Environmental Crisis and Climate Change in the Novels of Amitav Ghosh: An Ecocritical Analysis

This study offers an ecocritical analysis of four selected novels by Amitav Ghosh- The Hungry Tide (2004), Gun Island (2019), The Glass Palace (2000), and The Shadow Lines (1988) - to examine how literature engages with environmental crises, climate change, and the complex interrelations between human and non-human life. Through a qualitative methodology grounded in hermeneutic and textual analysis, the research reveals that Ghosh portrays nature not merely as a setting but as an active agent deeply entangled with history, identity, and displacement. The study explores how ecological degradation is historically rooted in colonial and capitalist exploitation, and how myth and memory function as narrative tools for preserving ecological consciousness and challenging dominant ideologies. Each novel contributes uniquely to themes such as climate-induced migration, environmental justice, and cultural responses to ecological disruption. Ghosh’s fiction also critiques the literary establishment’s failure to adequately address climate change, advocating for a new ethical paradigm in storytelling. The findings underscore literature’s critical role in shaping environmental awareness and highlight Ghosh’s significance as a leading voice in postcolonial ecocriticism and climate fiction. Ultimately, this research positions Ghosh’s work as a transformative literary force that interrogates the socio-political dimensions of ecological collapse and envisions a more just and sustainable relationship between humans and the natural world.