29th Annual Student Research Conference
Breaking the "Love Laws": Reading The God of Small Things Through A Feminist / Marxist Lens
Madalene H. Davis
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
Central to Roy's Booker-prize winning novel, The God of Small Things (1997) is social injustice against Untouchables and against women. The work invokes the "Love Laws" in order to highlight the oppression enforced and perpetuated by the culture and Caste System. This paper will examine how Roy, drawing on the "Love Laws," deals with the social taboos of incest and love between an upper caste woman, Ammu and an Untouchable, Velutha while emphasizing the collusion of those in power against the powerlessness of the disempowered.
Keywords: The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy, Untouchables, Love Laws, Feminism, Marxism, incest, Caste System
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: -3
Location: VH 1212
Time: 1:30