© 2019 IJRAR May 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) RACE, GENDER AND CASTE IN ARUNDHATI ROY’S THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS

1 S.Durgadevi 1 M.A English 1Department of English, 1Sri Balamurugan Arts and Science College, Tamil Nadu, India.

Abstract: The article compares race and caste as two forms of inequality and argues that inequality of caste are illuminated in the same way as those of race by a consideration of gender. The nature of gender, race and caste and other influences on the economist situation of individuals and groups. Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Tings(1997) challenges the categories of race, gender and caste. I will also elaborate and expand on how the different forms of sexual transgression –inappropriate teacher – student relationships, rape, inter-caste relationship and incestuous relationships attempt to undermine and overcome the categories that bind them. At first glance, Disgrace and The God Small of Things appear to have little in common. The authors when they were writing their novels, poignantly presenting transgression of the bodies as a social trope that redefines relationship of power and class. However, I would like to argue that even while Coetzee and Roy present this transgression as the ideological centers of both Disgrace and The God of Small Things they are not permanent solution to resolving the race, gender and caste issues, and while they appear to overcome these differences briefly, the aforementioned categories are only reinforced in the long run.

Index Terms - Race, gender and caste.

The novel The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy led to the consideration that it should be taught in the university course, but at the same time, the novel has been controversial from the word go since its publication in 1997. Roy became the first non-expatriate Indian woman, who won the Booker Prize for Fiction. It is said that The God of Small Things is a semi- autobiographical novel. Roy has attractively mixed the actual and imaged events which go hand in hand in her novel. She exposes how the caste, race and gender affect human relationship. The story of the novel is related to the three generation of females who suffered in their own time periods because of different customs in society. Arundhati Roy used the stream of consciousness technique in which past and present go together. Rahel is the witness of tragedy in Ayemenem house or she describes the elements of childhood experience as well. The woman’s condition was not much better during the time when this stroy was being written. South Indians’ social status like untouchabillity, caste discrimination, political upheaval and the congress in the 1970 is reflected through this novel. A significant theme in Arundhati Roy’s novel, The God of Small Things. Set in the town of Ayemenem, in Kerala, India, the novel unfolds tragically after the premature death of Sophie Mol at the end of the 1960s, which ultimately leads to the disintegration of her extended family. The audience experiences this traumatic event through fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, whose emotional devastation as a result of their cousin’s death is manifested in their estrangement and exile. Twenty-three years after Sophie Mol’s death, Rahel and Estha, still unable to recover from this event and its attendant consequences, are reunited in an inexplicable act of incest. Running through Roy’s narrative is the aftermath of British dominance in India.Roy’s novel, moving forward and backward in time, suggests that what happens to families at the local level is directly linked to larger political and economic forces at the global level as well. History seems inescapable, even as characters constantly attempt to adjust their constructed realities to uphold the remnants of British rule and the framework of the Indian caste system. The story pivots around the relationship between Ammu and a lower caste ‘untouchable’ Velutha and the significant events Sophie Mol’s death by drowning, cross caste, affairs and Velutha’s murder by the police. They all have different duties. The untouchable Sudra group, who have always been dependent on the rich caste and doing the activities as street sweeping, leatherwork, disposing of the dead and rubbish collection, shows the obvious picture of the society. The caste system, marriage and the political affiliations are the big things in the society but Roy writes about the small things as well in her novel. The characters who engage in unlawful sexual acts are punished while unwanted or undesired race is purged. Inter-racial racism is a result of internalized racism while internalized racism is a result of Anglophilia. The God of Small Things depicts this concept clearly through its woven story of creatures and culture. In The God of Small Things, author makes clear that the Indian main character have internalized the supposed superiority of the white people and then project this view upon the darker within their culture. Throughout The God of Small Things, the author develops a romantic relationship between Velutha and Ammu. The author was able to build on this relationship given that the two characters hardly interact with each other due to their caste and race. Within this relationship, it is shown that Velutha is The God of Small Things. Velutha is believed to be The God of Small Things as he is the pivotal character of Ammu’s dream and her love interest.Perceiving through the gender and sexually lens in the novel The God of Small Things,it have illustrated the severity of gender oppression and discrimination through examination of the material and inter gender relations like patriarchy, gender roles and love. Specifically in the novel, Ammu, Mammachi and Baby Kochamma are all female characters and that they have experienced horrible discrimination and oppressions duo to their gender, religion and statuses which have torn them between traditional norms and modern attitudes. Sadly speaking, their private love relationships are actually socially and politically regulated to emphases of caste and religion.Reversing the natural uncontrollability of who to love, in what way and to what extent, result in equally unnatural insurrections and obstructions of love relationship. This novel have demonstrated gender and discrimination against women. When the female characters attempt to challenge or disobey the customs, laws, values of social and culture boundaries, they commit moral transgressions which ultimately lead them toward their death and ruination. When Ammu’s first failed marriage to the man she had met a wedding. She was described as a typical Indian bride who did not dare to stare her fiance in her face until they got married. Additionally, people speak lowly of women who do not marrying society. This is evident when Roy talks about Baby Kochamma, who accepted her unfortunate fate of not having any husband, resenting Ammu because

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© 2019 IJRAR May 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) she saw her fighting against that same fate. When Baby Kochamma truly could not find a spouse, her father sent her off to college. This shows that families view marriages as more important than education for women. In modern day India based discrimination continues to be an issue. Thus, the novel The God of Small Things discrimination of caste, race and gender in the female characters.

Work Cited [1]. Roy, Arundhati. The Chequebook and the Cruise Missile, p. 120. [2]. Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things, New Delhi: India Inc Pvt. Ltd, 1997. [3]. < http//www.rjelal.com//>

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