THE INEFFECTUAL REVOLT AGAINST VICTIMHOOD: A FEMINIST APPROACH TO ARUNDHATI ROY’S THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS

Abstract

The women writers in India, very effectively portray the torn psyche of women and their struggle towards empowerment. Arundhati Roy remarkably portrays the victimization of women by the patriarchal society. Women writers attempt to create the modern image of the transformed women. The God of Small Things renegotiate the man-woman relationship. Her protagonist is rebellious and assertive, courageous to rebel against the patriarchal notions that marginalize her as the ‘other’. The God of Small Things breaks the stereotypical image of a traditional woman who is crowned as the ‘angel’ of the household. The woman protagonist dethrones the male assumptions that women are weak and needs to be protected. Ammu challenge the traditional codes of gender and tries to evolve as the ‘New-Woman’ of the twentieth century. The research paper scrutinizes Arundhati Roy’s depiction of Ammu as her own voice against the patriarchal repression that detains women in the household. She vocals for a ‘space’ and ‘voice’ for women.      Arundhati Roy tangibly exposes the society’s predominant social evils, detriments, discords and repression against women and their struggle to subvert the orthodox customs of the patriarchal society that marginalize their existence. She portrays the subjugated and peripheralized women striving to assert their identity. Being a woman, the novelist realistically depicts the predicament of women and render a palpable sketch of the miseries of women meted on to them by their male counterparts. Her female protagonist, Ammu is a victim of patriarchal atrocity. She reflects the author’s perspective that, women must strive to assert her identity and evolve as ‘New-Woman’ through ‘self-determinism’.