NotNormativelyHuman 309
kampani's" owners distance themselves from their asset and refuse to
takeresponsibility.
Animal'sPeoplededicatesitselftothetaskofwritingaboutwhatitis
liketoliveinazoneofvulnerability,inthe"killinggrounds"(31)where
only cobras (and Animal) can survive. The question of (taking)
responsibility remains open throughout the narrative while the text
constantly avoids sinking into sentimentality. Animal, himself a sex-
crazedcynic,isnotafiguretoinvitepity,norarethetownspeople,"the
peopleoftheApocalis"(63,148,353)whowaverbetweenparanoiaand
apathy, inviting readerly compassion. Only occasionally does the book
openaperspectiveofactiveresistance:theAmericancorporationandits
owners "don't know what they are up against, people who have nothing
have nothing to lose, we will never give up, out of nothing comes a
power that's impossible to resist. It may take long, but we will win"
(111).Thesewords,spokenbyZafar,awould-berevolutionary,evokea
political dimension (in ways reminiscent of Hardt and Negri's
"multitude")which,however,remainspaltry.Collectiveactionfromthe
victims never fully materializes in the fictional world of the text.^139 It
seemsasiftheenvironmentalpoisonwhichdisabledAnimalpersonally
is also disabling the collective: "The Apokalis took away their speech"
(100). As Jesse Oak Taylor, himself an environmentalist, notes in his
reading, "... Khaufpur exists in a kind of temporal suspension that
preempts any actual movement or progress beyond immediate 'crisis
mode.' Thus, any attempt to consider the novel as a model for tangible
action in global health appears forestalled.. ." (180). Much as the
occasion and the novel itself dwells on the disabling conditions of the
politicaleconomyoftransnationalcapitalism,itremainsasmutedasthe
fictional people it presents when it comes to articulating a political
perspective.
(^139) My reading differs from many others in that is does not seek to analyze the
text's multi-generic make-up as a combination of "crime fiction, environmental
violence, and tragedy" (Carrigan 165); nor will it rehearse other readings of the
novel's "re-framing and re-constituting the possible" for the sake of community
empowerment (J. O. Taylor 178-79), even as they might be resourced by the
author'sownroleasaBhopalactivist.