Representation of Shikhs in J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy

Abstract

This research entitled “Representation of Shikhs inJ.K.Rowling’sThe Casual Vacancy” casts light on how the orientalism has relegated Shikhs in to degraded level even in the postcolonial period. The nonwestern characters in J.K.Rowling’sThe Casual Vacancyare subjected to various harrowing experiences.This novel presents Vikram family as a representative nonwestern people.The Sikh character in Sukhvinder, is referred to as "the Great Hermaphrodite" and a "hairy man-woman."Shikhs have own life style, culture, civilization and attitude to native people.Rowling portrays the troubled relation between the non-west and west. The entire regional culture and geography of India appears to be an exotic land caught in the turmoil and tension created by the conflicting interests of various power centers. The zone of India looms as the defeated, sterile, surreal, and static world. Most of the youths in this novel are found humiliated, defeated, and resigned to their lives due to systematic marginalization of west.