Complexity of Fokir

For me, I had two main take aways from the Hungry Tide, one was the importance of considering how people and nature live together and the second was not judging someone's character by what's on the surface.  Throughout the Novel, the reader get mostly negative views and opinions of Fokir.  The reader sees the guard targeting Fokir for fishing outside of the fishing zone; Moyna’s frustrations with Fokir taking Tutul out of school; Kanaii’s thinking of him being lazy; and Nilima’s frustrations for Moyna and her disapproval for the uprising on Marichjhapi.  The reader is overwhelmed by the negative attitude of people towards Fokir.  However, the reader also gets a contrasting view through Piya and Nirmal’s letter, a more first hand view.  Fokir serves as the fisherman who saves Piya from the unpleasant guard and then proceeds to take her to multiple dolphin spotting locations, despite the fact that he may have had other places to go.  The reader is also given the story of Fokir’s very early life.  I believe that it is through Nirmal’s letter that the reader really begins to feel sympathy towards Fokir.  

This scene when Fokir takes Kanaii to the Garjontola stands as a turning point for how other characters in the book see Fokir.  This also just so happens to be the first scene when Fokir speaks.  It is in this scene that Kanaii sees how vulnerable he really is.  Despite the fact that he may know six languages, this does not serve him any good when he is stranded on an island with his face in the mud.  By pushing Fokir away, Kanaii “sees” a tiger (this may have been a halusination though) and suddenly in this instant when he runs into Fokir on the beach trying to escape the “tiger” he is able to see Fokir for what he is.  It is also after this scene that the reader is really able to digest Moyna’s feelings for Fokir.  Despite that fact that she is incredible frustrated with him, that is just the surface level of the stream, further down, she really does love him.  This vulnerability that Kanaii shows, allows Fokir to show off his strengths, and allows for Kanaii to form a new opinion about him.  

I  saw Fokir as the central emotional character of the novel.  Despite the fact that he maybe only spoke for less than ten pages, he is intertwined into all of the stories and perspectives from the beginning.  I believe Gosh did this so that the reader would know initially to like Fokir, but also allow the reader to see the changing views of other characters towards Fokir.  

I know I am not supposed to use I when I am writing an English paper about a book, but I wasn’t sure if this context was different or not so I just went with it.