Portrayal of Dystopian Society and Brati as a Dystopian Protagonist in Mahasweta Devi's Mother of 1084

<p>The concept of Utopia deals with the ideal perfect state with completely content<br>citizens, whereas Dystopia portrays the complete opposite. In Dystopia, the people<br>lead a wretched life due to tyrannical governments, environmental disasters, and<br>dehumanization. They are constantly under surveillance and controlled with<br>oppression and terror by the authorities. Though Dystopia is an imaginary concept,<br>many oppressive traits are visible in the existing society, where citizens face<br>excessive control of authority that curbs their freedom. Mahasweta Devi, a renowned<br>writer and social activist, in her watershed novel ' Mother of 1084', portrays the<br>picture of a society in which the authorities imposed complete control on the<br>marginalized people and suppressed their basic rights, turning them into others<br>without any rights. The present paper studies the dystopian traits visible in the society<br>depicted by Devi in this novel and the revolt against it by the protagonist. Brati, the<br>young boy, as a dystopian protagonist, tried to change the scenario and bring equality<br>for these others by joining the Naxalite movement, but all his attempts proved futile.</p>