The Marginalised Majority: Voicing the Angst of the Linguistically Challenged in Chetan Bhagat’s Half Girlfriend

Abstract

The novel Half Girlfriend (2014) by Chetan Bhagat exposes a facet of social stratification in India, which is gauged by one’s ability to articulate in English and has become a marker of social hierarchy in contemporary times. The protagonist, Madhav Jha, a mouthpiece of the author, who hails from Bihar, endures marginalisation and derision at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, because of his poor English-speaking skills. This linguistic handicap relegates him to the margins, thwarts his agency, rendering him virtually invisible. Through him, Bhagat brings to the fore the class divisions between the fluent speakers of the language and the not-so-fluent ones, illustrating the resultant inferiority and angst in the minds of the latter. This novel has thus succeeded in creating consciousness in the minds of the speakers, who have an extremely exalted opinion about their linguistic skills and are contemptuous towards those lacking proficiency in it. The attempt is hence to advocate for acceptance and inclusivity as well as a refinement in the attitudes of those at higher echelons towards the linguistically thwarted ones, and a plea for a more egalitarian society in future.