A Comparative Study of Namita Gokhale and Arundhati Roy: Intersecting Oppressions in The God of Small Things and Things to Leave Behind through the Prism of Ecofeminism

Abstract: This research delves into the themes of oppression, gender, and the environment in Arundhati Roy"s first book, The God of Small Things (1997), and Namita Gokhale"s historical epic, Things to Leave Behind (2016), in a comparative approach. Using the Ecofeminist framework, this research attempts to show how the exploitation of women and nature, within the postcolonial Indian framework, is interlinked and is a result of a particular form of patriarchy. The research investigates the intersectionality of oppression through the female characters and protagonists, Ammu in Roy"s novel and Tilottama/Kavita in Gokhale"s, as they navigate and resist the systems of hierarchy based on gender, class, caste, and traditions. While Roy seeks to explain and critique the social fissures and their numerous ecological implications in a contemporary environment, Gokhale"s historical writing reflects the growing ability to resist the imposition of liberal feminism at the cross-purpose of culture, the environment, and the gendered social order in the Kumaon region. Both authors address the imposition of patriarchal structures in their narratives and the related need for social and ecological justice.