PATRIARCHY, CAPITAL AND THE FEMALE BODY: A MARXIST - FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF THE CROW EATERS

Abstract

Bapsi Sidhwa is a Pakistani-American writer renowned to be highly colorful with her writing. Her novel The Crow Eaters can be interpreted not only as a rather entertaining tale but also as an outlook of the Parsi community, its values and customs. It is written in the form of dark comedy that raises critical society issues through wit and humor. Amid these, Sidhwa alludes to the oppression of women in the Pakistani society, whereby the male members of the family tend to deal with women as objects. This study attempts to interpret the novel in the light of Marxist-feminist theory that holds women in subordination status on the basis of financial insecurity and economic scarcity. It also seeks to discuss the subtle language work done by Sidhwa in creating female characters and the profiling of the role of money in their exploitation. Moreover, the study shows that such patriarchal attitudes commodify women to attain a material gain.

Keywords: Patriarchy, Capitalism, Marxism, Feminism, The Crow Eaters