The Silent Scars: Child Sexual Abuse and the Burden of Memory in Anuradha Roy’s Sleeping on Jupiter

Abstract

Anuradha Roy’s 2015 published Sleeping on Jupiter depicts the hollows of society and uncovers the horrors and trauma individuals and the marginalised community suffered in Postcolonial times. It also shows the amalgamation of Eastern and Western contexts and the vulnerability of children. Trauma and its associated memories have been identified as causative agents in the emergence of severe mental health disorders, including hallucinations. Trauma can extend beyond the context of armed conflict and may materialise within the domestic sphere, irrespective of external factors. The capacity of literature to portray comprehensive traumatic experiences is a crucial aspect. The adverse impact of emotional warfare on society is considered more severe than physical violence, making it the most critical conflict that requires attention. The occurrence of childhood trauma not only increases the likelihood of developing psychotic experiences in the future but also influences the specific shape that these experiences may take. Unlike physical wounds, those emotional wounds that have not healed are not visible, and we do not have a sure-fire simple band-aid for it.  Nomita, the child protagonist in Sleeping on Jupiter, started living in survival mode after she departed from her mother, who abandoned her; her father was brutely murdered in front of her. The present study investigates the instances of violence encountered by the juvenile protagonist and her female counterparts, encompassing physical and psychological dimensions.