Politics of Pollution: Eco-Imperialistic Reading of Amitav Ghosh’s River of Smoke

Abstract

Every living and non-living thing is a part of the natural world. The human condition, literature and environment are all inextricably linked and it is impossible to separate. The world is facing danger due to the recent peak of ecological issues brought on by industrialization and its accelerated growth. Amitav Ghosh, a well-known writer who attempts to use his works to convey his opinions about the environment and educate readers about ecological circumstances and their detrimental effects. In his works, Ghosh illustrates how human brutality to the natural world has made an impact in living things. He is one of the successfully acknowledged writers of the environment. Not only are his books an important collection of writing that addresses social and historical issues, but they also show how the writer has approached ecological issues in an ecocritical perspective. His book concerns the idea that the survival of humans on Earth will be threatened by the fast deterioration of biological variety. The primary goal of this paper aims at investigating the extent to which the chosen book is illuminated by an ecocritical viewpoint in terms of ecological imperialism. He clearly evaluates the political circumstances behind the devastation of the ecosystem and brings out the plight of the native people who suffer under the umbrella of imperialism. With the motive of extending territories the colonisers never thought of improving the colonised. Colonisers intended only to use the resources for the welfare of their own nation and they turned blind eye towards the colonised countries by exploiting the manpower and natural resources.