Subaltern Reading: The Making of Powerful Women in The God of Small Things “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.”

Abstract

Arundhati Roy, a remarkable novelist and political activist from India, is a leading voice against the injustice encountered by the marginalized in the country. For her, the sidelining of women is one item of a process, in which oppression of different types is forced upon them. Her novel The God of Small Things explores the unjust procedures of the caste system and gender inequalities. Roy’s role as an activist enabled her to tackle topics that challenge the validity of social rules. The analytic part will rely on a textual reading of the novel within the scope of postcolonialism and ecofeminism by applying the theories of Spivak and Shiva. This paper focuses on the role of women within the constraints of rigid rules and how women characters like Ammu and Mamachi succeeded in bringing new realities of solidarity and empowerment despite their oppression. The paper concludes that women are weak, oppressed, and marginalized; however, they have a chance first to stand against these forms of oppression and second to prove themselves as powerful women.