Ideological Interpellation of Individuals in Vikram Seth'sA Suitable Boy
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Central Department of English
Abstract
This paper analyzesthe ideological interpellation of individual by class and
caste ideologies of mid-twentieth century Indian society from in Vikram Seth’s novel
A Suitable Boy. The novel, setin a fictitious town of India, Brahmpur, of a fictitious
Indian State called Purva Pradesh depicts various class and caste ideologies
centering of finding a suitable boy to marry with Lata, the younger daughter of Hindu
family. In the Indian society of that time, the marriage of the daughter is not their
solely personal matter rather it is the concern of her elders and family members to
find her a proper groom is based on Hindu religious ideology that interpellates all the
individuals of the household in different ways. RupaMehra, a widow after her death of
her husband, and Arun, Rupa’s son and the familial authority next to his mother, take
pain to find a suitable person for Lata to marry as her time of marriage approaches
after the marriage of her elder sister Savita. Savita marries the person her family
chooses for her but in Lata’s case, it is more difficult as she is quite rebellious that
she should know her man before her marriage and even loves a Muslim boy. In the
process of finding her a right personfor marriage, various ideologies come into play
in the novel. The individuals in the novel are interpellated by various interrelated
ideologies.
Key Words:Ideology, interpellation, class, caste, Hindu-Muslim strife, state
apparatus, subjectivity