Reclaiming the Subaltern Voice: A Postcolonial Reading of Marginalized Characters in Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things

Abstract

This article examines the representation of marginalized characters in Arundhati Roy's Booker Prize-winning novel The God of Small Things (1997) through the lens of postcolonial theory, with particular emphasis on Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's concept of the subaltern. The study employs a qualitative textual analysis of secondary sources, including the primary text and existing critical scholarship, to investigate how Roy constructs narrative spaces for characters who exist at the intersections of caste, class, and gender oppression in post-independence India. The analysis focuses specifically on Velutha, the Untouchable carpenter, and Ammu, the divorced woman who transgresses social boundaries through her forbidden love. The findings reveal that Roy employs innovative narrative techniques including fragmented chronology, child perspectives, and linguistic experimentation to disrupt dominant discourses and amplify voices historically silenced by hegemonic structures. The article argues that Roy's novel not only critiques the persistence of colonial hierarchies in postcolonial Kerala but also demonstrates the possibilities and limitations of literary representation in giving voice to the subaltern. This research contributes to ongoing scholarly conversations about postcolonial literature's capacity to challenge epistemic violence and reimagine social relations beyond inherited colonial frameworks.