Delineating the Contours of the Marginalized Women Characters in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

Main Article Content

Dr. Digvijay Pandya, Rajdeep Guha

Abstract

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is a critique of the contemporary social space and how the characters are positioned within it. The novelist sketches her characters in a manner that examines them, especially the female ones in great detail. The novel is a study of the marginalisation of the characters perpetuated by social, political and economic factors. The paper attempts to look at the portrayal of the female characters and how they are positioned within the society. The paper also aims to explore the psyche of the women characters that, in turn, throws light on the inherent patriarchy of the society depicted in the novel. Arundhati Roy, being a staunch feminist, exposes the hypocrisy practised by the men folks. The novel is a study of the relationship dynamics that undergo upheavals at regular intervals because of the shifting trajectories of socio-cultural factors and power politics practised within the space of family. The paper aims to record the perceptions of the women characters and how they become victims of a patriarchal society. It is also to be noted how women respond to the patriarchy in different ways. The various responses offer an insight into the dynamics of the social space that is affected by socio-cultural and politico-economic parameters. The findings of the paper indicate how gender politics affect the social space and determine the positioning of women over the ages. The power politics within the space of family relationships is a microcosmic representation of the larger macro social space that is dominated by vested interests and agencies of repression. Overall, the paper analyses the ‘small’ voices that try to get themselves heard amidst the ever evolving social and political contours.

Article Details

Section
Articles