Treatment of Poetic Justice as a Major Thematic Concern in Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Volume 2 Issue 2 Monsoon Edition 2022

Abstract

 Aim: The present research paper is a modest attempt to find out the poetic justice prevalent in the novel ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’ by Arundhati Roy. The present work manifests several instances of poetic justice through the rise of marginalized characters in the society. Anjum, the transgender, Saddam Hussain (Dayachand), Tilottama and Dr. Azad Bhartiya are the marginalized characters from the society. They undergo a lot of physical and mental agonies but fight their way out to rise above their obstacles. Major Amrik Singh is a vicious character, who is accused of extermination in Kashmir. He decimates himself and his whole family members. The whole story revolves around the struggle of marginalized characters and their development into better human beings. Methodology and Approach: The study is based on the novel ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’ (2017) by Arundhati Roy as a primary text. It has employed the textual analysis approach to analyze the text of the novel. Outcome: The novel presents many incidents of marginalization of the poor and weak people, as they suffer a lot through the hands of society. Yet they come out from such situations through their hard work and persistence for growth. The vicious characters are punished severely while good ones grow in flying colors. Conclusion and Suggestion: The present paper concludes that the vicious characters have to pay the price of their sins; they cannot escape their fate, while the good characters would get the results of their persistence and efforts. The novel ends in a positive note, giving the feelings of happiness and hope to the readers.