Death of a Moneylender by Kota Neelima: Debt, Rural Power, and Subaltern Realities

Abstract

Kota Neelima’s Death of a Moneylender presents rural India as a space shaped by poverty, indebtedness, unequal power relations, and the struggle for justice. Set in an unnamed village in south-central India, the novel begins with the death of a moneylender and gradually reveals the complicated social and economic relationships behind the event. Rather than presenting the villagers simply as victims or criminals, Neelima examines the circumstances that produce resentment and collective resistance. The novel also questions how rural suffering is represented by the media through the journalist Falak. This article examines Death of a Moneylender through the perspectives of subaltern studies and agrarian distress. It argues that the novel brings marginalized rural voices and experiences into literary visibility while exposing the relationship between debt, social power, political influence, and representation.