LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 26:4 April 2026
ISSN 1930-2940

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From Ignorance to Independence: An Ecological search for sustainable future in “The Tree of the Century” by Mridula Garg

Soundarya R. and
Dr. Benazir A.

Abstract

The paper focusses on the repercussions of creating harm to the environment which backfires all the living systems in the world through the short story “The Tree of the Century” by Mridula Garg. It portrays the cruelty of humans who intend to commodify nature for their own luxury. The story warns that humans should not forget that nature stands at the forefront in the hierarchical natural order of the world where humans themselves have established their roots through nature and became the sole reason for them to sustain. The selfless care of nature to express its motherly love towards its children shows ecocentric concerns. Nature extends its heart and considers both humans and all living organisms as its own children and bearing their pain in spite of ignorance for their upliftment. It expresses the agony of her children for their commodified view who are still unaware of the future impacts. The paper compares the attitude of nature who include humans as “Self” with the attitude of humans who disintegrate from nature and consider them as “Other”. The paper intends to transform humans from “Ruthless beings” to “Responsible beings” showing their interest towards preserving nature. The theoretical concept of deep ecology along with its eight supporting principles has been applied to foster a symbiotic relationship between human and nature. Additionally, the story of Amrita Devi from Bishnoi village has been related to indicate the necessity for unlocking the new era of ecocentricism. The paper shatters all anthropocentric intentions by highlighting their follies and futile words of pretending to conserve nature through ecocentric sarcasm. The main objective of the paper lies in indicating the dire need of humans to preserve the natural world without their selfish needs and to focus on the quality of living of both humans and non-human entities.

Keywords: Nature, Responsibility, Deep Ecology, Anthropocentric, Humans

Introduction

“The Tree of the Century” is a short story written by Mridula Garg that emphasizes the importance of maintaining ecological protection for a long run and serves as a platform to appreciate the aesthetics of natural values. She is an Indian author from Calcutta who is fond of writing short stories from her childhood. She received the Sahitya Akademi Award in the year 2013. The uniqueness of “The Tree of the Century” lies in giving voice to non-human entities like trees to communicate their emotion to the entire world. Sarcasm, a literary device is used as a defense mechanism for trees to mock at the false preaching of humans who do not put their words into action. It teaches a lesson for humans to understand their mistake of ignoring nature. This story acts as a tool to navigate the literary values along with, providing awareness for people to understand the vital role of ecological independence. The theoretical framework of deep ecology which comprises of eight principles has been utilised to gain a deeper support for the arguments present in the research paper. But the paper has infused four principles which are needed to bring the idea of deep ecology. Along with, the real-life story of Amrita Devi from Bishoi village has been added to attain a greater significance for understanding the immediate need for people to indicate their responsibility in conserving Environment.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Soundarya R.
Ph.D Research Scholar
PG and Research Department of English
Chikkanna Government Arts College, Tiruppur
soundarya23022003@gmail.com
&
Dr. Benazir A.
Assistant Professor and Head
PG and Research Department of English
Chikkanna Government Arts College, Tiruppur
dr.benazir786@gmail.com

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