Between Roots and Wings: Nature as a Mirror of Growth in Lahiri’s Fiction

Abstract

This paper explores nature and the relationship between self-development and nature in the works of Lahiri through an ecocritical and postcolonial theoretical lens. It explores the way natural components poetically mirror the emotional and psychological paths opening up and a timeless tension between 'roots' and 'wings', between cultural belonging and self-identity. Building on the scholarship of Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin, the researcher contextualizes Lahiri's stories between ecological and postcolonial frameworks. It unveils issues of displacement, companionability, and environmental atonement. These results illustrate that Lahiri's depiction of nature cannot be separated from forms of self-exploration and cultural contestation, cementing the integral contribution of ecological agency in forming identity. This study thus adds to the discussion of environment and identity in contemporary studies of literature, demonstrating Lahiri's ability to prompt her readers into a consideration of the mutuality of self and nature.