The political consciousness in contemporary fiction with reference to Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide and The Sea of Poppies

Abstract

In the following paper I propose to explore the increasing presence of political consciousness as a part of the narrative in Amitav Ghosh and how it is an extension of the urgent need he feels for such a buildup. By implication then the political consciousness is present not only in the authorial voice but in the way the plot resolves and the characters evolve. I will use the two referred novels to see how far they reflect is increasingly politicized world in every aspect of life. There are voices that are standing up to be heard that have always been overridden or ignored. These voices emerge out from every sphere of life, challenging the defined order. The subaltern emerges out of the shadows and starts demanding its share of the limelight. The voices of the women, the colonized, the caste and the outcaste, the aborigines and the migrants, the capitalist and communist, the autocrat and the suppressed, the displaced and the devastated are all to be heard. There is a dialogue and debate across the political platform demanding a place on the agenda for themselves. There are voices rising for the empowerment of the underdogs and the under-privileged.