Sea of Poppies

Background

Sea of Poppies" by Amitav Ghosh is an extremely well-researched and thought-provoking

novel that delves into the complex history of the opium trade in 19th-century India and
China. Ghosh's mastery of language, depth of knowledge, and nuanced characterization make
it a truly exceptional work of historical fiction. The novel tells the story of a group of diverse
characters whose lives become intertwined as they embark on a perilous journey aboard a
ship called the Ibis. The characters are united by their connection to the opium trade, which
has transformed their lives in various ways. The main characters include Deeti, a widowed
woman from a village in Bihar who has become addicted to opium, and Kalua, a runaway
slave who is seeking freedom. Other characters are Zachary Reid, a mixed-race sailor from
Baltimore, and Neel Rattan Halder, an opium trader from Calcutta. At the heart of the novel
is the opium trade itself. Ghosh does an excellent job of exploring the complex economic,
social, and political factors that led to the spread of opium addiction in India and China. He
shows how the opium trade was intertwined with the British colonial project and the larger
global economy of the time. The novel also highlights the devastating impact that the opium
trade had on the lives of people in India and China. Through the characters of Deeti and
Kalua, for example, we see how addiction and slavery were both direct consequences of the
opium trade. One of the most impressive things about "Sea of Poppies" is the way that Ghosh
brings the various characters and their stories together. Each character is unique, with a rich
backstory and complex motivations. Yet, Ghosh manages to weave their stories together
seamlessly, creating a narrative that is both epic and intimate. The relationships between the
characters are often fraught with tension, reflecting the broader social and economic tensions
of the time. Ghosh handles these relationships with great skill and sensitivity, allowing the
reader to really feel the emotional weight of each encounter.
Ghosh's writing is also a major strength of the novel. He has a gift for descriptive language,
and his descriptions of the Ibis, a ship that becomes a central setting in the novel, are truly
remarkable. The way that he describes the different sights, smells, and sounds of the ship
creates a vivid sense of place that makes the story come alive. His use of Indian English, too,
adds another layer of authenticity to the story, capturing the unique blend of languages and
cultures that characterize this period of history. In conclusion, "Sea of Poppies" is a
fascinating and beautifully crafted novel that explores the complexities of the opium trade in
19th-century India and China. Ghosh's attention to detail, depth of knowledge, and nuanced
characterization make it an exceptional work of historical fiction that is sure to stand the test
of time.

Character List
Deeti
The main protagonist of the story, Deeti is a young woman of an upper caste, who lives in a
village about 400 miles from the sea. She is married to Hukam Singh, an Opium addict, who
was wounded in battle. She has a daughter named Kabutri, who was actually fathered by her
brother in law Chandan Singh. When Hukam dies, she decides to commit sati on his funeral
pyre, rather than marry Chandan. She is rescued by Kalua, an untouchable whom she once
saved. Together with Kalua she leaves her village for Calcuttta. She boards the Ibis, along
with Kalua, to become an indentured laborer in Mauritius.
Hukam Singh
Hukam, the husband of Deeti, is a cripple who was wounded in battle. He is an opium addict
working in the Ghazipur Opium Factory. When Hukam dies, Deeti plans to commits sati in
his funeral pyre, to avoid marriage with Chandan.
Chandan Singh
Chandan is the brother of Hukam Singh. He raped Deeti along with his mother as an
accomplice, on the day of her marriage to Hukam. He is the father of Kabutri, Deeti’s
daughter.
Kalua
Kalua is an Untouchable. He takes Hukam to the factory in his cart each day, and he is the
one who brings back Hukam’s body when he dies. He is a strong wrestler. He is rescued by
Deeti from humiliation by some high caste Thakurs. In turn, he saves her from the funeral
pyre of her husband. Together with Deeti, he leaves for Calcutta and then boards the Ibis to
go to Mauritius.
Zachary Reid
Zachary Reid is the son of a white father and a quadroon mother. He joins the Ibis as the
ship’s carpenter, to escape racism. He soon rises to the post of a captain when all the original
crew die, with the help of Serang Ali and other lascars. He is given the post of a second mate
in the second voyage of the Ibis.
Neel Ratan Halder
He is an Indian Raja whose family has been ruling the province of Rakshali for generations.
His father was a lavish man, and that along with the losses incurred in the opium trade with
China leaves him huge debts. He approaches Burnham to sell off his properties to settle his
debts, but Burnham asks for the Rakshali province to settle all his debts. When Neel Halder
refuses, Burnham and his friends have him tried in court for forgery, and is sentenced for
seven years in Mauritius.
Benjamin Burnham
Burnham is an unscrupulous trader and an evangelist who buys the Ibis, causing the fateful
first journey of the Ibis from Baltimore to Calcutta, after which the ship is refitted. He has no
issues about using opium for the sake of religion and vice versa. He and his wife raise
Paulette when she is orphaned. When Neel Halder approaches him to sell his properties, he
asks for his zamindary. When Halder refuses, he falsely accuses him of forgery.
Paulette Lambourn
She is a French orphan who grew up in India with her Ayah (nurse) and her ayah’s son Jodu.
Her mother had passed away in childbirth and her father had been a political radical. She is
taken in by the Burnhams, who try to teach her the English ways, but she feels more at home
with Indian lifestyle and clothes. On being pressured by Burnham to marry Justice
Kendalbushe, she flees and boards the Ibis in disguise as a niece of one of Burnham’s
employees.

Plot Summary

Sea of Poppies (2008) is a novel by Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh which was shortlisted for
the Man Booker Prize in 2008.[1] It is the first volume of the Ibis trilogy. In the words of
Rajnish Mishra, "the Ibis trilogy is Ghosh's most vehement indictment of the source of
imperialism and colonialism".[2] The second volume is River of Smoke. The main characters
include Deeti, an ordinary village woman, an "octoroon" American sailor named Zachary
Reid, an Indian rajah / zamindar called Neel Rattan Halder, and Benjamin Burnham, an
evangelist opium trader. The story is set prior to the First Opium War, on the banks of
the holy river Ganges and in Calcutta. The author compares the Ganges to the Nile, the
lifeline of the Egyptian civilization, attributing the provenance and growth of these
civilizations to these selfless, ever-flowing bodies. He portrays the characters as poppy seeds
emanating in large numbers from the field to form a sea, where every single seed is uncertain
about its future.

The novel interweaves the stories of a number of characters, who all, in the latter half of the
novel, find themselves taking passage from Calcutta to Mauritius on a schooner named
the Ibis. The story begins with Deeti, a simple, pious lady, caring mother and an efficient
housewife. Married to Hukam Singh, a crippled worker in the Ghazipur Opium Factory, the
unfortunate Deeti figures out that on her wedding night, she was drugged with opium by her
mother-in-law, so that her brother-in-law could rape her and consummate the marriage in
place of her impotent husband. This brother-in-law is the real father of Deeti's daughter
Kabutri. When her husband dies, Deeti sends Kabutri to stay with relatives. Deeti looks
almost certain to meet her doom when she is forced to consider sati ritual (immolation on her
husband's funeral pyre) as the only option in the face of threats of more rapes by the brother-
in-law, but then Kalua, the untouchable caste ox man from the neighbouring village, comes to
her rescue. The couple flee and unite. This is not acceptable to the high caste villagers. In
order to escape Deeti's in-laws, she and Kalua become indentured servants, travelling on the
Ibis. The next key figure is Zachary Reid, an American sailor born to a quadroon mother and
a white father. Escaping racism, he joins the Ibis on its first voyage for its new owner, Mr.
Burnham, from Baltimore to Calcutta. A series of misfortunes soon befall the ship, leading to
the loss of more senior crew. With the support of the head of the lascars, Serang Ali, Zachary
becomes the second in command of the ship. In Calcutta, Zachary is mistaken for a
gentleman and enjoys society life. He becomes second mate for the Ibis's next voyage,
carrying indentured labour to the island of Mauritius.

Neel Rattan Halder, a wealthy and unworldly rajah whose dynasty has been ruling
the zemindary of Raskhali for centuries, is confronted by Mr. Burnham with the need to sell
off his estates in order to pay for the debt he had incurred when investing in the opium trade
with China. Now that the trade has come to a standstill, as a result of the resistance shown by
the Chinese authorities, he is unable to clear his debt. When Mr. Burnham proposes to settle
the loan for Halder's zamindary, Halder refuses the deal as the zamindary is his family's
ancestral property and selling it would mean turning his back on his many dependents. In a
trial orchestrated by Burnham and his cronies, Halder is tried for forgery. The court sentences
him to be to penal transportation for seven years in Mauritius and leading him to lose caste.
In prison he meets Ah Fatt, a half-Chinese, half-Parsi opium addict from Canton, and the two
are put aboard the Ibis.

Paulette is a French orphan who has grown up in India with Jodu, the son of her Ayah, as her
best friend. Her father was a politically radical botanist, her mother died in childbirth, and her
grandparents are the historically inspired Jeanne and Philippe Commerson. Mr. and Mrs.
Burnham take Paulette in after her father's death. Paulette feels more at ease with Indian
manners, food, and clothing than with Western ones, but the Burnham household fiercely
disapproves. Paulette meets Zachary Reid, the American sailor, at a dinner at the Burnhams';
they are mutually attracted. Paulette becomes determined to run away because of sexual
harassment by Mr. Burnham and pressure to marry his friend, the stern, elderly Justice
Kendalbushe. She resolves to travel to Mauritius, as her great-aunt did, in the hope of finding
a better future. Jodu and Paulette separately gain passage on the Ibis, Jodu as a Laskar and
Paulette in disguise as the Indian niece of one of the Mr. Burnham's employees.
Numerous plot developments are facilitated by Nob Kissin Baboo, a Vaishnavite would-be
priest who is working as an overseer for Mr Burnham and comes to believe that Zachary is
an avatar of Krishna. As the stories converge, the Ibis becomes a shelter to these various
misfits and exiles. A crisis on board is precipitated when Jodu is violently punished for
talking to one of the women being transported. He is imprisoned with Halder and Ah Fatt
and, along with Serang Ali, whose secret piratical past has become known, hatches a plan to
escape. Meanwhile, Deeti intercedes on behalf of the woman, but is recognised by a relative,
who tries to rape her and flog Kalua. Kalua manages to kill him. The novel closes with Neel,
Ah Fatt, Jodu, Serang Ali and Kalua escaping in a longboat towards Singapore, while Deeti,
Paulette, and Zachary proceed towards Mauritius.

Themes
Female Subjugation
Deeti conducts a scenario scrutiny of her wedding night and subsequent days which hints at
the possibility of her being oppressed sexually for the sake of certifying that Hukam
Singh has a household: “Her suspicions deepened in the following weeks, when Hukam
Singh showed no further interest in her, being usually in a state of torpid, opium-induced
somnolence by the time he fell on his bed. Deeti tried a few stratagems to break him from the
spell of his pipe, but all to no avail: it was pointless to withhold opium from a man who
worked in the very factory where it was processed; and when she tried hiding his pipe, he
quickly fashioned another. Nor did the effects of temporary deprivation make him desire her
any more: on the contrary, it seemed only to make him angry and withdrawn. At length, Deeti
was forced to conclude that he could never be a husband to her, in the full sense, either
because his injury had rendered him incapable, or because opium had removed the
inclination. But then her belly began to swell with the weight of a child and her suspicions
acquired an added edge: who could have impregnated her if not her husband?”
Customarily, Deeti would have gratifying reminiscences of her wedding night, but she is
undoubtedly drugged before another man other than her spouse impregnates her. Deeti’s
deductions are rational considering that she cannot account for her pregnancy. Had she been
conscious on her night, she would have been persuaded that her pregnancy is her husband’s.
Evidently, Deeti’s matrimonial crushes as soon as it starts because her misgivings and paucity
of romance deny her the bliss which is characteristic in beginning marriages. Deeti’s
innocence and dreams are sacrificed to please Hukam Singh because her pregnancy is an
exact creation of rape. Besides, Deeti’s meditation alludes to the injurious repercussions of
opium on potency and sexual functionality which could endanger sexual connection among
couples.
Commercialization of Opium
The commercialization of opium activates alterations in farming: “In the old days, farmers
would keep a little of their home-made opium for their families, to be used during illnesses,
or at harvests and weddings; the rest they would sell to the local nobility, or to pykari
merchants from Patna. Back then, a few clumps of poppy were enough to provide for a
household's needs…but what sane person would want to multiply these labours when there
were better, more useful crops to grow, like wheat, dal, vegetables? But those toothsome
winter crops were steadily shrinking in acreage: now the factory's appetite for opium seemed
never to be sated. Come the cold weather, the English sahibs would allow little else to be
planted; their agents would go from home to home, forcing cash advances on the farmers,
making them sign asámi contracts. It was impossible to say no to them: if you refused they
would leave their silver hidden in your house, or throw it through a window.”
The compulsion to plant more opium for the purpose of exporting is unfavorable to the
propagation of sustenance crops such as “wheat, dal and vegetables.” The judiciary favors the
white sahibs because it is run by whites meaning that the farmers have no other alternative
other than striving in their farms to yield opium for the whites. Commissions derived from
opium farming are not adequate because they are principally utilized to set off the advance
outlays of the white sahibs. The farmer’s situation portrays the undesirable repercussions of
economic colonization which leaves the Indians at the pity of the colonizers. They are
subjugated economically to augment the whites’ ravenous craving for opium.