24th Annual Student Research Conference
"A Blink of the Earth Woman's Eye:" Ecofeminism in Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things
Aly Marti
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
Ecofeminism maintains that a strong parallel exists between the oppression of women and the domination of nature by patriarchal society. Ecofeminism's primary concern is the interconnected oppressions of gender, race, class, and nature that are manipulated into hierarchical binaries with culturally justified domination. This oppressive coupling of woman and nature is present in Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, which portrays the deterioration of the fictional village of Ayemenem as an allegory for the corruption of the Ipe family. The pollution of the river Meenachal and the repossession of the History House as a tourist destination are two of the focal points in establishing the correlation between ecological abuse and gender discrimination. By examining Roy's novel from an Ecofeminist perspective, I dissect the connections made between women and nature, ascertaining the ways both are abused by patriarchal society.
Keywords: Arundhati Roy, Ecofeminism, The God of Small Things, South Indian Literature, Ecological Criticism, Feminism
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 3-2
Location: VH 1408
Time: 8:15