scholarly journals “You are the victims, not the perpetrators”: Narrating Violence and Trauma in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 244-257
Author(s):  
Anja Mrak
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Caste System ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Trauma Narrative ◽  
Arundhati Roy ◽  
Traumatic Memories ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Small Things

In her 1997 novel The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy confronts the problem of caste violence, inextricably bound up with other practices of social domination such as patriarchy, racism, colonialism and neocolonialism, through a complex narrative structure. The conventional story about a tragic love between a woman from a higher caste and a member of the untouchables skilfully evades cliché patterns by employing eccentric focalisers, as we experience most of the story through the lenses of multiple-person narrators, twin brother and sister, Rahel and Estha, magical realism, and a disjointed narrative full of prolepses and analepses which subtly renders traumatic memories. The novel is structured as a prototypical trauma narrative and stages a confrontation with an unresolved traumatic event from which Rahel and Estha have been recovering since childhood. Roy deftly transposes the dualism of caste purity and impurity onto the narrative structure. The narrative is caught within a duality (symbolised already by the twins) and a perpetual repetition which represents not only the eternal return of trauma but also the constant tension which derives from the hegemony of the caste system and the violence it produces. The biopolitics of social mechanisms and structures which disciplines the individual’s body, controls his actions, rectifies and sanctions transgressions is at the heart of the novel. It raises the individual into obedience and restraint with the help of state institutions, and regulates them into an inconspicuous collective body in the name of security, unity and higher common goals. Socio-political mechanisms are legitimised and reaffirmed through violence as well, which is not understood as such, but rather as a necessary “measure” and “duty” to uphold the law.

scholarly journals “You are the victims, not the perpetrators”: Narrating Violence and Trauma in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 244-257
Author(s):  
Anja Mrak
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Caste System ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Trauma Narrative ◽  
Arundhati Roy ◽  
Traumatic Memories ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Small Things

In her 1997 novel The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy confronts the problem of caste violence, inextricably bound up with other practices of social domination such as patriarchy, racism, colonialism and neocolonialism, through a complex narrative structure. The conventional story about a tragic love between a woman from a higher caste and a member of the untouchables skilfully evades cliché patterns by employing eccentric focalisers, as we experience most of the story through the lenses of multiple-person narrators, twin brother and sister, Rahel and Estha, magical realism, and a disjointed narrative full of prolepses and analepses which subtly renders traumatic memories. The novel is structured as a prototypical trauma narrative and stages a confrontation with an unresolved traumatic event from which Rahel and Estha have been recovering since childhood. Roy deftly transposes the dualism of caste purity and impurity onto the narrative structure. The narrative is caught within a duality (symbolised already by the twins) and a perpetual repetition which represents not only the eternal return of trauma but also the constant tension which derives from the hegemony of the caste system and the violence it produces. The biopolitics of social mechanisms and structures which disciplines the individual’s body, controls his actions, rectifies and sanctions transgressions is at the heart of the novel. It raises the individual into obedience and restraint with the help of state institutions, and regulates them into an inconspicuous collective body in the name of security, unity and higher common goals. Socio-political mechanisms are legitimised and reaffirmed through violence as well, which is not understood as such, but rather as a necessary “measure” and “duty” to uphold the law.

scholarly journals Intermingling of History and Politics in The God of Small Things

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Md. Abdul Momen Sarker ◽  
Md. Mominur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Arundhati Roy ◽  
Political Condition ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Democratic Election ◽  
Small Things ◽  
First Time

Suzanna Arundhati Roy is a post-modern sub-continental writer famous for her first novel The God of Small Things. This novel tells us the story of Ammu who is the mother of Rahel and Estha. Through the story of Ammu, the novel depicts the socio-political condition of Kerala from the late 1960s and early 1990s. The novel is about Indian culture and Hinduism is the main religion of India. One of the protagonists of this novel, Velutha, is from a low-caste community representing the dalit caste. Apart from those, between the late 1960s and early 1990s, a lot of movements took place in the history of Kerala. The Naxalites Movement is imperative amid them. Kerala is the place where communism was established for the first time in the history of the world through democratic election. Some vital issues of feminism have been brought into focus through the portrayal of the character, Ammu. In a word, this paper tends to show how Arundhati Roy has successfully manifested the multifarious as well as simultaneous influences of politics in the context of history and how those affected the lives of the marginalized. Overall, it would minutely show how historical incidents and political ups and downs go hand in hand during the political upheavals of a state.

scholarly journals Sensibility of the Novel “The God of Small Things” Personifies Realities where Meaning Plays the Protagonist

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 275
Author(s):  
Imam Alam Khan
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Of Life ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Arundhati Roy ◽  
Figurative Meaning ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Small Things ◽  
Local Languages

<p><em>The novel, “The God of Small Things”, is a Booker Prize winner fiction. It is obviously a thought-provoking novel with an apparent viewpoint. It is</em><em> </em><em>a novel by Arundhati Roy, an Indian</em><em> </em><em>writer. The novel is a story of stories where conflicting ideas of various subjects play vital roles. The subjects appear to be really striking. The style is marvelous. The plot construction is excellent, and the characterization is superb. Language is unique. It’s a worldwide acclaimed novel. The novel speaks on subjects like love, madness, joy, cast-discrimination, women’s exploitation and most importantly the conflict between the Laltain (lantern), the big people, and Mombatti (candles), the small people, which represent the class antagonism. All these antagonisms transform into a meaning. The novelist projects so many meanings together and tries to weave a story on Ammu, the protagonist of the novel. She has created a world where the readers feel the conflict between the social antagonisms and emotional meanings.</em><em> </em><em>The novelist, Arundhati</em><em> </em><em>Roy, has tried her best to evolve a literal as well as a figurative meaning of emotions. The readers feel spellbound emotions when they start reading the novel and pass through the strong throng until they finish the novel. The novelist succeeds in making her readers feel a trance. They emotionally find themselves in a pang of emotions which remains until the end of the novel. Though the novel is full of many obscurities where the readers fail to understand the obscure images and local languages in the novel, yet they feel satisfaction at the end as it discusses sensibility of the society.</em><em> </em><em>The reality apparently transforms itself into a crystal clear meaning of life which is very vital to the novelist as well as to the readers. The meaning of life, reality, appears like a protagonist. Hence, the novel under research is under scrutiny about the idea of reality appearing like protagonist.</em><em> </em><em>It is undoubtedly a very successful novel. Readers have liked it very much. The critics have found it interesting. It has been the best seller, too. Thus, this research is trying to find out the answer of the question, Is</em><em> </em><em>the novel really successful in arousing a sensibility? Is the meaning of life appears life-like? Does it personify reality of life? Consequently, this research paper has tried to find out the answers for the posted queries. </em><em>Moreover</em><em>, the obvious answer is, yes it does. It personifies the realities of the tragedies of the protagonists: Ammu and Velutha.</em></p>

scholarly journals Lingual Aspects of Mystical Narration in V. Shevchuk’s Novel “The Beginning of Horror”

2020 ◽  
pp. 109-125
Author(s):  
Florij Batsevych
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Unreliable Narrator ◽  
Narrative Structures ◽  
Christian View ◽  
Flow Of Time ◽  
The Individual

In recent decades, the researchers of artistic stories have paid their attention to the narrative analysis of a set of weird texts of mystical and absurd content, works of “black humour”, fantastic (khymerna) prose created by a non-anthropic narrator or by an author in a changed state of consciousness. These texts serve the field of actualizing atypical and non-usual narrative structures, the sphere of meaningful changes within the bounds of narrative categories and, which is important, of forming special communicative senses of aesthetic nature. The basic problems of the linguistic analysis of “unnatural” stories are identifying the types of changes in the narration constituents, reasons of these changes and narrative categories (first of all, events, participants, objects, chronotope characteristics, points of view, moduses, modalities, etc.). The article analyses one of the texts of mystical content aiming at the revealing of some specificities of the structure and functioning of the so-called “unnatural artistic narrations”. The object of the research is V. Shevchuk’s novel “The Beginning of Horror”. The subject of the analysis is lingual means of the narrative structure formation, the author’s objectification of the mystical artistic sense and lingual “signals” of a reader’s perception of these senses. The most important semantic means of creating mystical atmosphere of the story are predicates that ascribe the names of their referents atypical dynamic and static features connected with the Christian view of the infernal world. It helps to form narrative events that root in weird situations, which cannot take place in reality. Non-dispositional nature of these situations correlates with the reference to the mystery that goes far beyond the bounds of a usual perceptive and psycho-mental background. Among the pragmatic means of creating mystical atmosphere of the main hero’s story as well as of the novel in general, we specify the individual inimitative perception of the flow of time and modality of “real unreality” formed by the role of an unreliable narrator and a vague point of view of the described event with its perceptive, ideological and time planes of objectification. Due to the increasing interest to various expressions of the esoteric, the increase of the number of artistic works of such content and growth of their popularity, we consider it topical to proceed in further investigations of lingual-narrative aspects of “unnatural” stories, in particular, the ones with the modus of mystical in them.

Feministic Analysis of Arundhati Roy's Postmodern Indian Fiction: The God of Small Things

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-164
Author(s):  
A. Hariharasudan ◽  
S. Robert Gnanamony
Keyword(s):  
Gender Bias ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Arundhati Roy ◽  
Generation Family ◽  
Paper Review ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Small Things

Objective - The aim of the research is to identify the feminist strains in the postmodern Indian Fiction The God of Small Things (TGST). The researcher has planned to investigate the text systematically for seeking feministic values. Methodology/Technique - The study reviews previous literature. Findings - Gender bias and feminism are relevant themes explored by postmodernists. Arundhati Roy portrays the predicament of women through her female characters belonging to three generations in this novel. In the novel, a sense of antagonism and division also infuse the difference senses of identity among the different generation of women. It also generates a line of the clash between the older and the younger generation. Family and political customs play a key role in disadvantaging women. Social constrains are so built up as to sanctify the persecution of women. This is because, in most of the civilizations, social structures are basically patriarchal. Arundhati's novel challenges this position, though her avowed feminist stance. Novelty - Women across the globe worldwide, nationwide, regionally and may be capable of holding the influential note of feminism and being capable of deconstructing a constructive implication of their own femaleness and womanhood after reading this paper. Type of Paper: Review Keywords: Feminism; Gender Bias; Patriarchal; Postmodernism; Downtrodden. JEL Classification: B54, H83.

‘You Felt Disembodied’: Reconfiguring Vulnerabilities Through Metalepsis in Harry Parker’s Anatomy of a Soldier

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katia Marcellin
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Event ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Trauma Narrative ◽  
To Come

Abstract Harry Parker’s first novel, Anatomy of a Soldier (2016), is a trauma narrative intermingling several timelines and told from the perspectives of forty-four object-narrators. This produces temporal and focal shifts in the narrative, which occur through stylistic metalepsis, that is, through discrepancies that blur the boundaries between causes and effects or between entities. This article proposes to examine how the use of metalepsis in this novel reconfigures the representation of trauma. Through metalepsis, Parker’s novel seeks to come as close as possible to the reality of the traumatized psyche, to materialize the space left blank by the shattering force of the traumatic event. Yet, beyond that representational issue, metalepsis also fulfils an ethical function in the novel: by performing rather than showing the workings of trauma, the narrative produces, and includes the reader in, a fragile yet tangible community of shared vulnerabilities.

scholarly journals Resistance and Identity in The God of Small Things Written by Arundhati Roy

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-75
Author(s):  
Saman A. Dizayi
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Arundhati Roy ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Complex Concept ◽  
Colonial Legacy ◽  
New Community ◽  
Small Things ◽  
Identity Suppression

This paper presents an analysis of the novel "The God of the Small Things" written by Arundhati Roy. The primary purpose of this paper is to evaluate the idea of resistance and identity that have been described in the novel by the novelist. It will be demonstrated in this novel that how the resistance against the traditions and norms of post-colonial era is related to the self-realisation. There are different kinds of resistance that have been depicted in the novel at various circumstances. In Postcolonial context identity is a complex concept to be located in just a simple definition or to be investigated throughout a single theoretical approach.  Resistance as a concept linked to the identity question. The Novel handles this notion and throughout its plot, besides the burden that is left from the colonial legacy, gender identity comes to the surface. Though women resistance appears as a reaction with identity suppression; yet it is a reflection of self-identification of gender inequality under patriarchal traditions inherited from long dominant masculine power. This paper elaborates on each type of resistance and activism that arises against the feudal and patriarchal forces structured by the economic and politically influential people in the new community as a sample in India after postcolonialism. Consequently, one of the points that the research ends with is that the act of resistance validates the pursuit for self-identity, which is an attempt to renown, reclaim and rename the world.

scholarly journals Social, Historical and Psychological Realism in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Dr. Ram Janam
Keyword(s):  
Indian Society ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Arundhati Roy ◽  
Psychological Realism ◽  
Realistic Picture ◽  
Inferiority Complex ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Small Things

The God of Small Things depicts realistic picture of the current issues of the typical Indian society. Arundhati Roy has tried her best to cover almost all the details of social and historical setting so that the readers may be able to acquaint with the pattern of living, daily routine, rites, customs, rituals and habits. The book explores how the small things affect people's behaviour and their lives. During that time in India, class was a major issue and still is in many parts of India. Inferiority complex is clearly visible in the interactions between Untouchables and Touchables in Ayemenem. The novel also shows that The Untouchables were considered polluted beings. Betrayal is also a constant theme in this story. Love, ideals, and confidence are all forsaken, consciously and unconsciously, innocently and maliciously, and these deceptions affect all of the characters deeply.

scholarly journals Traumatic Experiences in Eka Kurniawan's Novel Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Endang Sartika
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Trauma Narrative ◽  
The Media ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Negative Feelings ◽  
Philosophical Understanding

The emergence of trauma study with the publication of Cathy Caruth's Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History have gained significant interest in analyzing traumatic experiences in literary works. Literary trauma is seen as the media and alternative to read the wound and trauma through narration and fiction in the form of an anxiety plot. This study aims to analyze the traumatic experiences in Eka Kurniawan's novel entitled Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas. This research is descriptive qualitative in nature. The objects of this research are the traumatic events and experiences in Kurniawan's novel. The data were collected by note taking and highlighting the relevant traumatic event and analyzed using the concept of trauma and memory of Cathy Caruth. The result shows that the characters in this novel respond to trauma differently such as having intrusive thoughts, re-experiencing the trauma through flashbacks and dreams, avoidance, and having negative feelings and moods. The novel shows that the socio-cultural environment can become the greatest source of trauma as well as offer the healing process for the traumatized through compassion and understanding. The characters' traumatic experience is narrated by the unknown godlike narrator. Through the portrayal of the characters, Kurniawan reveals how pain, suffering, and traumatic experiences lead the characters to gain high self-esteem, self-knowledge, and philosophical understanding of social reality.

The God of Small Things: The Predicament of Untouchables and Subalterns in South Indian Society

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-600
Author(s):  
E.V.A. Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Male Dominance ◽  
Personal Relationships ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Arundhati Roy ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Love Marriage ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Small Things

The God of Small Things, a contemporary Indian Classic by Arundhati Roy is an analysis of the nature of subalternization and its repercussion on the individual and on society as well. The present fictional work is chiefly an interpretation of political misuse, personal relationships, caste and class conflicts, distressing experience of family dispute, broken faith, love, marriage, loss of identity, and marginalization of women as a result of foolish male dominance. K M Pandey remarks:

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