“Socio-Cultural Hierarchies and Marginalization in Contemporary Indian English Fiction: A Comparative Study of The God of Small Things, The White Tiger, and The Namesake”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66635/f335hr13Keywords:
Indian English Fiction, Socio-Cultural Hierarchies, Marginalization, Caste, Class, Gender, Migratio, Identity, Diaspora, GlobalizationAbstract
This paper examines the representation of socio-cultural hierarchies and mechanisms of marginalization in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger, and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. Although the three novels emerge from different social and historical contexts, they collectively reveal how unequal social structures continue to influence individual experiences and opportunities. Roy exposes the persistence of caste and patriarchal authority in postcolonial Kerala, Adiga critiques class inequality and the contradictions of economic liberalization, while Lahiri explores questions of cultural identity and belonging within immigrant communities. Through characters such as Velutha, Ammu, Balram, Ashima, and Gogol, the novels illustrate different responses to social constraints, including resistance, adaptation, mobility, and self-discovery. The novels offer complementary perspectives on contemporary Indian experience by highlighting the relationship between individual lives and broader social structures. A comparative reading of these novels demonstrates the continuing relevance of socio-cultural issues in contemporary Indian English fiction.
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