Transnational Postcolonialism In The Grod Of Small Things

Revolving around two families-the upper class Ipe Family and the Untouchable Veltuha Family, Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things presents a panoramic picture of post-Independence India under the influence of both western and indigenous culture.Through analyzing plot construction and characterization, this thesis explores the relationship between characters’personal tragedies and the free play of both globalization and caste system in India, revealing Roy’s historical attitude toward cultural identification under globalization. Through depicting the tragedies of the characters (both transnational and indigenous subjects), Roy exposes the oppressive nature of globalization while casts doubts on indigenous culture as a solution to social problems in India. Via cultivating western cultural domination and implementing physical and social exclusion respectively, globalization and caste ideology play a part in the life tragedies of members of the two families. In doing so, it is argued that the book refracts Roy’s response to transnationalism. Instead of viewing transnationalism as a liberating force to the third world country, it is imaginatively depicted as transnational postcolonialism.