Reading Climate Fiction

An Ecocritical Study Of Alistar Mackay's It Doesn't Have To Be This Way

The climate crisis does not affect everyone in the same way. In Alistair Mackay's novel It Doesn't Have to Be This Way (2022), set in a near-future Cape Town, the wealthy retreat to technological enclaves and more livable zones, while the residents of Kapelitsha Island are left to contend with rising waters and deepening inequalities.

This book examines the novel through an ecocritical lens, exploring the relationship between the climate crisis and capitalism, class, and environmental justice. It questions whom technology protects, how the media and authorities respond to the crisis, and the role of the non-human natural world within the narrative. The future depicted by Mackay also invites reflection on the possibilities for love and solidarity in the face of environmental collapse.