Portrayal of Women in Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies (Published)
Amitav Ghosh is one of the vibrant writers of Indian English literature. He thoroughly analyzes the Indian pulse under the colonial rule. As a man of narration and social thinker he speaks for the unspoken of our society in yester centuries. Amitav Ghosh has established himself as a writer of unusual talents who combines literary panache with an atypical significance of rationale. His novel Sea of Poppies is the finest example for this and which was also shortlisted for Man Booker Prize in 2008. In Sea of Poppies he has attempted to show how women can be empowered, enlightened and independent that they may become self-regulating in the future India. His portrayal of women folk is realistic in every aspect of post-colonial study. This novel can be read as a post-colonial novel as it retells the story of the colonized India. Ghosh has gone a step down in the history and hears the voice of the voiceless which is unheard amidst the fussy and fast growing present world. Why this man is so much worried about the past? He is so concerned about the society’s welfare and foretells the past to warn the future. The current scenario of our society is going to face the past experience once again in the disguise of some beguiling government schemes introduced by the so called well-wishers of our neighbouring countries. Hence, this is the message that Ghosh wishes to convey through his social novel ‘Sea of Poppies’.
Keywords: Colonial impact, status of women and forewarning on future.