Unheard Wishes: Gender, Silence, and the Transgender Experience in The Wish Maker

Abstract

The life of a transgender person is mostly silenced or marginalised in social and literary contexts in both spheres; this has resulted in the need to be recognised and speak. The Wish Maker is a novel written by a modern author, and it describes the relationship between gender expression, silence, and the difficult situation of transgender personalities in detail. This research paper explores the manner in which the novel has dealt with these issues, especially on the intersectionality of gender as well as silencing transgender identities in a patriarchal setting. Through the lens of major characters and their interactions with silence, the paper proposes that silence lends itself not only as an instrument of oppression but can also be used as a protection and survival strategy of transgender people when they are rejected in society. Queer theory and gender studies form the greater basis of this paper as empirical guidelines through which queer theory is employed to exploit the issue of silence as a gender representation and how the silence has contributed to shaping the experience of transsexuals. In a thorough thematic study, this paper will explore the reversal of the old gender structures and how The Wish Maker has presented a narrative that brings visibility to the discarded identities. To sum up, the research points out the value of the to-be-broken silence as one of the steps toward self-empowerment and social acceptance of the transgender society, recommending a more comprehensive gender representation in literature and other aspects.

Keywords: Transgender, The Wish Maker, Self-Empowerment, Identity, Silence