Human-Animal Love in the Novels of Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai: A Comparative Study

This paper attempts to explore Human-Animal love in the novels of Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai through a comparative study framework. Roy is an expert in giving voice to the voiceless. Following the same fashion she has provided a dignified place to animals in both of her novels. She stands tall for the causes of humble humanity and in the case of animals her love is no less. She becomes such involved with her animal characters that she doesn‟t hesitate to provide them actual names just like her human characters. She has presented the positive side of human-animal bonding, which work as a tragic relief during the intense moments in her novels. On the other hand her counterpart Kiran Desai shows the dependability of her human characters over her animal characters that may be a docile dog or mischievous monkeys. Desai provides convincing roles to animals who are not introduced for a decorative purpose, but for their aesthetic pleasure. Her characters value their relationship with animals and deem them as an integral part of their lives. The paper discusses human-animal love, which is a step ahead from human-animal bonding, relationship or association.