Contextualising Environmental Catastrophe in Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies

Abstract

This paper examines how Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies implies that human exploitation or systems of dominance over other humans are more likely to be the root cause of environmental issues than anthropocentric views alone. He investigates the nature of changes in the 19th and 20th centuries to the global environment. This novel describes how over use of nature has led to ecocritical degradation. Ecological imperialism takes the form of environmental racism. He draws attention to the way that imperialist rule forces only the growth of poppies throughout all of Calcutta, including Bihar. Due to her lack of money, Deeti also utilises opium as a means of payment to repay Kalua for his benevolence. Bees are drawn to the pleasant scent of poppies, according to Ghosh. The fisherman in the book uses opium to catch fish more quickly. Like other monkeys, monkeys are also victims of opium. They never engage in social interactions, fight among themselves, steal items or food from others, or descend—they just descend to eat and then climb back up. Holy River's state is defined by Ghosh as unfavourable to the environment. Ghosh pays attention to his social ecology wisdom, which clarifies the notion that environmental issues are not just caused by human exploitation of nature; human exploitation of nature is also a factor.