Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005.

Griffiths, Gareth, Silenced worlds: Language and experience in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide, Kunapipi, 34(2), 2012.

Sirbu, Anca. “The significance of language as a tool of communication.” Scientific Bulletin” Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy 18.2 (2015): 405.

Talib, Ismail S. “Ghosh, Language, and The Hungry Tide.” History, Narrative and Testimony in Amitav Ghosh’s Fiction. Ed. Chitra Sankaran (Albany: Suny Press) (2012): 133-44.

Rollason, Christopher. “” In Our Translated World”: Transcultural Communication in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide.” Atlantic literary review 6.1/2 (2005): 86.

As i narrowed down my sources i hav found these articles from google scholar as well as hunters database most relevant. The different findings on language and its importance or insufficiencies within the novel “The hungry tide” by Amitav Ghosh are explored and critiqued, I will use quotes to further prove my argument.

Shauna Singh Baldwin. “A Disturbing Tale About the Limits of Language: Toronto Edition.” National Post (Toronto), 2005.

Chaudhuri, Supriya. “Translating Loss: Place and Language in Amitav Ghosh and Salman Rushdie.” Etudes Anglaises, vol. 62, no. 3, 2009, pp. 266–79, https://doi.org/10.3917/etan.623.0266.

Nayar, Pramod K. “The Postcolonial Uncanny; The Politics of Dispossession in Amitav Ghosh’s ‘The Hungry Tide.’” College Literature, vol. 37, no. 4, 2010, pp. 88–119. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27917766. Accessed 23 Nov. 2022.

Chaudhuri, Supriya. « Translating loss: place and language in Amitav Ghosh and Salman Rushdie », Études anglaises, vol. 62, no. 3, 2009, pp. 266-279.

Cheyne, Ria. “Created Languages in Science Fiction.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 35, no. 3, 2008, pp. 386–403. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25475175. Accessed 23 Nov. 2022.

 As I continue my search in creating my paper on “language communication” and its uses both verbally and non verbally, with the novel “The hungry tide” by Amitav Ghosh I came across some interesting articles. I went online to hunter database and searched on Jstor for the name of the novel specifically, as well as general “language” and “linguistics” searches and found a few results that I shall read more on. Also with the suggestion of Professor Allred I will read back on Nayars piece as well. 

As the chapters of 10:04:a novel came to an end I had a sense that the narrator was trying to portray the end of a sinking city. After the storm he made a few notable references to water and ocean animals. My correlation to these hints may be completely bizarre but it felt as though he was referring to the city in the future being totally unsustainable and literally sunken under water. An example of this would be when he says “although the chances of the creature never making landfall remain significant.” He refers to his unborn “future” child as a creature never making it out the womb (water) also he states “There was a small mammal developing within her-“ (326) He does reference specifically octopuses many times and in particular says “or maybe something more sci-if:an author changes into an octopus.”(219)

 The connection he tries to relay to futuristic sci-fi and his interpretation of what generations will look like is also quite evident. Lerner ends the story first with a chapter from Robertos book “To The Future ” where scientist were wrong and we as a population were seemingly sheep for years in believing something that was false only because it was said to be true. I took that as a warning maybe to not believe everything your told, he also had a part where he discussed the government regulating people and watching phones and how the weather could be manipulated (man-made storms) when he was speaking to Calvin. These seem like inconspicuous messages to the reader to ruminate on.

The very last part also dictated a message to future readers, as he describes life in one big pattern, generic and predictable as he talks about the cliche sayings of people he encounters, yet he ends with saying “I am looking back on a totaled city in the second person plural.” Although this was a very strange novel to adjust to, I did enjoy the clever way things fit together as a whole. 

How does Amitav Ghosh indicate that nonverbal communication is superior to verbal and written communication within the novel, The Hungry Tide?

“10:04:a novel” by Ben Lerner is strange and confusing yet interesting to read. It is clear that Lerner is relaying different story lines while still maintaining consistency and fluidity within his piece. As I speculate in many scenes within the first two chapters, I wonder if things that he is “seeing” or places in time and events are in fact real. He does say that some images events or even people are in his mind, within his own version of time so why am i still confused at times? This story has a way of challenging you as your constantly putting pieces together within these first chapters. He creates the action of thought and not just reading words on paper. There is a clear form of fiction versus reality in this piece.

The narrator tries to prove that he is humble and cares for others yet i find this to be not always true. These attempts come in the form of not so subtle acts such as…donating sperm to a friend, tutoring a Hispanic kid, and even letting a protester shower and come over to his house. My assumption is to prove that he’s capable of moments shared without expectations,physically or financially. 

I will say, I am in a way saddened by his diagnosis and health problems yet the unnamed narrator does not seem to be a character in which you pity. He’s successful and articulate in his writing and speech. Acts of discussing the smallest details becomes a fancy play of words, example Lerner writes…“Doppler color-coded to indicate the intensity of precipitation, the same technology they’d utilized to measure the velocity of blood flow through my arteries.” (22) This quote effortlessly correlates body to worldly issues in regard to the tracking of storms, and the tracking of the storm within his own body. The complexity of his  and Alex’s relationship also seems to hold complications and potential future conflicts, as donating sperm to a best friend who he is secretly in love with, is not a simple life decision, it is absolutely very messy and chaotic.

He mentions viewing shapes shifting and the world around him transforming, this may be far fetched but i could assume he is suffering from a mental illness as well as physical….OR he’s trying to create the fiction aspect of it all as mentioned previously, either way i am fully invested