Gun Island and the Fragility of Human Understanding: A Study in Ecocriticism and Epistemology

Abstract

In the contemporary world, rapid scientific and technological advancements have fostered a widespread belief that human knowledge can fully predict, explain, and control natural and social phenomena. However, environmental crises, particularly climate change, expose the limitations of this assumption, revealing the fragility and provisional nature of human epistemology. Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island foregrounds these tensions through a narrative that intertwines ecological disruption, cultural memory, and human experience, illustrating how contemporary environmental challenges test the reliability of established knowledge systems. By situating the novel within both literary and ecological discourse, this study demonstrates that Gun Island is less concerned with the events themselves than with how these events challenge human understanding. Ultimately, the novel offers insights into the ethical and cognitive demands of living in an uncertain ecological world, positioning literature as a vital site for exploring the limits and responsibilities of human knowledge.