Class, Labour and Survival: A Marxist Reading of Aravind Adiga’s “The Elephant”

Authors

  • G. Sharmely
  • A.S. Sivananthavalli

Keywords:

Marxism, Labour, Poverty, Exploitation, Survival

Abstract

Abstract

Aravind Adiga’s short story “The Elephant” portrays the financial struggles, labour exploitation, and social marginalization experienced by Chenayya, an impoverished cycle-cart driver in Kittur. His daily struggle for survival reveals the unequal relationship between employers and workers, in which physical labour provides little financial security while economic power remains with the privileged. Through a Marxist perspective, this paper examines class inequality, poverty, economic dependence, exploitation, and the struggle for dignity. Louis Althusser’s ideas about ideology and social institutions further explain how established power structures maintain unequal relationships. The story ultimately reveals that poverty is not merely an individual problem but a consequence of wider social and economic inequalities that restrict freedom and opportunity.

 

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References

1. Althusser, Louis. Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. Translated by Ben Brewster,

a. New Left Books, 1971.

2. Adiga, Aravind. “The Elephant”. Z-Library, 2009, http://z-lib.id/book/the.elephant-1.

3. ---. Between the Assassinations. Harper Collins, 2008

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Published

2025-05-20

How to Cite

1.
Sharmely G, Sivananthavalli A. Class, Labour and Survival: A Marxist Reading of Aravind Adiga’s “The Elephant”. J Neonatal Surg [Internet]. 2025 May 20 [cited 2026 Nov. 3];14(29S):1123-5. Available from: https://jneonatalsurg.com/index.php/jns/article/view/10644

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 29S (2025): Journal of Neonatal Surgery

Section

Original Article

License

Copyright (c) 2025 G. Sharmely, A.S. Sivananthavalli

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