Narrating Silenced Voices: Exploring Caste, Class and Dalit Feminist Resistance in Anjali Deshpande's Nobody Lights a Candle

Nazia Obed

Narrating Silenced Voices: Exploring Caste, Class and Dalit Feminist Resistance in Anjali Deshpande's Nobody Lights a Candle

Author(s)	Dr. Nazia Obed
Country	India
Abstract	Caste hierarchies are being significantly reshaped in modern times. Despite rapid globalization and constitutional reforms, deeply entrenched caste inequalities continue to permeate every aspect of the lives of Dalits. While Dalit men remain vulnerable within the hierarchical caste structure, the situation of Dalit women is even more precarious, as they occupy the most marginalized position at the intersection of caste, class, and patriarchy. Dalit women experience rampant caste discrimination, exploitation, sexual violence, and denial of access to resources. Although the Dalit movement and state interventions have attempted to address caste inequalities, the specific forms of violence and disenfranchisement faced by Dalit women remain insufficiently addressed. The literary representation of Dalit women is thus not only significant but transformative, as it creates space for voices historically silenced and marginalized within the rigid caste system. Drawing on Dalit feminist theory and the critique of caste patriarchy articulated by Dr. Ambedkar, Sharmila Rege, and Gopal Guru, this paper locates the experiences of the Dalit women within the intersecting structures of caste, class, and patriarchy. Through a close reading of Anjali Deshpande’s novel, Nobody Lights a Candle, this paper explores the complex forms of oppression faced by Dalit women. Through the lives of Suryabala, a working-class, uneducated Dalit woman whose brutal murder is met with cruel indifference, and Pushpa, an educated and financially independent Dalit woman who faces abuse at the hands of her upper-caste in-laws, the novel exposes the persistence of caste-based patriarchal subjugation of Dalit women across class positions. This paper argues that Deshpande’s narrative articulates the intersectional nature of caste and gender oppression, illustrating how Dalit women’s bodies become sites of contestation where caste hierarchy and patriarchal power are violently inscribed.
Keywords	Caste Hierarchy, Caste Patriarchy, Dalit Feminism, Intersectionality, Everyday Casteism
Field	Arts
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 4, July-August 2026
Published On	2026-08-03

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Narrating Silenced Voices: Exploring Caste, Class and Dalit Feminist Resistance in Anjali Deshpande's Nobody Lights a Candle

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