The Portrayal of the Subalterns in Some Selected Indian English Novels

Abstract

In this dissertation, I have focused on four novels of Indian authors: Untouchable by M u l k Raj Anand, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The God of Small Things by Aurndhati Roy and The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai . I have focused on five subaltern characters and their disaster in India's caste based society. Caste discrimination, untouchability and subalternate are a despicable practice in India. Over the years books have been written, committees and commissions have been set up, and laws have been enacted to eradicate the caste taboo and the stigma of untouchability but, even after six decades of Independence, India continues the inhuman caste discrimination. The upper caste practice some inhuman codes for the lower caste. They are marginalized by the old age oppressive system of the society. In the pre-1960s, most of the writers dealt with upper and middle cl ass people but did not explore the struggle of lower and subaltern class. A majority of the Indian novel lists including Mulk Raj Anand, Rohinton Mistry, Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai , have appeared at the contemporary time an d shown an open concern for the subaltern class. These four novels represent the struggle of the subalterns for the lower position in society. The subalterns are at the bottom of the social pyramid and are utterly unprivileged . For thousand of years they lived and died as menials, in conditions worse than that of slaves. The novels which are discussed in this thesis involve a deep exploration of the subaltern class. The authors have worked on the theme to make the upper castes aware and destroy the caste and class taboos. These novels also exhibit the subalterns ' turmoil in their inner psychology and their struggle to elevate their social and economic positions. This thesis aims to explore the subalterns' struggle in India through the depiction of the subaltern characters of these novels. Thus, it must give an overview of the subaltern subjectivity and their struggle in India to project the issue on the world stage .