This research investigates the profound influence of caste hierarchies and communal norms on marital, familial, and social relationships within the selected novels of Perumal Murugan. By analyzing works such as Pyre and One Part Woman, this paper explores how deeply ingrained, often patriarchal, social structures dictate individual lives, enforce endogamy, and punish deviations through ostracization and violence. Murugan portrays the village as a site of surveillance where community honour overrides personal happiness, particularly impacting inter-caste couples and women. The study argues that Murugan’s narratives, while rooted in the Kongu region, provide a critical commentary on the systemic oppression of subalterns, the commodification of marriage, and the psychological impact of caste-based surveillance. Through a close reading of these texts, this paper lightens the intersection of caste and gender, highlighting the limited agency available to individuals against rigid traditionalist forces.
G.Ramakrishnan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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