Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh
The novel contains a discussion of the serious issues of climate change and human trafficking. A little thing can affect the surroundings, that Ghosh is able to see and shows us. At the first glance we thought this novel would carry the story of "Gun" as the title written, but through the reading of the book we come to know about the pilgrimage of Gun Merchant and Dinanath Datta. The title of the novel suggests a place; a foundry of Venice. Where the merchant had gone from there. His journey from his hometown Sundarban to Gun Island (Venice), Land of Palm Sugar Candy (Egypt), Land of Kerchieves (Turkey) and then Island of Chains (Sicily).
The whole novel is divided into many chapters. It is very interesting to read the chapter because it tells the story of Gun Merchant as well as Deen's journey, their migration because of global warming and the effects that they have faced. Ghosh said in the novel that animals and various species are suffering because of climate change. Because of it such events are happening like, wildfire, flood, tornado, high wind etc, that novel discussed.
Ghosh uses the myth of Manasa Devi to convince the readers that the merchant suffered because of climate change. This is not the problem of a particular culture, it is the problem of the world. We can see the use of etymological words in the novel. For the meaning of the word we have to go deep in the history of the word and the meaning of it in the other language. This makes the novel difficult for readers to understand the meaning of those words.
The book is worth reading to understand the problems that world wide people are facing including India.
