Gun Island

Giacinta “Cinta” Schiavon is Deen’s friend and mentor. She is an Italian historian with expertise in Venetian history, and she first meets Deen when she frequents the library in the Midwest that employs him, years before the main storyline of the novel begins. Cinta moved from Italy to the United States to escape the paparazzi following her husband and daughter’s deaths when her husband attempted to expose the workings of the Mafia.

Cinta is a respected scholar and expert in her field, having achieved great success in the years since she and Deen struck up a friendship. From his early interactions with her, however, it is clear to Deen that Cinta’s worldview allows space for the “supernatural” or the inexplicable to exist. She experiences a strong precognition about something happening to her family before their deaths, and during a near-death experience of her own, she once heard Lucia’s voice promising her a sign later in life. Additionally, she confesses to frequently feeling Lucia’s presence or hearing her voice. It is even hinted that Cinta had a sense that Deen would be the one to deliver her a miracle, from the very moment they met.

Cinta’s experiences with the “supernatural” manifest in her attitudes toward the world, particularly the power that stories hold in people’s lives. For example, she is enthralled by the jatra performance of Manasa Devi’s legend when she first witnesses it in Calcutta, commenting on how alive the legend still feels. There is an insistence that stories are never just static; they help people make sense of their existence and reconcile larger questions about the world. This approach dovetails with Cinta’s profession as a historian, for her work allows her to see patterns that repeat across time and cultures. This is also what allows her to help Deen decipher the Gun Merchant’s legend and identify the people and events upon which the story is based.

From the moment she meets Deen, Cinta becomes instrumental in changing the course of his life. She also invites Deen to the conference in LA where he makes sense of the Merchant’s story. She encourages him to visit Venice, and she is even the one who asserts that a miracle will take place near the Blue Boat, for she recognizes that the “Island of Chains” in the Merchant’s legend is really a reference to Sicily. In some ways, Cinta is one of the real protagonists of the story, as the Gun Merchant’s legend and its parallels in the contemporary world have an undeniable impact on her life. The culminating miracle of the novel is the sign she has been waiting for since Lucia’s death, and she is finally able to reconcile with the grief of this loss and reunite with her daughter at the end of the novel, passing away peacefully.

Tipu and Rafi are two young boys who migrate together to Venice from India. Tipu, named “Tutul” at birth, is the son of a villager named Fokir while trying to protect Piya during a cyclone when she first visited the Sunderbans years ago. (All three characters, and this particular incident, appear in Ghosh’s previous work, The Hungry Tide). Following Fokir’s death, Piya assumes responsibility for Tipu and Moyna, Tipu’s mother; she takes care of Tipu’s education and even takes him with her to the United States for a couple of years. However, he is disillusioned by his experiences both in the United States and within the Indian school system. In the latter location, he is bullied and ostracized for being Dalit (a lower caste, considered “untouchable” in India). Following these experiences, Tipu rejects all formal education and refuses to attend college. Instead, he spends his time on the internet and makes a living in the “people-moving industry” (65), helping people illegally emigrate to other countries.

Rafi is a young Muslim boy in his late teens and is the grandson of the caretaker of the shrine who originally told Nilima the story of the Gun Merchant. Rafi is named Ilyas at birth, the same name as the captain who becomes the Merchant’s companion and savior in the legend. Accordingly, Rafi’s interactions with Tipu mirror events in the original legend as well; for example, he saves Tipu’s life by sucking out the venom from the cobra’s bite and later becomes his travel companion, migrating with him from India. It is also implied that Rafi and Tipu are lovers.

Tipu is intelligent, headstrong, and bold. He learns how to make a living merely using his skills over the internet, and he is able to organize transport for others and himself to emigrate to different countries. He also admits to having crossed over illegally into Dhaka on multiple occasions, as the systems for helping people move are more organized there. Tipu scoffs at the need for passports and legal documentation for movement across borders. This outright rejection of authority and bureaucracy comes from his lived experiences and his identity as someone from an oppressed minority. In fact, Tipu and Rafi are both representations of multiple different communities on the margins; Tipu is Dalit and Rafi is Muslim, and both groups are oppressed minorities in the Hindu-majority population of India. Additionally, both characters are gay, thereby representing yet another marginalized group. They illegally emigrate to Europe, where they continue to exist on the fringes of European society’s hierarchy as migrants with brown skin who endure considerable prejudice amidst the white-majority cultures of Europe.

Tipu and Rafi are also meant to be modern-day representations of the Merchant and of Captain Ilyas, the characters from the original legend. However, unlike the Merchant who constantly attempts to flee Manasa Devi, Tipu responds with an open mind to the messages that his visions show him, and he often takes actions and makes decisions based upon this arguably supernatural input. Although he initially leaves India because he senses a darkness closing in, he is eventually drawn to the Ethiopian woman he sees in his dream and seeks her out. This choice enables him to help set the captive refugees free in Sinai. Thus, Tipu and Rafi are a second set of protagonists in the book, and the resolution of their journey mirrors the Gun Merchant’s legend, as they are reunited in a foreign land where they hope to build a fortune and a life together.