ghosh introduce us to the Sundarbans’s in this way?

Throughout the novel The Hungry Tide, Amitav Ghosh introduces the main setting through the use of personification. Ghosh utilizes personification to explain the formation of the Sundarbans: an archipelago of islands and main location of the novel. He personifies the river Gange as the Goddess Ganga, a figure worshipped by the Hindu culture, and her relation to the creation of the Sundarbans. Essentially, another deity called Lord Shiva used his hair to catch and tame the Goddess’s power when she came to Earth. Within the passage Ghosh describes the river as “a heavenly braid… an immense rope of water, unfurling through a wide and thirsty plain,” (6) which is in relation to the Goddess Ganga tied into Lord Shiva’s hair. The story continues to reveal how there is a point where this “heavenly braid” comes undone, and Lord Shiva’s hair washes into a tangled knot. In other words, at this point the river separated into a multitude of strands. The channels of these rivers spread across an archipelago of islands that lie between the sea and the plains of Bengal. Ghosh presents this relationship to land and the river channels as “a fine mesh net, creating a terrain where the boundaries between land and water are always mutating…” (6). Ultimately, it is the confluences of these rivers where the tides are able to create new lands and mangroves that form these scattered islands known as the Sundarbans.

The Sundarbans is not visually the “prettiest” place to encounter, and Ghosh even reveals that, “Every year, dozens of people perish in the embrace of [the] dense foliage, killed by tigers, snakes and crocodiles” (7). However, the name Sundarbans translates to “the beautiful forest,” and even though this landscape may not be the most welcoming or visually appealing Ghosh is able to reveal its inner beauty throughout his description of the Sundarbans. The legend Ghosh uses to describe the creation of the Sundarbans helps convey a deeper connection that the people native to this land have with their surrounding environment. For example, the divine figures that personify the Gange River showcase how people of the Hindu culture truly cherish this body of water beyond its superficial facade. This connection helps people overlook the swamp like exterior and deathly creatures that reside in the Sundarbans, and instead admire this region for all of the useful resources that it has to offer. Over all, Ghosh is able to effectively introduce the Sundarbans and main setting of the novel through the usage of personification, as it showcases this connection and importance between people and their environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” Ganges: Article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges

“Ancient History Encyclopedia.” Ganges: Definition, 2015, https://www.ancient.eu/Ganges/