Gift In Green As A Dystopian Lamentation: An Ecocritical Perspective

Abstract

GIFT IN GREEN” is a novel that deserves variety of interpretations in the modern context. Just as the name suggests it seemed to have sprung up from Nature itself. At the same time it is not a blind portrayal of Nature’s glory and fury. Here it is nearer to” Waste Land” which is interpreted as” a phantasmagoria of futility” by critics. A cataclysmic future looms large over Aathi where ecological concern is at the highest. The novel can be viewed as a natural retaliation from a sensitive mind that laments the loss of values. As a sensitive writer Sarah Joseph comes out with her “objective correlative”. Here we find a striking comparison between Chakkam Kandam, which represents the dirtiest location where human waste got deposited by the city dwellers and Aathi, represents a natural island of lagoons and plants. We find a striking conflict here between Dinakaran, Kunjimathu and their supporters on the one side and   Kumaran and his followers on the other. When Women take the initiative the struggle intensifies. Sarah Joseph depicts eco feminism and the struggle for existence in a very powerful and convincing manner. Rituals,traditions and stories create an admixture of human predicament in” The Gift in Green”. This paper is intended to probe deeper into the inner fabric of Gift in Green and also to examine how far the Gandhian concept of rural life is depicted here.