Group 3

Kritik Sastra AB
- Ananda Nayla (1906208052)
- Cindy Yunita (1906298084)
- Jason Philip (1906368185)
- Kamilia (1906368052)
- Putri Nathifa (1906298172)
 Table of Contents

01 Argument 02 Subalternity

Subaltern
03 Characters
04 Conclusions
Subalternity in God Help the
Child: How it Shapes the
Story
Subalternity
In military terms, the ‘Subaltern’ means ‘of lower rank.’ For Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak,
an Indian literary critic, in terms of postcolonial, it refers to a wider discourse, where
everything related to restriction access can be considered as subalternity. In other words,
subalternity becomes a condition of speechlessness.

The main problem with subalterns is not only about the people or the working class who
are oppressed, but also about anyone whose voice is limited by an access that represents
them.
Subalternity in GHTC
“Instead of Spivak’s view that the subaltern cannot speak, in God Help the
Child, it is possible to anticipate a near future in which the subaltern might be
able to speak.” (Omari, 2018)

Subalternity helps shape the novel by emphasizing both racism and child abuse as major
problems that the marginalized suffer from and cause them to become subalterns.

In God Help the Child, racism and child

It takes different shapes as each
abuse can cause subalternity for many
character has different personal
people who belong to all classes in the
backgrounds.
society.
Bride
What causes Bride to become a
subaltern?
● Racism
I was six years old and had never
heard the word “nigger” or “cunt”
before, but the hate and revulsion in
them didn’t need definition.
● Victim of emotional neglect
I always knew she [Sweetness] didn’t
like touching me…… I used to pray
she would slap my face or spank me
just to feel her touch
What are the effects?
● Identity Crisis
Maybe he is right. I am not the woman
● Inability to speak up for the right
thing
So when I told Sweetness what I’d seen,
she was furious. Not about a little boy
crying, but about spreading the
story…..She said, “Don’t you say a word
about it. Not to anybody, you hear me,
Lula? Forget it. Not a single word”
Rain
What causes Rain to become a
subaltern?
● Victim of sexual abuse
“He stuck his pee thing in my mouth and I
bit it.”
● Her voice is still suppressed
“Evelyn is real good to me and so is Steve
but they frown or look away if I say stuff
about how it was in my mother’s house or
if I start to tell them how smart I was
when I was thrown out”
What are the effects?
● Traumatized
“when Steve squatted down in front of her,
but wow! when he touched her on her
shoulder she jumped up and ran splashing
off in wet tennis shoes.”
“Man scared her, Rain confessed, and
made her feel sick”
● Criminal intentions
“Nothing. I’d chop her head off.”
Sofia
What causes Sofia to
become a subaltern? What are the effects?
● Strict, religious upbringing
They never said so, but I suspect they were ● Alienated
glad to be rid of me. In their world of God We were at the bottom of the heap of
and Devil no innocent person is sentenced murderers, arsonists, drug dealers,
to prison. bombthrowing revolutionaries and the
mentally ill.
● Imprisoned for crime she didn’t
commit ● Aggressive Behaviour
She was one of the students who testified My fists took over as I thought I was
against me, one of the ones who helped kill battling the Devil.
me, take my life away. How could she think
cash would erase fifteen years of life as
death?
 Conclusion - Subalternity and the Story
●Problems: Racism and Childhood → Abuse, Upbringing, ‘Child Subalternity /the Subalternity
of Childhood’
●Subalternity plays a part in the transformation undergone by each character.
○ It holds back voices and one’s effort to cope with and improve one’s life.
●God Help The Child = Answer to “Can the Subaltern Speak?” (?)
○ Portrays subalterns
○ Gives them a voice, and an avenue to do so.
○ Envisions hope.

“A child. New life. Immune to evil or illness, protected

from kidnap, beatings, rape, racism, insult, hurt,
self-loathing, abandonment. Error-free. All goodness. Minus
wrath.”
 Thanks!
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