Domestic Violence and Sexual Exploitation in Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train

Abstract

Paula Hawkins accentuates the need to prevent one of the biggest social problems, the frequent murder of maids. Her novel, The Girl on the Train, reminds us of the cold-blooded murders of housemaids, school and college girls, and working women. The murdered women’s dead bodies are thrown in the waterways and gutters. For decades, these kinds of disgruntled problems have been diffused through the media. Society is stuck with such criminal cases. Many debates and discussions on the nature and cause of female suppression have been conducted to educate women through the women's development cell in various private and government organisations. Hawkins’ portrayal of women as mothers, guides, wives, friends, and maids paves the way for the reader to understand the perceptions of women and their helplessness. This paper brings out the complications encountered by modern women with special reference to Hawkins’ novel The Girl on the Train.