Beyond The God of Small Things: The Literary and Political Legacy of Arundhati Roy

From Literary Stardom to Political Defiance

Many expected Roy to follow up her debut with another novel. Instead, she embarked on a radically different journey: she stepped into political activism with a clarity and courage that surprised her critics and admirers alike.

Her first major political essay, The End of Imagination (1998), was a fiery response to India’s nuclear tests. In it, she dismantled the celebratory nationalistic rhetoric of the time and warned of the human and ecological devastation nuclear weapons promise. This was Roy at her most unfiltered—urgent, poetic, unapologetically political.

Over the years, she expanded her political writings into a formidable body of work. Collections like The Algebra of Infinite Justice, War Talk, and Field Notes on Democracy reflected her growing concern with environmental destruction, the displacement of indigenous communities, rising authoritarianism, and the erosion of democratic institutions.

Roy’s essays were not polite critiques but bold indictments—pieces that refused to soften the edges of truth. She became, in many ways, a counter-voice to dominant state narratives, relentlessly exposing their contradictions and failures.

Activism Beyond the Page

Roy’s activism has never been confined to writing. She marched with the Narmada Bachao Andolan against the construction of large dams that threatened to displace thousands. She visited Kashmir at the height of the conflict, speaking out against human rights abuses and the militarisation of the region.

Her solidarity with marginalised communities—Adivasis resisting mining corporations, political prisoners, victims of communal violence—was not symbolic. She showed up, spoke out, and faced the consequences. Roy was charged with sedition more than once, vilified by mainstream media, and relentlessly targeted online. Yet she remained steadfast, arguing that silence in the face of injustice is itself a political act—and a harmful one.

A Return to Fiction With Broader Horizons

After two decades devoted largely to nonfiction and activism, Roy returned to fiction with The Ministry of Utmost Happiness in 2017. This was not a quiet comeback, nor was it an attempt to replicate the magic of her first novel. Instead, it was a sprawling, multi-layered narrative that wove together the stories of people pushed to the margins of India’s social and political landscape:

1. a transgender woman creating a sanctuary in Old Delhi,
2. a Kashmiri freedom fighter shaped by conflict,
3. a Dalit cemetery keeper whose life is etched by caste violence.

The novel expanded Arundhati Roy’s literary world, combining intimate emotional landscapes with sweeping political commentary. It confirmed what many had long suspected: Roy’s fiction and activism were not separate; they were deeply intertwined, each enriching the other.

Interweaving Literature and Politics

Across both her novels and her nonfiction writings, a central thread persists: Arundhati Roy writes about those who live at the edges of power—those the world prefers not to see. Her literary imagination is vast, but it is also deeply political. She refuses to create stories that ignore the structural forces shaping people’s lives.

This interweaving of literature and activism is perhaps Roy’s most distinctive contribution. She rejects the idea that a writer must choose between art and politics. For her, fiction is a means of telling the deeper truth, and political writing is a form of bearing witness. She once wrote, ‘There’s really no such thing as the voiceless. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.’ That belief echoes through every page she has written.

A Fearless Public Intellectual

In an era of rising polarisation and shrinking spaces for dissent, Arundhati Roy remains one of India’s most provocative and essential public intellectuals. She challenges majoritarianism, questions the consolidation of corporate and state power, and highlights the lived experiences of communities ignored by mainstream discourse.

Her critics accuse her of being too radical, too outspoken, too political for a novelist. But Roy has never sought approval. What she seeks is justice, dignity, and visibility for those pushed to the margins.

A Legacy That Transcends Genres

As we celebrate Arundhati Roy’s birthday, her legacy shines even brighter—one that blends courage, creativity, and uncompromising moral clarity. Roy is not only a writer who revolutionised Indian English fiction but also an activist who reshaped public conversations around nationalism, justice, and human rights.

Her work—whether fiction or political commentary—urges us to confront uncomfortable truths about power, inequality, and the stories we choose to ignore. It invites readers to look closer, think deeper, and refuse complacency.

On this special occasion, Roy’s enduring influence reminds us why her voice matters now more than ever. She remains a rare beacon of conscience in modern India, inspiring generations with both her storytelling brilliance and her fearless commitment to truth.

Also read: How Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale Exposes Patriarchy, Power, and State Control