Gun Island

Gun Island 

Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island (2019) is a novel that intertwines myth, history, and contemporary environmental concerns. Blending magical realism with urgent themes of climate change and migration, Gun Island explores the interconnectedness of human and non-human lives, urging readers to rethink their relationship with the environment and global crises. This blog is a flip learning activity, assigned by Barad Sir, based on this novel. For more information you can click here - Flipped Learning Activity Instructions. Alternatively, you can check out this teacher’s blog - Gun Island.

Video 1 - Sundarbans 

The novel begins with Dinanath Dutta (Deen), the protagonist and narrator, visiting Kolkata. He is a dealer of rare books and ancient antiques in Brooklyn and visits India during the winter. At his cousin Kanai Dutt’s insistence, he travels to the Sundarbans to meet Nilima Bose and Piyali Roy, a marine biologist researching dolphins. There, he learns about the legend of “Bonduki Sadagar”. Intrigued by this folklore, he visits the shrine of Mansa Devi, where he meets Rafi and Tipu. At the shrine, Tipu is bitten by a snake and warns of dolphin beachings. After these strange events, Deen decides to return to Brooklyn.

Video 2 - USA 

While traveling for a conference, Deen encounters the wildfires in Los Angeles. From his airplane window, he sees a bird carrying a dead snake and panics. At the conference, he meets Giacinta, a historian and a believer in myths. After talking with her, Deen begins to consider that there might be some truth to the legend of the Gun Merchant. With Cinta’s help, he discovers that the places he once thought were mythical in the legend could actually be real, and that Gun Island might refer to Venice. He receives a job offer as a translator in Venice and decides to accept it, hoping to explore the city further and uncover more about the legend.

Video 3 - Venice 

In the second part of the novel, the issues of migration and human trafficking are explored. Deen discovers that Rafi is working as a laborer in Venice, and Tipu is about to arrive. He meets many new people, each with different stories of migration. He is also followed by a supernatural presence, and strange events continue to occur around him. In the end, Deen and his group rescue the “Blue Boat”, which is filled with migrants. Cinta, hallucinating about her dead daughter, passes away.

Video 1 - Etymological Mystery 

In Gun Island, Amitav Ghosh uses language as a powerful metaphor to convey his themes, blending words from Bangla and other languages. The title itself, Gun Island, does not refer to firearms but has historical and linguistic significance, alluding to Venice. The word “gun” connects to Venetian foundries, historically called “ghettos” tracing its etymology through various languages and linking the Gun Merchant’s journey to Venice.

The novel also explores linguistic nuances, such as the word Bhuta, which can mean both “ghosts” and “past existence”, highlighting the novel’s focus on history and memory. Similarly, possession is reinterpreted as a metaphor for human desires, rather than demonic influence. These linguistic explorations reinforce Ghosh’s critique of anthropocentrism, ecological imbalance, and migration. 

Video 2 - Historification of Myth & Mythification of History 

Here, the theme of myth and history in ‘Gun Island’, examining how the myth of Mansa Devi, initially perceived as supernatural, actually reflects historical events. The protagonist, Dinanath, uncovers historical truths behind the myth as he travels through real-world locations, linking it to issues like human trafficking. The novel challenges the notion that myths are purely fictional, suggesting they contain deeper historical realities. The discussion also introduces four academic approaches to studying myths: 

• functionalism
• structuralism
• psychoanalysis
• myth and ritual

These frameworks help analyze how myths legitimize societal behaviors and beliefs, demonstrating their cultural significance while also revealing historical truths.

Video 3 - Historification of Myth and Mythification of History (2)

‘Gun Island’ connects myth, history, and modern environmental issues, using the story of Mansa Devi to explore these themes. The novel shows that myths, like those of Chand Sadagar and Mansa Devi, explain rituals and traditions, especially focusing on pilgrimages as a sign of human endurance and a bond with nature. Ghosh uses ideas from scholars like Durkheim, Malinowski, and Levi-Strauss to reinterpret myths, linking past events, such as the rise of coal mining, to today’s climate crisis. The novel also highlights how myths change over time, using the concept of Sanskritization to show how they adapt to new cultural and environmental realities. Ghosh suggests that myths are not just about preserving traditions — they can also help us think about and respond to major global challenges.

Video 4 - Historification of Myth and Mythification of History (3)

The novel explores how myths and history are shaped by colonialism, especially the differences between Eastern and Western perspectives. Edward Said’s idea of Orientalism explains how the West has often misrepresented the East, seeing it as inferior. This theme is reflected in the characters like Dinanath, who has lived in the West, sees himself as superior, but Kanai challenges his beliefs. Kanai and Nilima, in turn, break cultural boundaries, showing that Eastern and Western identities are not strictly separate. The novel suggests that solving global issues like climate change requires both Eastern wisdom and Western science. Ghosh also highlights the importance of Eastern myths, arguing that they can be reinterpreted to help us understand modern challenges, human nature, and the struggles shaping our world today.

Video 5 - Climate Change | The Great Derangement 

Gun Island is a climate fiction novel, focusing on the current climate crisis and the Anthropocene - the era when human activities are causing major environmental changes. It builds on ideas Amitav Ghosh discussed in ‘The Great Derangement’, showing how human actions are deeply connected to environmental consequences. The novel stresses the need for both Eastern and Western societies to work together to protect the planet.

Through its story, Gun Island criticizes colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism, explaining how colonial powers ignored the ecological knowledge of native communities. These traditional practices could have helped prevent environmental destruction. Instead, the damage has led to rising sea levels, extreme weather, and a worsening climate crisis. Ghosh also explores the larger systems behind the crisis, such as how colonial rulers exploited natural resources and how industrialization continues to harm the environment. 

Video 6 - Migration | Human Trafficking | Refugee Crisis

Gun Island explores issues like migration, human trafficking, and the refugee crisis, showing how societies often prioritize national identity and economic benefits over humanitarian values. The novel highlights reasons why people migrate, such as political conflicts, religious persecution and climate disasters. It shows how displaced people struggle to adjust to new places, especially in terms of finding jobs due to a lack of necessary skills or education. Locations like the Sundarbans and Venice symbolize the difficulties migrants face, as both are threatened by climate change. The story also reveals how illegal migration is often controlled by mafia networks, sometimes with the silent approval of authorities. Through its storytelling, Gun Island encourages readers to reflect on real-life migration issues and question their own attitudes toward refugees and global crises.

Worksheet 1 

1. Is Shakespeare mentioned in the novel? Or are his plays referred in the novel?

Shakespeare is mentioned three times in the novel. Once when Cinta talks about him at the closing event of the conference. Second time, They discuss how Venice was a Cosmopolitan place, and provided a perfect setting for Shakespeare’s plays. Third time, The Monkey Typewriter Theorem is mentioned. The monkey typewriter theorem says that if a monkey randomly presses keys on a typewriter for an infinite amount of time, it will eventually type any given text, like a Shakespeare play. 

His play ‘The Merchant of Venice’, is also mentioned. In fact, the conference held in Los Angeles, attended by Dinanath, was hosted by a museum to celebrate its acquisition of a 17th century addition of ‘The Merchant of Venice’.

2. What is the role of Nakhuda Ilyas in the legend of the Gun Merchant.  

Nakhuda means ‘Ship owner’ or ‘Ship captain’. Nakhuda Ilyas played an important role in the legend of the Gun Merchant because the merchant travelled with him to Venice (Gun island). 

3. Make a table: write name of important characters in one column and their profession in  another.

Characters	Profession
Dinanath Dutta	Rare book dealer
Piyali Roy	Marine Biologist
Giacinta Schiavon	Historian
Nilima Bose	Founder of NGO
Horen Naskar	Boatman
Moyna	Nurse
Durga	Maoist
Lisa	Etymologist and Teacher
Gisella	Documentary Maker
Gia Como	Journalist
Nakhuda Ilyas	Ship Captain
Bilal	Construction Worker
Kabir	Construction Worker

4. Fill the table. Write the name of relevant character.

Character	Trait
Giacinta Schiavon	Believer in mystical happenings & presence  of the soul of dead people
Piyali Roy	Rationalizes all uncanny happenings
Dinanath Dutta	Skeptic who is in-between but slightly  towards center-right

5. What sort of comparison between the book and the mobile is presented at the end of the novel?

Near the end of the novel, we find a dialogue between Dinanath and Palash, where this comparison is shown. Dinanath talks about how in his childhood books were the only way they could learn more about foreign lands. He says: 

“Reading was my means, I thought, of escaping the narrowness of the world I lived in. But was it possible that my world had seemed narrow precisely because I was a voracious reader? After all, how can any reality match the worlds that exist only in books?”

Dinanath then makes the comparison to the present time when mobile phones play a vital role in spreading images and videos of foreign places and how it sometimes ignites the dream of settling there among the people. He says:

“If mere words could have this effect, what of the pictures and videos that scroll continuously past our eyes on laptops and cellphones? If it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, what is the power of the billions of images that now permeate every corner of the globe? What is the potency of the dreams and desires they generate? Of the restlessness they breed?”

6. Tell me something about Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island in 100 words. 

Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island (2019) is a contemporary novel blending mythology, climate change, and migration. It follows Deen Datta, a rare book dealer, who unravels the legend of the Bengali folk tale of the “Bonduki Sadagar” (the Gun Merchant). His journey takes him from Kolkata to Venice and Los Angeles, where he witnesses environmental disasters and human displacement. The novel explores themes of climate refugees, historical trade routes, and the interconnectedness of past and present. Ghosh uses magical realism to highlight the ecological crisis, questioning humanity’s role in environmental destruction and the unforeseen consequences of global warming.

7. What is the central theme of Amitav Ghosh’s novel ‘Gun Island’?

The central theme of Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island is climate change and migration. The novel explores how environmental disasters—rising sea levels, extreme weather, and ecological imbalances—force people and animals to migrate in search of survival. Through the journey of Deen Datta, Ghosh highlights the historical connections between trade, myth, and displacement, drawing parallels between past and present migrations. The novel also delves into themes of interconnectedness, colonial histories, and the supernatural, using elements of magical realism to emphasize the unpredictability of climate crises and their profound impact on human and non-human lives alike.

Worksheet 2 

1. Write 10-12 words about climate change in the novel. Mention number of times they recur. 

Words about Climate change	How many times they appear
Floods	20
Calamities	2
Wildfires	17
Tsunami	3
Apocalypse	2
Temperature	2
Plague	11
Global Warming	1
Famine	5
Earthquake	2

2. Explain the title of the novel.

The title Gun Island holds deep meaning, connecting both historical and environmental themes in the novel. The word “Gun” does not refer to a weapon but instead links to Venice, a key location in the story. Venice has had different names in various languages like “Venedig” in German, “Banadiq” in Byzantine, and “al-Bunduqeyya” in Arabic, which also refers to hazelnut, symbolizing something small yet significant.

3. Match the characters with the reasons for migration.

Character	Reason for migration
Dinanath	Some uncanny sort of restlessness
Palash	To better socio-economic condition
Kabir and Bilal	Violence and riots – family fueds & communal reasons
Tipu and Rafi	Poverty
Lubna Khala and Munir	Natural calamities

4. Match the theorist with the theoretical approach to study mythology.

Theorist	Theoretical Approach
Bronislaw Casper Malinowski	Functionalism
Claude Levi-Strauss	Structuralism
Sigmund Freud	Psychoanalysis
Emile Durkheim & Jane Harrison	Myth and Ritual

5. Please summarize this article - Towards a Post(colonial)human Culture: Revisiting Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island as a Fall of Eurocentric Humanism

The article explores how Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island critiques Eurocentric humanism and colonial rationality through postcolonial and posthumanist perspectives. It argues that Western humanism historically positioned European rationality as superior, relegating non-European cultures and knowledge systems to the status of irrational or “animal-like”. Ghosh’s novel challenges this by reviving indigenous myths, particularly the Bengali legend of Banduki Sodagorer Dham, as a site of resistance against colonial knowledge structures. The protagonist, Deen, undergoes a transformation as he reconnects with local traditions, shedding his Westernized identity. The character Rafi, a native boy, represents alternative indigenous knowledge that disrupts colonial hierarchies. The Sundarbans in the novel serve as a heterotopia - a space that resists dominant rationalist narratives. The novel suggests that posthumanism, which de-centers human superiority and embraces multiple knowledge systems, offers a way to rethink colonial legacies. Ultimately, Gun Island envisions a world where suppressed indigenous traditions challenge Eurocentric humanism and offer new ways of understanding human and non-human relationships.

6. Suggest research possibilities in Amitav Ghosh’s novel ‘Gun Island’.

1. Climate Change and Migration: Analyzing how Ghosh portrays climate-induced displacement and its impact on human and non-human life.

2. Myth and History: Studying the novel’s use of Bengali folklore, historical trade routes, and their relevance to contemporary environmental issues.

3. Postcolonial Ecocriticism: Examining the novel’s critique of colonial histories and their lasting effects on global environmental crises.

7. Generate a sonnet on Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island.

In Gun Island, where myths and seas collide,

Deen sails through tales of the Gun Merchant’s quest,

A world where ancient legends still reside,

And climate’s wrath leaves nature dispossessed.

From Kolkata’s shores to Venice’s streets,

A web of lives in turmoil, bound by fate,

The winds of change, the tides of time repeat,

As migration calls, the earth does not wait.

The legend’s echo through the stormy night,

Of traders lost and spirits in the deep,

In Ghosh’s words, the future feels in sight,

Yet in its wake, the price we all must reap.

A tale of loss, of earth and sky’s alarm,

A warning sung, to heal, to fight, to charm.

8. Write Multiple Choice Questions on Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island. 

(1) Which environmental issue is a major theme in Gun Island?

A) Deforestation

B) Climate change and migration

C) Air pollution

D) Overfishing

(2) Which of the following best describes the novel’s genre?

A) Science fiction

B) Historical fiction

C) Climate fiction 

D) Crime thriller

9. With the help of Google Translate, write Hindi & English translation of 5 Italian words from the novel.

Italian Words	English Translation	Hindi Translation
A presto!	See you soon!	जल्द ही फिर मिलेंगे!
Basta	Enough	पर्याप्त
Ciao, caro	Bye dear	अलविदा प्रिय
Dove sei?	Where are you?	आप कहां हैं?
Grazie	Thank you	धन्यवाद

Words - 2600

Images - 1 

Videos - 9

References - 

Barad, Dilip. (2025). Flipped Learning Activity Instructions: Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh. 10.13140/RG.2.2.22082.49603. 

Ghosh, Amitav. Gun Island. Penguin Random House India, 2019.