A Study of Multiplicity of Oppression and Repressive Structures in The God of Small Things

Abstract

Oppression has always been taken as linear term when it comes to study the life of people but it
has multiple subjectivities which shows that women, men and children suffer not from a single
oppression but multiple oppressions. It can be the result of marginalization and domination.
Oppression has its different forms based not on gender, class and race separately but
collectively; age, sex, disability, nationality and the status that one holds in the society also play
a significant role. The status we enjoy, the discriminations we face, is due to our distinctive
positions as established by society. The present research is an attempt to explore the multiple
oppressions—based on class, race, gender and faith—faced by different communities in India as
discussed in the novel The God of Small Things (1997) by Arundhati Roy. For this purpose, this
research utilizes a theoretical framework encompassing works of Iris Young’s Five Faces of
Oppression (2004) and Louis Althusser’s ISA & RSA (1971). This research is significant to
explore the concept of multiple oppressions by applying it on a fictional work and it adds to the
existing body of knowledge by exploring the multiplicity inherent in the nature of oppression in
contemporary India by linking it to gender, class, race and belief systems.