Estrangement from the Centre: A Postcolonial Gothic Reading of The God of Small Things
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Abstract
The present dissertation seeks to read the novel The God of Small Things from the
critical perspective of gothicism. The narrative that is woven with gothic elements, such as
haunted house, obsession for something uncanny and fearful delineation of the events has the
subversive potentiality. The gothic is located in the familial house, gender and caste
relationship, political situation and the everyday interactions amongst family members. Seen
from the lens of gothicism, the present research argues that gothic turns out to be strategic
trope in order to foreground the signs of colonialism and the alienation and estrangement of the
people from the establishment. Overwhelmed by colonial legacy, the Kerala government
founded on communism fails to secure freedom and pursuit of happiness for which native
people have fought so far. The communism practiced in Kerala cannot resolve the problem of
caste system. Rather communist leader like Comrade Pillai stretches the discourse of caste in
order to exploit the untouchables like Velutha and tightens bond with Baby Kochamma, the
traditional elitist woman, to win the consent of the upper class and caste. Pappachi‘s inability
to gain the public honour of the British administration is metaphorically extended to the moth,
which is then cast into the intimate sphere to bring about destruction to Rahel and Estha.
Pappachi‘s moth becomes a family curse that visits itself upon each subsequent generation of
the family. His failure to obtain recognition shadows the entire novel and shows how the
postcolonial rulers attempt to imitate the colonial policy. Therefore, gothicism has deliberately
been employed to highlight the malfunction of communism to address the vexed issues related
to caste and gender. Besides, gothic narrative subverts the teleology of the grand narrative of
colonialism/nationalism and native people‘s traditional values and belief-system regarding self
and family.