Gun Island

The premise of Gun Island is focused on a Bengali folk legend featuring a figure known as the Gun Merchant (Bonduki Sadagar), who flees overseas to escape the wrath of Manasa Devi, the goddess of snakes and venomous creatures. While the Gun Merchant’s story is fictional, it is based on the existing folk legends and recognized Hindu deities, which Deen briefly mentions in the beginning of the book: Chand Sadagar and Manasa Devi. Manasa Devi is a Hindu goddess worshipped mainly in the northeastern states of India, and she is extremely prominent in Bengal, where believers pray to her for protection from snakebite. Manasa Devi’s regional appeal is explained by the geographical terrain of the places where she is most commonly worshipped. Bengal in particular is known for its numerous bogs and marshes that provide a prime habitat for snakes. Thus, although Deen thinks it strange that a shrine to a goddess exists deep within the Sunderbans mangroves in the Ganges river delta, the marshy terrain of this area in Bengal is actually quite fitting. Furthermore, just as the shrine in Gun Island is shown to appeal to different religions and communities, Manasa Devi is actually worshipped by a wide variety of Hindus, and her appeal transcends the boundaries still enforced by the effects of the socially stratified caste system of India.