A MARXIST STUDY OF ARUNDHATI ROY’S NOVEL THE MINISTRY OF UTMOST HAPPINESS

Abstract

This paper applies Marxist theory to examine the impact of state policies on marginalized groups and on middle-class communities in urban India in Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Leveraging Marx's theory of class struggle and Gramsci's concept of hegemony, this study analyzes how the state accelerates social inequalities by supporting capitalist interests under the mask of human development. Through this theoretical framework, this paper investigates how these policies reinforce division in class that results in alienation and dispossession through military aggression among the urban and rural poor, particularly in the state of Kashmir. This analysis highlights the role of institutional state apparatus such as government, religion, and the military and identifies the proletariat revolution for human freedom in the postcolonial milieu. It is inferred from the novel that revolutionary struggle is put forth by the characters to redeem their rights for a quality living, and the response was suggestive of readers, but the characters, despite their struggle, were able to minister to themselves for their happiness.