Reading Guide

Fate is one of the main themes in Sea of Poppies. Which characters are most attuned to portents, kismets and signs? Does this prove valuable? How does the book's structure contribute to the theme of fate and destiny?
Would you describe Sea of Poppies as an “epic” novel? If so, what epic qualities does it display?
“If it is God's will that opium be used as an instrument to open China to his teachings, then so be it” (p.109). What do you make of Benjamin Burnham's beliefs? Is he in any way a man of principle?
Sea of Poppies is a book of strict social rules and hierarchies – in the villages, in the palace, in prison, in the grand houses and onboard ship. Why is this? Who makes the rules? Who do they benefit? Who/what challenges them?
“She had shed the body of the old Deeti, with the burden of its karma; she had paid the price her stars had demanded of her, and was free now to create a new destiny as she willed” (p.166). What sort of person is Deeti? How does her “rebirth” change her? Where does her power stem from?
Reviewers of Amitav Ghosh often praise his writing for its “readability”. Is Sea of Poppies “readable”? If so, what techniques does Ghosh employ to maintain the pace and tension?
“The two convicts appeared to be friends . . . neither seemed to want to overmaster the other: to Bhyro Singh this was a sign that they were not men at all, but castrated, impotent creatures” (p.355). What does Sea of Poppies have to say about masculinity and femininity in the colonial environment? Who breaks the mould, and with what consequences?
Does the fact that Sea of Poppies is based on real historical events affect your reading of it? Why [not]?
“The day the natives lose faith in us, as the guarantors of the order of castes – that will be the day, gentlemen, that will doom our rule” (p.444). Why is it so important for the British to guarantee the caste system?
What did you make of Crowle's proposal to Zachary (p.466)? Did his final words elicit any sympathy from you?
Sea of Poppies is peppered with a vast array of foreign words, regional accents, niche vocabularies and a general “confusion of tongues”. Why is language so important in the book? Which characters have the greatest command of language? Is there a connection between language and power, as many modern theorists suggest?
Paulette refers to the “multiplicity of her selves” (p.409). What does she mean by this? Who else in the book has multiple or shifting identities? Why do they?
“So there you are: that's the jadoo of the colonies. A boy who's crawled up through the hawse-holes can become as grand a sahib as any twice-born Company man” (p.72). Who in Sea of Poppies benefits from the opportunities of the colonies? Does the Empire bring democracy?
Why does Neel seem to find his transformation from zemindar to common prisoner relatively easy? What does he learn about himself? Are there any advantages to his new situation?
In a review of The Glass Palace, Pankaj Mishra describes Amitav Ghosh as one of few post-colonial writers “to have expressed in his work a developing awareness of the aspirations, defeats and disappointments of colonized peoples as they figure out their place in the world”. How might this apply to Sea of Poppies? Is it a tale of disappointment, or of hope? Or both?
“Malum must be propa pukka sahib”, said the serang. “All lascar wanchi Malum be captin-bugger by”m”by.” (p.46) Why is Serang Ali so keen for Zachary to succeed?
Paulette “has never worshipped at any altar except that of Nature; the trees have been her Scripture and the Earth her Revelation” (p.127). What is the role of Nature in Sea of Poppies? Is it divine? Has it been colonised too?
Baboo Nob Kissin ‘regarded the new Raja as a dilettante, who had his . . . head in the clouds . . . anyone so foolish as to sign everything that was put before him, deserved to lose his fortune’ (p.201). Do you agree?
“The Ibis was not a ship like any other; in her inward reality she was a vehicle of transformation, travelling through the mists of illusion towards the elusive, ever-receding landfall that was Truth” (p.390). What are we to make of the Ibis? Is she a living being, a divine force or simply a metaphor for something? What is her impact on the plot? Why “Ibis”?
Sea of Poppies is the first in an Ibis trilogy, but does it work as an entity in its own right? Can you guess how the story will unfold in the successive two parts?
Did you draw any parallels with the modern world from Sea of Poppies? If so, what were they? Do you think Ghosh intended them? Does it matter?

A full reading guide is available as a pdf download.

“The Language of Sea of Poppies: The Ibis Chrestomathy” is available as a pdf download.

Ideas for Further Study

Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Moby Dick by Herman Melville