ShodhPatra: International Journal of Science and Humanities

An Ecopsychological Understanding of Amitav Ghosh’s Sundarbans Trilogy

The presence of ego complicates our understanding of the link existing between the human self and the non-human other, negating the wider connection between the two in the face of the cosmos. This stands as a hindrance in accessing the ever-flowing stream of memory which is not merely a constrictive individualized recollection of sensory experiences but a mode of identification to a collective whole. In the Sundarbans trilogy of Amitav Ghosh, consisting of The Hungry Tide, Gun Island, and Ghost-Eye, the phenomenal nature defies the passivity of a background and foregrounds itself as an active site of the interaction between the human and the non-human. With the coinage of the term Ecopsychology, Theodore Roszak attempted to give shape to the impalpable tie that exists in between humans and the Earth in which they inhabit. It emphasizes on the recognition of the psychological interrelatedness as an essential product of existence on Earth. In my paper, I have attempted to portray how Ghosh’s Sundarbans trilogy adopts Roszak’s Ecopsychology as a means to create awareness about the environment and the marginalized beings who depend on it for their very sustenance. A blend of history, myth and scientific minutiae contributes in revisiting the archives of the collective memory, focusing on the need for peaceful coexistence. Thus, compelling the readers to acknowledge and take charge of the crisis they have plunged their environment into.