F. Method of the Study
The thesis is a result of a library research. The novel was examined through close reading, especially focusing on Ammu as a female character. In completing the
study, data were gathered through the examination of essays, documentations, and articles found in books and internet sources.
G. Approach of the Study
The aim of this study is to question the perspective that puts Ammu in the position of the transgressor instead of the transgressed. This thesis is written under
the assumption that Ammu is the victim of the given circumstance. Moreover, this thesis argues that Ammu uses her female characters to express her aspiration.
Regarding this, Feminist approach is seen as the most adequate method to read the novel. The feminist approach enables the examination of Ammu’s desire. Using a
feminist’s perspective, it is possible to see Ammu’s personal desires as a woman as worth-studying elements. By understanding her biological forces, Ammu’s choice of
identity markers is examined. This approach is also adequate in examining Ammu’s position in the environment of post-independence India as well as in the Syrian-
Christian family. The approach enables the readers to see circumstances from a woman’s point
of view. Thus it is possible to examine how a particular woman does a particular act towards a particular situation. Feminist literary criticism is concerned with the
marginalization of women Guerin et al 196. In some cultures, being a woman means
being born into the wrong sex that puts them in the inferior position from that of men. Such culture, namely the patriarchal culture, is organized in favor of men’s interests
Guerin et al 196. Simone de Beauvoir in the Introduction part of The Second Sex argues that the role of women is socially constructed and defined in relation to men.
Men are seen as the ‘Absolute’ while women are the ‘Other’ qtd. In Walder 302. In patriarchal culture, men are the center while women’s identity is defined according to
their position to the men. Feminist critics believe that literature can either reflect or challenge the patriarchal culture. In the case of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small
Things, the patriarchal culture is reflected through the story as well as challenged through the legacy of the story in the real world.
Feminist critics believe that personal representations can exhibit powerful political orientation. They believe in diary literature and other personal writings to
challenge the canon literature Guerin et al 196-197. These personal works are the manifestation of women’s voice, the one that is so often silenced. Feminist critics
believe in the very act of speaking, the act of having language, as a powerful weapon to challenge the patriarchal culture Guerin et al 197.
Besides challenging the patriarchal culture, the feminist literary criticism also aims to examine social, cultural, and psychosexual contexts of literature and literary
criticism. Elaine Showalter identifies four models of differences that define women from men: biological, linguistic, psychoanalytic, and cultural Guerin et al 199.
These models are the ground for gender stereotyping. Feminist literary criticism studies women along with broad choice of additional studies. It sees women and their
position in race, class, culture, sexual orientation, age, and even period of history. These fields can be seen as identity categories that put a woman in her circumstance
with others in the world.
H. Review of Related Studies
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