Child Labour in Selected Novels of Aravind Adiga

Abstract

The paper attempts to read through the representation of gender in Usha Priyamvada‟s Pachpan Khambe Laal Deewarien, translated in English as Fifty-five pillars, Red Walls. It presents the layered character of Sushma, a middle-class working woman trapped within the rigid structures of patriarchy and social expectation. Sushma emerges as a figure who performs roles of a daughter, provider, teacher, and caretaker—while suppressing her own emotional and personal desires. The novel critically examines how women ‟side ntities are, constructed ‟through sacrifice and duty in a patriarchal society. How shies put on a pedestal and worshiped but never really seen and heard in the true sense. Another question that arises, is of performance. Is Sushma essentially feminine or she performs masculinity? Sushma‟s life is plagued by emotional restraint and social performance. Her individuality is continuously sub ordinated to familiars’ responsibilities, reveal in how patriarchy often exploits women‟s labor under the guise of duty and respectability. Judith Butler’s idea of gender as performance becomes relevant here, as Sushma performs the role of the “ideal woman” according to societal norms, despite her inner dissatisfaction and loneliness. The relationship between Sushma and Neel highlights the tension between desire and social conformity. Although she experiences emotional intimacy and the possibility of personal happiness, she ultimately withdraws because society does not permit a woman of her age and status to prioritize her own desires. Her sacrifices not portrayed dichroic but tragic, exposing the emotional violence embedded within patriarchal structures. Sushma’s limited agency reflects the condition of many middle-class Indian women who internalize social expectations and regulate their own behavior. The symbolic setting of the “fifty-five pillars” and “red walls” represents confinement, surveillance, and emotional imprisonment. Thus, the novel becomes a powerful critique of gendered oppression, illustrating how patriarchy schools’ women into silence, endurance, and self-denial while denying them emotional freedom and autonomy.