| Indian author Arundhati Roy's first novel The God of Small Things won the Booker Prize in 1997.The novel is full of depiction of kindness and ugliness of mankind and presents a scene of the post-colonial Indian society which is overwhelmed by the influence of western and domestic culture.The novel focuses on the love tragedy that happens between the divorced upper-class woman Ammu and the Untouchable young man Velutha and foregrounds predicament of the “other” in post-colonial India.The God of Small Things has drawn much attention home and abroad since its publication.Many studies of the novel mainly focus on post-colonialism,feminism,and the novel's narrative art.Though these studies more or less touched upon the “other” in the novel,the further systematic studies still need to be advanced.In light of this,the thesis mainly uses the “other” theory combining with Indian's colonial history and its internal gender and class issues to analyze the “other” that lives on the margins of post-colonial Indian society.This thesis focuses on the “other” and discusses the causes that make people become the “other”,including the impact of the British colonialist ideology,the oppression of patriarchy and the rigid caste system.Subsequently,this thesis analyzes the loss and pursuit of identity of the “other” in the novel by utilizing the “other” theory of Edward Said,Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Homi Bhabha.On the basis of exploration of the causes,this thesis makes a further study of the relationship between the “other” and “self” to show the struggle and pursuit of identity of the “other” represented by Ammu and Velutha in post-colonial India.Through the detailed analysis of the relationship between the “other” and “self”,the thesis enlarges the application sphere of the “other” theory and provides inspiration for people to face difficulties bravely and keep pursuing justice and equality around the world. |
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