SEXISM IN “THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS” BY ARUNDHTI ROY

Abstract

The correspondence between language and gender has an essential role in shaping social frameworks. The relationship frequently indicates power disparities which favor one group over the others. Men and women are expected to behave differently on the basis of language and gender with different speech patterns, pronunciation, and diction. As an expression of uncertainty or honor, female are often instructed to use polite tones, tag questions, hedging and prolonged pauses. As an indication of power and confidence, men are encouraged to talk assertively and concentrate less on these traits. In Arundhti Roy’s The God of Small Things, the use of language represents the fact that how language keep woman inferior to men. Norman Fairclough's model of discourse is applied to analyze the novel’s text and to confirm the fact of inferiority of women.