Arundhati Roy's Fictional World (A Collection of Critical Essays)

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About the Book Arundhati Roy created ripples on the surface of Indian English fictions with her navel The God of Small Things (1997). This novel was a forceful plea for the upliftment of the downtrodden and the have-nots in Indian society. The untouchables and the women are the focal points here, and they are the two sections of our society who have suffered worst through the ages.

Arundhati Roy's Fictional World contains a collection of twelve critical essays contributed by some eminent scholar’s perspective or an angle of approach of their respective authors. and have a bearing on The God of Small Things and present a composite picture of its creator, highlighting both her merits and weaknesses. The book acquaints us with Arundhati Roy's remarkable power of communication, her dynamic dexterity in coining fresh words and phrases, and her unmistakable sense of music and harmony. She is unquestionably 'modernist' in her approach and style.

About the Author Born in 1943 and educated at the University of Allahabad, Amar Nath Dwivedi has taught graduate and post-graduate classes since 1965. lastly at the University of Allahabad, where he was a professor in English. Presently Dr. Dwivedi is Senior Consultant in English at U.P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University, Allahabad. A recipient of the state Bursary for four years (1961-1965), he was awarded a Teacher's Research Grant by the ASRC (Hyderabad) in 1972. He was conferred the Ph.D degree in 1975 for this dissertation 'Indian Thought and Tradition in T.S. Eliot's Poetry", which was later published in both India and Austria with a Foreword by Professor Grover Smith of the Duke University, U.S.A. Dr. Dwivedi has published about a dozen books and seventy-five research papers and serious articles. His papers and articles have appeared in such prestigious journals and periodicals as WLWE (U.S.A), Explicator (U.S.A), JSAL (U.S.A), WLT (U.S.A), Review Journal (Australia), The Aryan Path, Indian Literature, The Banasthali Patrika, Indian Journal of American Studies and New Literary Horizons. His translations of Hindi Poetry have appeared in Voices of Emergency, edited by professor John O. Perry, 1982, and in The Poetry of R.L. Khandelwal 'Tarun, 1991. Dr. Dwivedi is listed in the International Who's Who of contemporary Achievement of Cambridgeshire, England, He has participated in many national seminars and conferences and has delivered talks and recited his poems in English over the All India Radio. He is on the board of advisors for the Literary journals The Quest, The Vedic Path, Wings, The Explorer and Canopy, and is the General Editor of the Indian Writers Series for BRPC, Delhi.

Preface Contemporary Indian English fiction has come of age with the remarkable publications of a number of gifted writers like Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Amitav Ghosh Rohintan Mistry, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Githa Hariharan and Arundhati Roy. The last named one created ripples on the surface of this brand of fiction with her The God of Small Things (1997). The novel hit the selling stalls with a tremendous success and was sold like a hot cake, fetching her unbelievable money and reputation. All this happened because the novel was a forceful plea for the upliftment of the downtrodden and the have-nots in Indian society. Though the locale of the novel is Ayemenem in Kerala, South India, the happenings in it equally apply to North India as well. The untouchables and the women are the focal points here, and they are the two sections of our society who have suffered worst through the ages. Velutha is a 'paravan', an untouchable, who is somewhat rebellious temperamentally and who is an active Communist party worker, and Ammukutty, shortened to 'Ammu. is a high caste Syrian Christian woman now leading the life a widow along with her two children. The circumstances draw these two closer and they fall in love with each other. The consequence is disastrous to both: Velutha is mercilessly beaten to death by the high-boot wielding policemen in one of the nocturnal raids on his house, and Ammu, a day-dreamer of the 'one-armed man, her 'God' in discharging 'small things' (including the fulfillment of her emotional needs), also follows him through the door of darkness out of great shock.

**Contents and Sample Pages**