Appraising “Green Development”: An Ecocritical Reading of Temsula Ao’s Laburnum for My Head

Abstract

The existence of human beings presupposes the presence of Nature which gives substantial room to human beings to accommodate themselves in it, none the less; human beings in return turn violent and insensible to it. Being the part and parcel of Nature, everybody has the right to make proximity to Nature but nobody can be allowed to cause damage to it under any circumstances whatsoever. If needed, one can draw sustenance from Nature but nowadays, on many occasions, natural resources are being indiscriminately exploited for selfish interests. Temsula Ao’s short story collection, that is, Laburnum for My Head incorporates two contrapuntal tales—“Laburnum For My Head” and “Death of a Hunter”— at the opening of it to project the long standing tension between radical environmentalism and reformist environmentalism. This paper is intended to bring out this conflict as represented in the garb of tales thereby asking thinkers to mull over the notion of “green development”, paying adequate heed to the necessary requirements of impoverished human beings.