Violence And The Struggle For Existence

Arundhati Roy is one of the most important writers in contemporary India.Her works have received wide attention from critics and won several important literary awards.The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is her latest novel.With a strong documentary style,it shows intensive concerns about marginal people in Indian society with sharp insights.Violence occupies a prominent position in this book: physical and verbal abuse,and events such as rape,execution,or war frequently constitute a point of departure and climactic scene.In view of this,this dissertation focuses on the two core themes: marginal people and violence,to investigate the existence and struggles of marginal people and how they try to achieve social justice in an unjust society full of chaos and violence.This dissertation consists of four parts.The introduction presents the theoretical bases of this dissertation,its concepts,organization,and methodology.And also,terms,concepts,and perspectives mostly from the social sciences will be employed to shed light on the subject of this dissertation.Chapter one opens with the segregation of three kinds of marginal people,namely transgenders,untouchables and Kashmiri soldiers.It will examine some common characteristics of the them,how they become marginalized and how they struggle to survive.Chapter two explores the violence imposed on marginal people from Indian society,namely gender violence,caste violence and religious violence and it also investigates the causes and effects of such violence,specifically,how certain characters are "set up" for violence,focusing on their emotional reactions after their process of suffering from violence.In this fiction characters usually suffer one of two fates;those who defeated by violence and compromise;the other type of people tries to overthrow social injustice with their own efforts.After suffering from server violence Anjum takes refuge in a desolate graveyard and Tilo seeks protection from a man.While Saddam and Musa intend to seek revenge and fight back.The depth with which their feelings and thoughts are portrayed,and the particular form in which each character deals with his or her fate,add to that character's effectiveness.On the one hand,Roy criticizes violence,on the other hand she also explores the value and significance of living,morality,responsibility and kindness.Chapter three turns to the idea of justice and the central question is how to achieve justice in a society full of violence.Roy's portrayal of violence is dedicated to exposing the injustice of contemporary Indian society and to explore the way of achieving justice.Roy presents two ways: nonviolence,which takes roots in Indian culture and helped India to win independence from British colonization;the other is to fight back and answer violence with violence.However,both ways fail,and it seems that justice can never be achieved.Then,what is the way out for the marginal people? The answer given by Roy is love and forgiveness.At the end of the novel,all marginal people gather together in the Jannat Guest House,which as its name implies,is paradise for the marginal people with no discrimination,no violence and no oppression.Everyone can find their meaning of life here.As advocated by Roy,love and forgiveness is the only way to bridge the gap between genders,classes,and races.The last chapter is the conclusion.It concludes that the novel expresses Roy's humanitarian concern and her reformist zeal for society through the portrayal of violence on the marginals.Roy has been greatly touched by the treatment of transgenders,women,Muslims,untouchables,and Kashmir soldiers.She tries to create a temporary Utopia for them,which shows that Roy longs for understandings and kindness between different genders,races and religions and uses love as the only way to establish a peaceful dialogue between them.