Volume-XI, Issue-V, September 2025 |
Imagining Co-existence in the Anthropocene: An Ecocritical Study of Anita Desai’s The Zigzag Way Gagandeep Singh Sasan, Research Scholar, Department of English, University of Jammu, Jammu, IndiaDr. Pardeep Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of Jammu, Jammu, India |
Received: 23.09.2025 | Accepted: 28.09.2025 | Published Online: 30.09.2025 | Page No: 172-177 | ||||
DOI: 10.29032/ijhsss.vol.11.issue.05W.144 | |||||||
ABSTRACT | ||
The present-day world is human centric which is characterized by various anthropogenic activities carried out by humans for their personal benefits. Some of these activities include reckless mining, environmental exploitation and geological degradation etc that not only harm the nature but the humans as well. This research paper analyses the impacts of mining on nature and humans through an eco-critical lens. Anita Desai’s novel The Zigzag Way unfolds the story of Eric (the protagonist) who travels to Mexico and discovers how mining has uprooted the families of others and several indigenous communities. The paper thus, exposes the truth behind mining industry responsible for damaging mountains, poisoning lands and affecting the lives of miners drastically. It critiques human and biological devastation which is carried out by the anthropogenic expansion and development, causing humans to suffer in the end. The paper also studies the character of Dona Vera, a mine owner to highlight the importance of co-existence between nature and humans, and urge men to live in harmony with the nature by minimizing exploitative tendencies against it. | ||
Keywords: Mining, Anthropocene, Chthulucene, Coexistence, Ecocriticism |