Women’s Marginalisation in A Fine Balance

Abstract

It is the irony of fact or situation, that a woman, who occupies half of the entire humanity, is considered an inferior to man in society. We have innumerable historical references and examples in which woman has been shown as submissive, emotional, and prevented from enjoying the same privilege and rights as those of her counterpart. In our society we prioritise one group naturally putting the other at margin by the help of language and action. Pushing a particular community or group to the margin or to the periphery, or away from the centre creates a hegemonic binary opposition.  This is created through a long process of cultural other. Woman is the pillar of family and society, but she has become the victim of multiple atrocities practised upon her through ages. This paper will analyse and discuss the place of women in our so-called civilised society as revealed in Mistry’s A Fine Balance. It will discuss how woman characters lead a life of discrimination and oppression in male dominated society. Depiction of woman characters in A Fine Balance would be re-examined and discussed with new parameters and methods.