Small group exercise on Ghosh:

• Each small group will be assigned one of the three questions: make sure you’re clear on which question is yours!
• take 15 minutes to talk over your ideas and designate one person (a “landline” if you have one) to take notes and initiate discussion with the big group
• then we’ll share your group’s thoughts with the class as a whole

1. The role of religion grows toward the end of the novel in ways that have some echoes with Earthseed: in both cases, myths or faith traditions are sites of cultural hybridity and fluidity that present an alternative to rational liberal traditions. How are the myths of Bon Bibi and Dokkhin Rai represented in the part we read for today?
2. The theme of the boundary between the animal and the human, which is an important part of the Bon Bibi myths of course, emerges many times as we approach the end of the novel. How does the notion of a firm separation between humans and animal others come up? What does the novel seem to be saying to us here?
3. Kanai impulsively decides not to leave Lusibari (and the novel!) on his original schedule. Instead, he successfully argues that he adds value to the research trip on the “bhotboti” with Horen and Fokir as a translator. What are some ways that “translation” in the broadest sense looms large in the novel? What are some moments where Kanai’s role as translator seems especially prominent? How does his translation work change how you read his character?

In Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide, water is a physical element of the landscape and symbolizes identity, memory, and survival. The chapters from “Memory” to “Kratie” use metaphors to show how the tides and rivers of the Sundarbans represent the constantly shifting environment, personal history, relationships, and struggles of human life living in an unpredictable environment. The motif of water is essential to how the novel portrays identity. Kanai, Piya, and Fokir find their sense of self shaped/reshaped by their encounters with the Sundarbans, where the boundaries between land and water are constantly changing. Kanai arrives in the region as an outsider and gradually confronts the fragility of his identity in the face of the vast, untamable waters of the Sundarbans. In the chapter “Memory,” Kanai begins to feel the weight of his outsider status as he witnesses the locals’ intimate connection with the land and water. Kanai starts to realize this when he observes Fokir, who navigates the treacherous waters with a skill that Kanai, despite his education, can never hope to match. When Kanai sees Fokir jump into the water to push their boat, even though the water reaches his neck, he is astonished at how easily Fokir acted in the water. Despite his intellectual prowess, Kanai felt powerless against the forces of nature that dominate the tide country. His identity –rooted in urban privilege and education– forces him to accept that he is inadequate in this environment where survival depends not on intellect but intuition and survival-based knowledge that, in this case, Fokir holds, but not Kanai.

Water also serves as a metaphor to show how unstable memories can be. Just as the tides constantly shift the landscape of the Sundarbans, so too do memories shift and change in the characters’ minds. Kanai’s reading of Nirmal’s notebook in “Words” and “Crimes” reveals how the forces of history and personal bias often shape memory. His political ideals color Nirmal’s recollections of the Morichjhãpi massacre and his desire to frame the events within a narrative of resistance and defiance. Nirmal’s idealized vision of the settlers’ struggle blurs between reality and his passion for a revolutionary narrative, making Nirmal’s memory of Morichjhãpi both a tribute and distortion, much like the shifting currents of the Sundarbans that reveal and conceal the land in unpredictable ways. “Saar, the worst part was not the hunger or the thirst. It was to sit here, helpless, and listen to the policemen making their announcements, hearing them say that our lives, our existence, were worth less than dirt or dust.” (Ghosh 215) Kusum’s words are preserved from Nirmal’s point of view, but their desire to live and historical context are filtered through his interpretation of the suffering and oppression they experienced.

Moyna describes the river similarly to the reality of life in the Sundarbans, where survival depends on understanding the waters, which often hold invisible dangers. For the people of the Tide country, survival means knowing how to navigate these hidden forces, much like understanding the currents that guide the tides. The notion that survival, memory, and identity are intertwined with the forces of nature is further explored in the dialogue between Kanai and Moyna. Moyna tells Kanai, “Because words are just air, Kanai-babu. When the wind blows on the water, you see ripples and waves, but the real river lies beneath, unseen and unheard.” (Ghosh 213) Moyna suggests that social and emotional survival depends on navigating relationships and situations that may not always be clear on the surface. Just as the Sundarbans’ waters conceal their most powerful currents beneath calm surfaces, the characters must navigate complex, often hidden, emotional landscapes to survive. Fokir, for instance, moves through life with an intuitive understanding of the rivers. Yet, simultaneously, Kanai, an outsider, doesn’t have these deeper connections that tie the community to the land and water.

Romance plays a big part in how the novel is structured. These man to woman relationships that occur in the novel can allow us to make deeper connections to each of the characters and also it essentially helps with the plot of the story. It helps readers to have a better understanding of social, economic and cultural factors in India as well as helping us understand how these man – woman relationships add on to the substance of the novel.  We can see this through the relationships of Kanai and Moyna, Kanai and Piya, Piya and Fokir and Moyna and Fokir. One can say there is a love triangle between the three characters Kanai, Piya and Fokir but I also believe that something is simmering between Fokir and Piya as well as Kanai and Monya.

Kanai is a player and likes to think of himself as a ladies man. He is very self absorbed and has the mentality that he gets what he wants. Piya can get a sense of that and even his aunt knows that about Kanai as well because she states, ” he’s one of those men who like to think of himself as being irresistible to the other sex” (pg. 208). With that being said he still somehow is able to come off as sincere and sympathize with individuals. He is also  a very intellectual man of a higher class which gives him more pointers. I believe this is why we see his character bonding with both Monya and Piya. Through the interactions with both females he flirts a lot and it can come off as inappropriate in some cases but I think both ladies see some potential in him for different reasons, especially Monya. Monya and Kanai share much more in common due to the fact that they are both head strong individuals and both have desires to get what they want out of life. Monya likes the fact that he is a well established man who went to school and has his own business. Kanai likes the fact that Monya is a very ambitious woman and is able to uproot her life to take the steps she needs in order to become a nurse. He sees himself in her which is why to me they are more compatible.

On the other hand Fokir is the opposite, being that he cannot read or write he is a man that stays to himself and finds joy in being with his son on the water fishing and catching crabs. He is a husband to Monya but they live very separate lives. When reading this novel to me it seems that they should not be together. They do not seem compatible and it is very clear that they want different things out of life. When Piya and Fokir interact there is minimum communication with words but the connection is clear as day. Fokir may not have gone to school or become someone of a higher occupation but its very certain that he is intellectual, a protector and valuable when it comes to water resources and surviving in the conditions that they live in. Piya sees this which is how they fix upon one another. They both have an understanding of the sea/ river and even though she specializes in marine mammals he is still of great help when navigating how to spot them and navigate danger when it is near. There have been many instances of physical alterations and moments where Piya has smelled him which created a sensation of bliss for her. She feels very safe around him and a sense of calmness which I believe Fokir feels as well because you can see the energy shift from when he is at home with his wife to when he is out on the water by himself and with Piya. Moyna knows her husband is unhappy with the life she is making him live for her benefit and continues to belittle and embarrass him. I am not a fan of her and neither is PIya but out of respect for Fokir she deals.  In my eyes it makes the most sense for Fokir and Piya to be together and Monya and Kanai to be with one another, it just makes sense.

P.S. I am definitely team Fokir and Piya all the way!

In “The Hungry Tide” by Amitav Ghosh, Language is something that goes beyond words. It branches into many different actions and terms that are understood even if they don’t speak the same language. In the novel language is beyond the world of words and is more intimate when Fokir and Piya communicate with their actions. Since Piya cannot speak or understand Bangla despite her heritage and cultural background of it, and Fokir cannot speak or understand English as he was not educated in it. Their drastic different backgrounds and knowledge sets the scene for a very interesting relationship between the two characters.

Piyas disconnect from her heritage and Fokirs connection with his culture makes both characters help each other in a way they didn’t know they needed. The way they communicate is through gestures and interests the most. Both of their knowledge in nature and animals is what first connects them as Fokir is the only one that recognized what Piya needed help finding for her research. Their connection with nature and interest in it is something that the other characters in the novel don’t understand, like Kanai for example as he is very modern and has in a way forgotten his roots with nature and the world around him and the state of it. The Sundarbans are a place of greenery and oceans with people still living their lives without the technology advances or new jobs that the economy has forced them into to survive, they’re surviving off of what they already know which are things like fishing and farming and hunting rather than having a desk job or being a laborer in the city.

But there is both a negative as positive as Fokir doesn’t adapt to the changes because his children’s educations are at risk but in the Sundarbans he’s living the life he truly desires even if he makes little to no money from it. One of the ways that Piya and Fokirs conversations are intimate is by the singing.

“She had thought that she had seen a muscular quality of innocence in him, a
likable kind of naïveté, but now, listening to this song, she began to ask
herself whether it was she who was naïve. She would have liked to know
what he was singing about and what the lyrics meant — but she knew too that
a river of words would not be able to tell her exactly what made the song
sound as it did right then, in that place.”(81)

This moment in the novel shows a very intimate moment between Piya and Fokir where the both of them connect with something like music. Music that Piya doesn’t understand but the connection she feels to it is intense and just right. While Fokir is singing to her which is a tradition many people still follow in Bangladesh when they follow the “fokir” lifestyle which is symbolized by Fokirs name in the novel. Music is a very intimate platonic way they connect with each other as it brings them both a sense of being in the right moment at the right time. The American standard that Piya is used to is getting changed while she gets to know Fokir more through the story as he’s a gateway to her learning more about her culture and heritage more, and for Fokir, Piya is a way to explore his connection with nature and have someone to share it with.

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.