Humanity demands dignified life of each human being irrespective of caste, creed, class, gender, age or any other discriminating ground. It wishes for ensuring familial, social, economic, political, intellectual and emotional freedom for every individual. In fact, everyone talks of humanity but the irony is that it is always seen in a very deplorable, wounded and bleeding state. Humanism is found everywhere almost in dying state. To be a man or woman is very simple but to be a human being is extremely difficult. Surprisingly enough, human population is increasing, but humanity is falling down. The present paper attempts at analysing the depiction of the deteriorated human values in Mulk Raj Anand's celebrated novel Two Leaves and a Bud (1937) and Arundhati Roy's magnum opus work The God of Small Things (1997) comparatively. In both these novels one finds humanity being shamed and humiliated. The horrible life-odyssey of Gangu and his family in Indian pre-independence era and Ammu-Velutha's heart-rending saga of love and care for one another in Indian post-independence era are enough to prove the condition of humanity in reality. Both these novels portray the suffering human beings due to the stigma of class-distinction.
Research Scholar, P.G. Department of English, Magadh University, Bodh-Gaya