Gun Island Book Review

by Vidya Hariharan

Amitav Ghosh’s 2019 novel Gun Island (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) explores the concept of threshold space and liminality using two major tropes: the riverine delta and the migrant. Ghosh has interwoven myth and folklore with geographical implications of climate change to highlight the impact that transition has on human lives. The Sundarbans delta, the world’s largest mangrove forest, is formed by the confluence of the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, and the Meghna rivers in the Bay of Bengal. The region is constantly in flux due to tides, storms, and rising sea levels, symbolizing the instability wrought by climate change, causing mass human migration. Tipu is emblematic of liminality and threshold-crossing, both physically and metaphorically. As a young, tech-savvy, and restless migrant, he inhabits a transitional space, straddling traditional and modern identities, as well as geographical, cultural, and existential boundaries. His journey reflects broader themes of displacement, adaptation, and the fluidity of identity in an era of environmental and socio-political instability.

 Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island understands how liminal spaces are not just physical but extend into cultural, temporal and spiritual realms. These spaces symbolize transition, uncertainty, and transformation, reflecting the novel’s central themes of displacement, ecological crisis, and the merging of histories and cultures. By navigating these thresholds, Ghosh challenges readers to reconsider the boundaries between humanity, nature and the broader forces shaping our world.

The Sunderbans, a vast tidal delta spanning India and Bangladesh, is a space of magic and mystery, fostering danger and wonder. The shifting nature of the land, constantly reshaped by tides and climate forces, mirrors the fluidity of identity, migration, and history that Gun Island explores. In this novel, the Sunderbans emerge as a liminal zone where myth, history, and environmental change converge. The protagonist, Deen Datta, a rare book dealer with a skeptical disposition, finds himself drawn into a world where past and present, folklore and reality, intertwine. The landscape is imbued with a phantasmagorical quality, where natural forces and human interventions meet in unpredictable ways. Thus, the most striking elements of Ghosh’s depiction of the Sunderbans is its portrayal as a living entity. The tides, mangroves, and wildlife do not merely form the setting; they participate in the story’s unfolding. In Gun Island, the Sunderbans function as a space of storytelling, where myths like the legend of the Merchant and the goddess Manasa Devi gain new significance in the face of climate change and forced migration.

The Sunderbans are depicted as a storehouse of Bengali folklore, particularly the myth of Bonduki Sadagar, a merchant cursed by the snake goddess Manasa Devi. This legend, embedded in the landscape, resurfaces throughout the novel, demonstrating how places retain the echoes of past narratives. The Sunderbans, constantly threatened by rising sea levels and extreme weather events, symbolize the fragility of place and memory. The local inhabitants, whose lives are intertwined with the land and water, experience this instability firsthand, not just an external reality but an intimately felt experience. The novel, through its interweaving of folklore, ecological crisis, and personal journeys, reaffirms that spaces are not merely physical landscapes but poetic entities that shape and are shaped by human experience.

The novel also examines human migration through the journeys of refugees and migrants crossing physical and political borders. These borderlands, such as the Mediterranean Sea and the European frontiers, are perilous zones of transition, highlighting the plight of displaced people. Characters like Tipu and Cinta are caught in these transitional spaces, navigating between cultures, countries and identities. Their movements illustrate the fluidity of belonging and the uncertainty of crossing thresholds. The story itself bridges past and present, weaving together myths, histories and contemporary realities. The legend of the Gun Merchant (Bonduki Sadagar) connects historical patterns of migration and trade with modern issues like globalization and climate displacement. This blending of timeframes creates a temporal liminality, showing how history echoes in the present and shaping the novel’s cyclical view of human and ecological crises. The Gun Merchant’s story exists in the interstitial space between myth and reality. This ambiguity invites readers to question the boundaries between the rational and the supernatural. Characters like Deen, who begins as a sceptic, undergo a transformation as they confront the mystical elements of the narrative. Deen’s journey blurs the line between scientific rationality and spiritual intuition.

Rising sea levels, cyclones and natural disasters mark the boundaries where human existence becomes precarious. Ghosh uses these spaces to critique humanity’s exploitation of nature and to emphasize the interconnectedness of ecosystems. This geographical liminality mirrors the lives of the people inhabiting the Sundarbans, who adapt to shifting landscapes, yet remain at the mercy of natural forces. For instance, the frequent flooding and destruction challenge notions of stability and permanence, reflecting broader concerns of climate refugees and environmental displacement. Geographical liminality also manifests in the journeys of migrants who traverse seas and borders, risking their lives in the hope of finding stability. These spaces of crossing, like the Mediterranean Sea, are zones of transition and uncertainty, where lives are suspended between survival and peril. Through these migrations, Ghosh connects environmental crises with human displacement, illustrating how geographical liminality becomes a lived experience for those forced to navigate borderlands shaped by ecological collapse. So, the geographical and environmental liminality in Gun Island is not just a backdrop but a central element that drives the narrative and its themes. These spaces of transition and uncertainty reflect the fragility of the Anthropocene, urging us to reconsider humanity’s place within the broader ecological system. Ghosh uses these liminal zones to connect past and present, local and global, and human and non-human, crafting a powerful critique of our current environmental trajectory.