Attributing Voice to The Mute in The God of Small Things: A Socio-Psychological Study on The Subaltern Other

Arundhuti Roy’s The God of Small Things is primarily a portrayal of social evil, political and religious tension, an exploration of cultural alienation and an analysis of innumerable dislocations and conflicts in a traditional society under the impact of neo-colonial advancement and industrialization. It may be called a modern classic for its realistic fabrication of political malpractices, personal relationships, caste and class conflicts, and traumatic experience of family feuds, shattered faith, love, marriage, conjugal discord and sex. At the micro-level it is also a story of alienation, loss of identity and subalternization of women with irresistible male dominance. The subalternization of women and the ‘dalits’ in The God of Small Things results in the protest of the mute, a protest of the voiceless. The novel becomes a vehicle of protest for the subaltern other−the marginalized and the voiceless. The study analyzes the nature and dynamics of subaletrnization in post- independent Indian society. It also incorporates the possibility of the emergence of a new society out of the rebelliousness of women in voicing their rights and identity.