In the chapters between “Memory” and “Kratie” in Amitav Ghosh’s “The Hungry Tide,” we can see that Kanai’s views on belonging become a lot more complex as he navigates his identity and his connections to the Sundarbans. We can see that Kanai doesn’t see himself ‘fitting in’ very well with his surroundings/ compared to everyone else. It is made clear that e comes from a more urban background, and his interactions with the more rural life of the Sundarbans show this disconnect.. This sense of not-belonging is used to highlight his lack of familiarity with the culture and the people who inhabit the place.

As he delves more into the community, Kanai begins to learn more about their stories which is filled with tons of struggles, resilience, and tons of displacement. These stories connect with him on a more personal level, allowing him to reflect more on his own identity with his Bengali heritage and the disconnect he feels from it. The stories of local inhabitants, more specifically the stories regarding the people who dealt with hardships because of the drastic environmental changes and socio-political issues allow Kanai to understand the deep ties people have to the land. He begins to see that belonging goes beyond just your background, it also has to do with shared experiences and connections.

Now keeping this idea in mind with his relationship to Piya, we can see how she plays a more crucial role in Kanai’s evolving sense of belonging. It isn’t just that both him and Piya don’t have as strong a connection with the land, it’s about this growing connection they have that is allowing both to evolve. Piya’s passion for the environment and this commitment she has to studying the ecosystem of the Sundarbans draws Kanai closer to her and the landscape. Through her eyes, he starts to appreciate the beauty region, which helps connect this gap between his urban identity with his cultural one. Piya’s enthusiasm challenges Kanai to rethink his perceptions and assumptions, which encourages him to engage more deeply with the world around him.

As the novel goes more to the chapter “Kratie,” Kanai’s understanding of belonging shifts significantly. He starts to recognize that true belonging involves an emotional connection to both people and place, rather than just being tied to a specific geographical location. His growing empathy for the locals and their struggles allows him to build a deeper connection to the Sundarbans. This transformation marks a change in Kanai’s views on the place, as he learns that belonging is an ongoing process which helps shape one’s understanding.

Overall, Kanai’s journey shows the complexity of belonging. It shows that he comes to understand that belonging is not just a fixed state but an ever-evolving relationship, engulfed by personal growth and the connections we can make with others. This journey really builds and highlights the novel’s broader theme of ‘interconnectedness’ and the ties between people and their environments.

In the first part of *The Hungry Tide*, we can see that Piya has this internal conflict that revolves around her identity and her relationship with her cultural and ethnic background. As a marine biologist who was raised in the U.S. by Indian parents, she grapples with these feelings of disconnect from her Indian ‘identity’/heritage. This struggle seems to be heightened by her journey to the Sundarbans, where she feels almost drawn to the landscape while also feeling somewhat out of place with her surroundings.

This passion Piya has for studying the river dolphins shows this dedication she has to the environment, which might sometimes seem indifferent to the local community’s traditional ways of practice. While she is enthusiastic to understand the natural world and understand its complexities, she is also aware of her outsider status and not being able to fit in very well. This seems to create a tension between her scientific objectives and her desire to connect with the culture around her.

Piya’s interactions with Fokir shows this strong desire she has to connect with him and better understand his perspective. However, their communication is lowered by the language barrier, which stops her from being able to fully engage with him. Fokir reminds Piya a lot of her father, mostly because of their shared cultural background. This resemblance heightens her yearning for a deeper connection, as she grapples with her identity and the cultural ties that bind her to the region. 

When Piya is first introduced in The Hungry Tide, it’s clear that she experiences a disconnect between her identity and her culture. It seems like she grew up in an environment where she was unable to fully express or connect with her Indian heritage contributing to this struggle. As the novel progresses, hopefully Piya will learn more about her culture and come to accept and embrace it. Her experiences in the Sundarbans offer her valuable opportunities to actually reconnect with her roots, pointing towards a potential journey of self-discovery and a better understanding of her culture.

When reading the first few chapters of Octavia Butler’s novel ‘Parable of Sower’, we immediately see a more dystopian future where society has essentially collapsed due to environmental downfalls as well as ongoing violence. Lauren Olimina, the protagonist of the story, lives in a town called Robledo Southern California which is a more ‘remote’ and secluded place compared to other places. Within this more isolated society, you can see that they live their lives in an almost constant fear due to the supposed dangers and chaos that happens outside of those walls.

To put things into perspective a little more, the protagonist Lauren suffers from a condition called ‘hyper-empathy’ which makes her a lot more sensitive to the pain of others which makes things a lot more complicated for her and causes her to feel more islolated in a sense. When it comes to Lauren’s father, we learn that he is a Baptist minister who is leading their community with strict religious rules and belief systems. This causes Lauren to start to question his beliefs and the beliefs he is preaching to the rest of the community as well.

She starts to develop her own sort of ideology in a way called Earthseed, which builds on this idea of “God is Change” which is essentially emphasizing this way of adapting to as well as embracing change rather than just going against it. This new belief system sets her apart from her immediate community fellows, who do not understand or support her ever growing views.

In regards to the town of Robledo though, things seem to be getting a lot worse and conflicts are at an all time high. Lauren sees all the worsening conditions and an increase in violence which makes her hyper-empathy ‘at an all time high’ in a sense. She feels for the people around her and feels stuck not being able to really do anything about it. The situation reaches a very critical point when Robledo is all of sudden attacked, leading to large amounts of loss and ruin. This attack highlights the vulnerability of their sanctuary and the harsh reality of the world outside the enclosed and in a way the last bit of protection they had from the rest of society.

Slightly after the attack, Lauren decides that it is in her best interest to actually leave Robledo. With this journey, her goal is to find safety and to spread her Earthseed ideology.

Overall, we can see that Butler’s argument within the first few chapters of the book revolve around change and fake protection. Change is inevitable, and having barriers put whether it be physical or metaphorical won’t stop things like life from moving forward. Butler portrays this through Lauren and her hyper-empathy which allows her to constantly question the things around her in hopes of ‘better’, which is contrasted from everyone else who seems to much rather want to live in a ‘protective’ bubble filled with false hope.