Crosscurrents between Postcolonial Studies and Feminism in The God of Small Things and Shame

Essay

Critically discuss the crosscurrents between postcolonial studies and
feminism
The current essay will be going to throw light on the crosscurrents between
postcolonial studies and feminism through making comparison between the two
novels that is “The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy and “Shame” by Salman
Rushdie. In these two novels there is an emphasis being placed on feminism and
how it affects the characters, the voices portrayed through the novel and the stance
of feminism in postcolonial countries. The main reason behind selecting these two
novels is the amount of feminist narrative and depiction that the authors have
implemented into their writings. The use of magic realism can be seen in both
novels, and it is used in different ways in both the novels. The crosscurrents between
postcolonial studies and feminism do not seems to be apparent in both these novels
as they both symbolise a feminist outlook on the postcolonial story. The use of
feminism, however, is intriguing as Rushdie, makes the feminist voice very apparent.
On the other hand, Roy uses a subtle form by leaving the reader to adapt the
feminist roles of the characters, particularly in Ammu. Thus, the current essay will be
discussing and comparing the use of third world feminism in both the novels and
consequently it will be focussing on the objectification of women, lastly looking at the
freedoms that the female characters hold in the both the novels. It cannot be stated
that the novels are displaying crosscurrents between postcolonial and feminism as
there is no real clash between these theories rather an agreeance to work together.
Section 1
When looking at the novel “The God of Small Things”, it is a family tragedy
drama which is being focussed on the mental as well as emotional development of
brotherly twins Rahel and Estha Ipe. Further, it was being set in Ayemenem which is
a rural coastal town in the state of Kerala which forms the southern western part of
India. The plot of this novel is being founded in the association amid two sets of
siblings in the family of Ipe, first Ammu and her brother Chacko and afterwards the
fraternal twins of Ammu which is a boy named Esthappen, known as Estha, and a
girl, Rahel. As both Ammu and Chacko were young, they were quite enthusiastic to
leave what they look as the dead-end life of their distant urban of Ayemenem.
Furthermore, the god of small things is the story in relation with the Childhood
experiences of these fraternal twins whose lives are being demolished by the laws of
1

love in the year 1960 in Kerela, the southern west part of India (Roy, 2017, p. 37). In
addition to this, the novel has also explored the manner in which the small,
apparently irrelevant things help in shaping the behaviour of the people and their
subsists. Moreover, the novel also discovers the lingering influence of casteism in
the nation India.
Roy gives the reader an insight to the third world feminism in this novel. Third
world feminism has been overshadowed by transnational feminism and Roy gives a
greater understanding of the third world feminism through this novel. The author has
depicted the different social viewpoints in “The God of Small Things” novel. Roy is a
particular postcolonial essayist attempting to offer vocal sound to the issues of ladies
in Kerala, one of the territories of India. As a philanthropic, Roy is completely mindful
of the pitiable state of ladies in homegrown along with the social circle. Transnational
and third world feminism came to existence to overcome the mainstream second
wave feminism which subscribes to the idea “that each and everywhere women face
exactly the same oppression merely by virtue of their sex/gender” (Herr, 2014, p. 2).
Third world and transnational feminism have similarities that reject the false
universalism which has been presupposed by white feminism and has a larger
emphasis on third world women’s problems, which are complex due to imperialism
and colonialism as well as different cultural practices. An example of third world
feminism is described by Roy when the discovery of Ammu and Velutha’s affair
happens and how Ammu was locked away in her bedroom as a punishment for
committing a sin as it went against the ‘love laws’ (Roy, 1997, p.256). In this passage
Roy writes, “She saw it as God’s way of punishing Ammu for her sins and
simultaneously avenging her (Baby Kochamma’s) humiliation at the hands of Velutha
and the men in the march – the Modalali Mariakutty taunts, the forced flag-waving”
(Roy, 1997, p. 257). As the novel is being written by Roy, an Indian from the ‘Third
world’ country, Chandra Mohanty expresses that it aims to provide a reliable feminist
analysis by Third World women themselves of the third world women’s diverse
oppression rather than a mischaracterised view and opinion given from a white
perspective. In this particular scene the women who are involved are Mammachi and
Baby Kochamma. These are the women who have evolved with hybridity and
temporal blending. This links to Homi Bhaba’s theory of hybridisation. He explains
that we must see the cultural meetings where “ambivalence and multiplicity are
governing forces, and where the apparent sides might in fact represent
2