57 pages • 1 hour read
Amitav GhoshGun Island
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 2, Chapters 16-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “Venice”
Part 2, Chapter 16 Summary: “Warnings”
Cinta arrives in the morning and Deen, holding the Salgari book, asks if he has been reading it. He pales and confesses that he doesn’t feel like himself; so many strange occurrences have happened, the latest of which was the spider. He theoretically knows there is a natural, scientific explanation for the recent strange occurrences, given the rising global temperatures, but still feels uneasy. Cinta asserts that the rising temperatures are not natural, but are caused by human activity and pollution. Cinta observes that Deen’s feeling of fading away and losing his will appears concurrent with symptoms of possession that people experienced during the Spanish Inquisition. Cinta reflects on how their ancestors would worry about this, as they needed to assert their will on the natural environment to survive. The modern world, conversely, is so mechanized and automated that one doesn’t need to assert one’s presence at all; as a result, it simply fades away. Cinta suggests that “the world of today presents all the symptoms of demonic possession” (236-37) because human beings see monstrous things happening and do nothing about it. She claims that what Deen is feeling is the opposite of a loss of will; it is a reawakening, in which he is becoming more aware of the natural world around him.
Cinta and Deen walk through the town later in the day, and they meet a Bengali migrant selling water, who tells them how he came to Venice from Libya on a raft. He wasn’t afraid because so many people were doing the same, and it was as normalized as Deen’s commercial flight to Venice. Cinta reflects on how the explorers from the past probably share more in common with modern-day migrants who arrive in Venice by traveling the seas and risking their lives. Cinta states that, for Venice, the 17th century was filled with war, natural calamities, famine, and finally the plague, which ravaged the city despite the quarantine measures put in place. One alleyway, Corte Nova, remained almost unaffected, and this was attributed to a painting of the Madonna hung up by a young girl. The city promised to build a shrine to the Madonna if she saved them, and soon afterward, the plague receded. Cinta takes Deen to the church that was built, which features a Black Madonna statue brought over from Heraklion in Crete; the city is associated with the Minoan goddess of snakes. She points out Latin words inlaid on the floor of the church, which read, “Unde origo inde salus – ‘From the origin salvation comes’” (244).
Part 2, Chapter 17 Summary: “High Water”
After leaving the church, Cinta takes Deen to see an old Customs House, redesigned to function as an exhibition space. They see an installation fashioned upon the Monster of Customs House Point; the monster’s lair is believed to lie beneath the embankment. Cinta claims that her uncle once saw the monster at the other end of the city, at Fondamente Nove. When she takes Deen there, they find that the area is largely unfrequented and features many abandoned buildings. Suddenly, they hear a siren announcing high water and an incoming flood. Deen wants to head back, but Cinta insists they still have time.
Cinta walks onto a wooden pier and shows Deen the shipworms that are eating up the beams from inside. Suddenly, the rail slips sideways, and Deen and Cinta’s phones fall into the water. The entire rail collapses into the water showing the pier to be infested with shipworms. Deen and Cinta attempt to run away, but they both slip and fall, and the worms swarm their bodies. A sudden wave washes the worms away, but Cinta injures her ankle. As Cinta prays to Madonna, Deen looks for help and spots a light in one of the abandoned buildings. He calls out, only to discover that it is Bilal, who promptly calls an ambulance for them.
Part 2, Chapter 18 Summary: “Crossings”
Cinta is rushed to hospital and whisked away for examination. While Deen waits, he runs into Rafi and tells him what happened. Rafi reflects that the shipworms are similar to the crabs that burrow inside the embankments in the Sunderbans. Deen asks about Tipu, and Rafi finally tells him the whole story.
Following the snakebite, Tipu continued to have seizures, and he often had visions, heard voices, and even sensed a darkness closing in. He became restless and persuaded Rafi to go to Europe with him. Tipu made arrangements for both of them to get to Dhaka, and from there, they traveled through India to Pakistan and Iran. In Iran, Tipu made Rafi promise that if they got separated, Rafi would continue without him and have faith that they would meet again. As predicted, they got separated while running across the Iran-Turkey border, and Tipu called Rafi later, telling Rafi that he had gotten injured and would make another attempt to cross once he recovered. He made arrangements for Rafi to continue to Venice.
Tipu finally did manage to cross into Turkey, but had a dream of an Ethiopian woman and became desperate to find her. He managed to trace her to Egypt, and called Rafi in need of money to make a “connection” into Egypt. After Rafi organized the sum, Tipu called him from Egypt saying he had met up with the people he was looking for, and it would not be long before they were reunited now. Rafi now shows Deen a picture of the Blue Boat from the newspaper, pointing out Tipu on the boat among the other refugees.
Deen calls Lubna and confirms his desire to join the activists’ boat because he knows someone on the Blue Boat. He forbids Rafi from joining him because the man is still injured. He then heads back to Cinta’s apartment while she recuperates in the hospital from her fractured ankle. Deen informs Gisa and Piya about the situation, and they both decide to join the activists as well.
Part 2, Chapter 19 Summary: “Winds”
By the next morning, the high water has receded, but there is a storm brewing. Deen heads to the hospital and is hit by a hailstorm on the way. At the hospital, he finds Cinta and Rafi together; they both insist on joining Deen and the others on the activists’ boat. Cinta explains how she remembers the Merchant being taken to be sold on the “Island of Chains”—Shikol-dwip, in Bangla. She believes that this part of the legend refers to Sicily, as the Arabic word for Sicily is “Siqillia.” As it happens, this is precisely where the Blue Boat is headed now. Seeing the parallels between the story and reality, Cinta is convinced that they will soon witness a miracle, just like in the Gun Merchant’s story.
It takes a long time to get to the minibus headed for the port, because of the strong winds blowing. The group meets up with Gisa and Piya, who all board the minibus; however, the bus’s journey is besieged by heavy rains. The vehicle suddenly comes to a stop when everyone aboard spots a tornado in the distance. A terrified Piya buried her head in Deen’s chest as the tornado narrowly misses them. The road ahead is blocked by a fallen tree. Suddenly, a bearded man with brown skin and in a yellow robe and turban walks up to the bus and points them in an alternate route to their destination before walking off again. Rafi is sure that it is the Gun Merchant himself. Deen brushes this off, thinking that the man is most likely a North African immigrant, but Cinta tells Rafi that she believes him.
Part 2, Chapter 20 Summary: “The Lucania”
Deen and the others board the Lucania, a ship that has been used to rescue refugees in the past. Shortly after they set sail, the skies begin to churn, and tornadoes appear and disappear around them. News reports state that this strange weather is affecting all of Italy. Gisa sees her Roman neighborhood of Trastevere on the news and immediately rushes off to contact her family. She learns that a tree toppled onto their apartment, but her family escaped unharmed.
Later that evening, Piya apologizes to Deen for her behavior during the tornado. She is afraid of cyclones and was once caught in a violent storm during which Tipu’s father, Fokir, died to protect her. Piya still feels guilty about this, despite having done everything she can for Tipu and Moyna. If anything happens to Tipu, Moyna will be left with nothing, and Piya will never be able to forgive herself. Piya expresses her gratitude to Deen for all his help in the recent months, claiming he is the only one she has been able to depend on. That night, Deen is unable to sleep and heads above deck to find Cinta and Gisa talking. He learns that while Gisa was frantically trying to make contact with her family, she heard Lucia’s voice telling her not to worry. Cinta asserts that she, too, can feel her daughter Lucia’s presence here.
Part 2, Chapter 21 Summary: “Sightings”
The weather is exceptionally fine the next day, and Piya heads above board to watch for dolphins, with Rafi joining her. To Piya’s amazement, they spot more than half of the eight species of cetaceans (dolphins and whales) throughout the day; all appear to be headed in the same direction as the Lucania. Cinta observes Deen watching Piya and divines that he is attracted to her; Cinta encourages him to pursue a relationship with her, positing that the Merchant has brought them together. Around lunchtime, Gisa gives the group an update from a news story about the Blue Boat. It is believed to have started its journey from a town in Sinai known to be a hub for the human organ trade. Local people led correspondents to a wrecked building in which the refugees had been kept captive. A few weeks prior, a new group had arrived, among them the Ethiopian woman that Tipu dreamed about. Shortly afterward, the building was hit by a storm and collapsed, killing or injuring all the traffickers.
Once freed, the former captives seized their captors’ cellphones and laptops and forced one of them to take the group to the Blue Boat, upon which they set sail; all this was carried out under the Ethiopian woman’s instructions. Essentially, the refugees are now in possession of a huge amount of data on existing human trafficking operations, the networks of which stretch across Europe and even hold illicit sway within several governments. It is believed that this is the reason many governments don’t want to accept the boats, for the refugees now know too much about the widespread operations.
Lubna hears rumors that the Blue Boat will be attacked by drones or commandos and hopes that Admiral Vigonovo in the navy will handle the situation better. Cinta overhears this and exclaims she has known the Admiral since they were children, asserting that he is a good and honest man. Palash and Lubna are interviewed by journalists, and Palash tells Deen his own story. He comes from a middle-class family in Bangladesh, and came to Italy as a student. Finding the coursework too difficult, he dropped out and was unable to secure a work permit. He has been living in limbo ever since. His family doesn’t know that he dropped out, and he can’t ask for help or acknowledge that he destroyed his life by chasing a dream. Palash states that everyone who comes to Venice has a similar fantasy of experiencing authentic Italian culture, not realizing that migrants are the ones who allow the city function. Later, Piya invites Deen to visit Oregon and suggests that he could stay with her, or potentially move into the house next door. Remembering Cinta’s advice, Deen promises to take Piya up on her offer; he feels a sense of gratitude to the Merchant’s story, feeling as though it has broken some bewitchment over him and set him free.
Part 2, Chapter 22 Summary: “The Storm”
The next morning, a number of other vessels come into view: boats chartered by different activist groups, with the right-wing anti-immigrant ones seemingly outnumbering the opposition. Aboard the Lucania, everyone decides that they will not react violently even if another boat tries to ram them. Piya keeps watch on the waters; she has spotted all except one of the species of cetaceans in this area. This is so unusual that it is even broadcast on the news. In the late afternoon, Italian warships come into view, and speedboats from the navy cordon off the civilian boats, warning them to keep away from the warships and each other. By sunset, the Blue Boat comes into view and halts ahead of the warships, circled by the dolphins and whales. Piya and Rafi celebrate as they spot Tipu on board. Intrigued, a journalist on board the Lucania asks to interview them, and soon afterward, they begin to get calls and offers of donations from around the world.
As Deen watches the boat, he reflects on how Europeans historically exploited people from the Indian subcontinent and transported them to work on plantations across the world. However, the difference in this situation is that these particular migrants coming into Europe are not merely cogs in a wheel, working as unrewarded producers for a white enslaver; instead, they are arriving on their own terms, with hopes and dreams, and working toward becoming consumers in the economy. Deen understands that the fear and hate perpetuated by the anti-immigrant groups stems from the imminent upturning of white European privilege that the Europeans have fought to preserve for so long.
Suddenly, millions of birds come into view and fly toward the Blue Boat. Rafi is awestruck, remembering how the Merchant’s legend speaks of “the creatures of the sky and sea rising up” (306). The group watches the birds circle above the boat, with the dolphins and whales below. They spot the Ethiopian woman on the boat, now standing with her hands raised, as a group of birds descends from the mass above and forms a halo behind her. Simultaneously, the water around the boat begins to glow with bioluminescence. Moments later, a navy helicopter approaches the boat to organize the refugees’ rescue. Everyone cheers as Cinta reasserts that she had faith in the admiral. Piya kisses Deen’s cheek in relief that Tipu is safe. The refugees are moved onto navy vessels and the Blue Boat is destroyed. The admiral gives a press conference, in which he asserts that he did not act against his orders, for the minister had stated the refugees would only be allowed into Italy in the event of a miracle. The admiral interprets the extraordinary animal activity as a miracle and claims he acted accordingly. Among the clamor of questions that follows, one journalist asks if it is true that the admiral has a Black Madonna of Salute hanging in his stateroom.
Deen suddenly realizes he hasn’t seen Cinta in a while, and rushes to her cabin to find her lying down. She explains she is celebrating with Lucia, who is here and has come to take her away. She dismisses Deen’s protestations and thanks him for the gift he has given her. Deen rushes to find Gisa and a doctor, and as they examine Cinta, he waits outside her cabin and reflects on Cinta’s words. He realizes that Cinta always knew Deen would lead her to this moment, which would reaffirm her faith and help soothe her grief over Lucia’s death. Remembering the words in the church of the Black Madonna, he realizes that deliverance lies not in the future, but in the past. As he is struck by this realization, Gisa opens the door of the cabin to tearfully announce that Cinta has passed away.
Part 2, Chapters 16-22 Analysis
The final set of chapters drays a myriad of Parallels Between Myths and Modern Events, for the pace of the plot proceeds furiously to its cathartic conclusion, providing a sense of fulfillment as the story’s pragmatic elements blend with the hints of supernatural forces to create an entirely unique climax that brings closure to all the main characters’ stories. To this end, the parallels between the Black Madonna of Salute and Manasa Devi are designed to inject a sense of the uncanny, especially when Cinta describes how the inhabitants of a single alleyway remained unaffected by the plague due to the supernatural protection of a painting of the Madonna. This story is reminiscent of the people who took shelter in Manasa Devi’s shrine during the cyclone, following which Nilima found them and first learned about the Gun Merchant’s legend. Just as the shrine provided protection for the people on the riverbank in the Sunderbans, a church built in the Madonna’s name marked the end of the plague in Venice, thus bringing elements of the legend full circle. Cinta also describes how the Black Madonna was brought from Heraklion in Crete, an island associated with the Minoan goddess of snakes—yet another parallel between the Madonna and Manasa Devi.
Additionally, Tipu sees an Ethiopian woman in a dream and follows her from Turkey to Egypt and finally to Sicily. All of these places hold significance in the Gun Merchant’s story, with Cinta realizing that the Island of Chains itself actually refers to Sicily. Just as the Gun Merchant was captured and taken to be sold in Sicily, so, too, was the migrants’ boat headed in that same direction. Further, just as a miraculous storm rendered the Merchant’s captors helpless, so, too does a violent storm allow the modern-day refugee captives to seize their captors’ laptops, cellphones, and data and commandeer their boat to sail to freedom. The parallels between the Black Madonna and Manasa Devi are also extended to the unnamed Ethiopian woman who engineers the refugees’ rescue, for she becomes a near-supernatural figure when she stands surrounded by a halo of birds as the waters below glow with bioluminescence. As the Gun Merchant’s legend foretells, the miracle that allows the Merchant’s escape at Sicily also allows him to seize his captors’ spoils, thereby gaining great wealth. Likewise, the refugees aboard the Blue Boat are in possession of important data about the human trafficking networks in the Mediterranean and across Europe. This valuable data will help the migrants bargain with the governments in exchange for aid and refuge; furthermore, the attention and funding that their story has attracted internationally will help them to forge new, better lives in Europe.
As Deen watches the refugee boat come in, he reflects on how and why so many people leave their homes and risk their lives in search of a better future, underlining the theme of The Politics of Travel and Movement. Similarly, when Deen hears Palash’s story, he is reminded of his own dreams as a young boy, when reading books about different parts of the world inspired him to seek adventure. Deen realizes that if words alone can have such an impact, then real images and videos can be even more potent, for information on the internet often paints a rosy, unrealistic picture of life in other places. The desire on the part of the migrants to leave home is thus understandable; equally understandable (although not excusable) is the fear and hatred they are often met with, especially in white European nations.
In accordance with The Politics of Travel and Movement, the narrative of the novel also observes that the movement of people across the world from the Indian subcontinent was originally initiated by various European colonial forces, which enslaved and transported people to different countries to work on large plantations. The difference between these historical, forced version of travel and the story of the migrants on the Blue Boat, as Deen astutely hits upon, is that while Europeans historically held both knowledge and power over the people they exploited, modern-day migrants and travelers often have the advantage of organizing their own movement through networks within their reach. They decide their destinations and have information about the associated laws and cultures; they hold dreams of working and profiting in a land that will eventually allow them to become consumers of a certain kind of lifestyle. From this perspective, a migrant’s willingness and ability to create a better life for themselves automatically strips the Europeans of the economic power and privileges they have held onto for so long. This also explains why there is so much opposition to any kind of migration, and Ghosh uses the premise of the novel to explore the many nuances of this complex political situation.
As the novel’s climactic events highlight and partially resolve The Conflict Between Humans and Nature, the interplay between supernatural beliefs and scientific explanations continues to develop. Ultimately, both natural and supernatural elements appear to conspire and allow the refugees aboard the Blue Boat safe passage into Italy. Although Piya chooses to explain all the animal activity as an unusual migratory event due to global warming, even she admits that the number of these occurrences—from weather to flora and fauna—even if scientifically explained, all happening on the same day is highly unusual. Just as Piya represents the scientific stance, Cinta acts as a foil by promoting a more spiritual approach to the events of the novel, for she frequently asserts her ability to hear the voice of her long-dead daughter, Lucia, during important moments of her life, and she also has a keen sense of the spiritual imbalances between the human world and the natural world that underlie the modern climate crisis and its widespread effects. Cinta also explains how the occurrences that spooked Deen—the wildfires, the snakes, the spiders in Venice—are not caused by natural forces, but by human ones. Human activity is what has led global temperatures to rise and natural, environment patterns to shift and break, leading fauna to migrate and behave in unusual ways. After all, “natural” can have two counterparts: “humanmade,” and “supernatural.”
In accordance with this dynamic, elements of the “supernatural” are present in the book right until the very end, for the characters experience a possible encounter with the Gun Merchant himself and behold a variety of unusual weather occurrences and animal behavior. Similarly, the admiral deems the animals to be a miracle and takes decisive action to rescue the refugees, and it is significant that he is also purportedly a devotee of the Black Madonna, a figure that has already been firmly associated with Manasa Devi herself. Even Cinta’s precognition about such a miracle occurring and her awareness of Lucia’s ghostly presence at the end of her life both suggest that despite all sources of skepticism, supernatural forces are indeed at work behind the scenes in this story. Only after Cinta thanks Deen for the “gift” he has given her does he realize Cinta has always had an awareness of her own approaching death. His final realization that salvation can be found in one’s past also underscores the author’s overarching message that revisiting the past allows people to glean valuable lessons with which to improve both the present and the future, such as living in communion with nature rather than in opposition to it.
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By Amitav Ghosh
