Resonating the Unheard Voice through Ammu in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things: A Postcolonial Feminist Study
- January 4, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: English, IJRISS
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue XII, December 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
Tasnia Talukder1, Md. Aminul Haque2
1Lecturer, Department of English, Uttara University, Bangladesh
2Department of English, Uttara University, Bangladesh
Abstract – This paper focuses on the mechanism of patriarchy -the cultural mindset of society as a barrier to female and social identity formation in society in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things through Ammu. The author from postcolonial contexts portrays female character Ammu who struggles with the normative gender identity and eventually eliminates the traditions and conventions of Victorian stereotype ‘angel’ woman to provide voices to the silenced women in her contemporary society. Roy’s protagonist Ammu suffers through the strictly rigid patriarchal norms for female power and social identity formation. Based on the postcolonial feminist perspective, this study analyzes how Ammu breaks the double –bind of patriarchy and colonial legacy by voicing up her desires against all the odds of a male-dominated society and try to form her own identity according to her preferences. Nevertheless, Ammu finally tries to confront the existing social inequalities to bring about a social change despite the post-colonial power structure of the society merely by her involvement in different issues. It further exposes the universal parameters of highly conventional society which Ammu faces as a subaltern and compels her to resonate with her unheard voice.
Keywords – Patriarchy, Feminism, Subaltern, Postcolonial, Power, Identity
I. INTRODUCTION
In the post-colonial context, society has adapted many colonial constructs. Among them marginalizing the subaltern women as others are one of the vital issues to discuss and draw the substantial picture of women’s position through our different oppressive constructs. Through ideological and cultural manipulation and control such as through the hegemony of family, school, church, factory, police, etc., women adapt themselves to the prevailing system of assumption and values of society. thus women being subjugated and subordinated overages and ended up being a ‘subaltern other’. The aim of this paper to expose the social, political, economic and cultural factors through Ammu as a ‘subaltern other’ in Arundhati Roy’s novel A God of Small Things()and to depict the unheard voices as well as to reclaim Ammu’s social identity as an individual being.
