Open AccessGun Island: A Tale of Myth, Migration and Climate Change
Author(s) -
Ashna Francis
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
smart moves journal ijellh
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2582-4406
pISSN - 2582-3574
DOI - 10.24113/ijellh.v9i9.11163
Subject(s) - mythology , nexus (standard) , parallels , climate change , clarion , geography , history , natural (archaeology) , natural disaster , environmental ethics , ecology , archaeology , meteorology , engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , artificial intelligence , biology , computer science , embedded system , classics
Gun Island is a story of travel and migrations, overlaid with myth and folktales, and the deepening crisis of climate change. It presents an intricately interwoven plot which connects human and animal, past and present, natural and the supernatural. This paper attempts to explore how the notion of interconnectedness manifests itself in each of these elements. Gun Island uses the myth of the Gun Merchant as a nexus to draw parallels between the Little Ice Age and our present-day scenario where droughts, floods, cyclones, wildfires and epidemics have become a part of our everyday lives. Gun Island projects unprecedented climatic conditions as the primary cause for these natural disasters. It becomes a clarion call for climate induced migrations as it skillfully portrays people and entire communities being uprooted from their native land and the drastic changes in the migratory patterns of different species due to changing climes and warming waters. Instead of projecting warnings of impending doom and apocalypse Gun Island focuses on giving the readers hope for a better tomorrow.