Chaos Theory, Climate Change, and Ecocriticism in Rajat Chaudhuri's The Butterfly Effect

Abstract: Rajat Chaudhuri’s The Butterfly Effect (2018) constitutes a seminal work in Indian climate fiction, employing chaos theory to demonstrate how minor perturbations—such as experimental genetically modified crops—can escalate into successive environmental catastrophes: severe heatwaves, persistent flooding, inundated island nations, and profoundly transformed agricultural regions. This study integrates chaos theory, climate change, and ecocriticism to analyse the novel’s eco-dystopian vision, examining anthropocentric hubris, corporate biopolitics, and persistent environmental injustices within a near-future India segmented into toxic Darklands and privileged Cleanlands. Chaudhuri's speculative realism makes nonlinear dynamics, nonhuman agency in unpredictable weather and changed ecosystems, and spatial inequities that make the vulnerable more vulnerable the main focus. This does more than just show the many climate risks that come from these ideas; it also offers ecosophical alternatives, which are ethical changes that help humans and nonhumans depend on each other in a sustainable way. The analysis shows that the text is an important part of postcolonial ecocriticism. It challenges readers to face the chaotic ideas about global warming and encourages stories that change the way we think about ecological justice in the Anthropocene. Keywords: Chaos Theory, Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi), Ecocriticism, Biopolitics, Environmental Justice