A Feminist Reading of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things: Analyzing Gender, Power, and Resistance

Abstract

Aims: The paper analyzes the feminist aspects of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, focusing on how gender, caste, and socio-cultural issues affect women in India’s postcolonial period. The study attempts to scrutinize the depiction of women and their struggles and resistance to oppression in the framework of a patriarchal society.

Methodology and Approaches: The study revolves around qualitative research methodology, applying feminist literary theory to analyze the text. The course of the study employs close reading, which emphasizes the organization of the discourse, the building of the characters, and the development of the ideas.

Outcome: Roy’s depiction of women in the work exposes societal constraints and norms set by a patriarchal society and challenges them. The characters Ammu and Velutha are victims of gender and social hierarchy, but they resist it. Their existence illustrates the social and gender inequalities embedded in caste discrimination and the multifaceted nature of gendered oppression throughout India.

Conclusion and Suggestions: The analysis of The God of Small Things reveals the gendered subjugation resultant from colonial practices and the profoundly entrenched caste systems in postcolonial India. While pursuing a feminist discourse, the novel creates awareness of women’s sufferings in a society filled with oppression from every direction. Subsequent research should look into this study using a postcolonial feminist or queer theory approach regarding the intertwining of gender, identity, and resistance. A deeper analysis of Roy’s impact on feminist movements and her relevance to modern-day India must also be done.