Transgressive Eroticism and the Politics of the Body in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

Abstract

Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997) deploys eroticism as a radical political language that challenges caste, gender, and familial hierarchies in postcolonial Kerala. Rather than functioning as mere sensuality, eroticism becomes a mode of resistance against the “Love Laws” that dictate who may be loved, how, and how much (Roy 33). This article examines eroticism as a subversive force in the novel, focusing on the forbidden relationships between Ammu and Velutha, and between Estha and Rahel. Drawing on feminist theory, subaltern studies, psychoanalytic criticism, and postcolonial theory, the study argues that Roy uses erotic desire to expose the violence of caste patriarchy and to reclaim the body as a site of agency for marginalized subjects. Ultimately, eroticism in the novel becomes a counter‑discourse that destabilizes dominant social structures and redefines the boundaries of Indian English fiction.