Representation of the Subaltern in Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies

Abstract

This thesis entitled ―Representation of the Subaltern in Amitav Ghosh‘s Sea of Poppies” focuses on under- privileged, oppressed and exploited subaltern people of 19th century. All the characters have lost their identity and being helpless due to Hindu socio-cultural norms and values. The lives of the marginalized subjects in this novel are conditioned and dictated by movements of people, commerce and empire. These characters like Deeti, Hukumsingh, Kabutri are privileged, oppressed and exploited by the so called higher caste and patriarchal society. The representation of the practice of sati, the immolation of widows on their husbands‘funeral pyre, has garnered interest for long from postcolonial and feminist discourses among others. Likewise, the Hindu caste system makes the characters traumatized and loss their identity in the modern world.