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| Arundhati, Roy: The God of Small Things
Arundhati, Roy: The God of Small Things
BOOK REPORT:
Title and author:
“The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy: fiction with
biographic elements
Arundhati Roy was trained as an architect. She has worked as a production
designer and written the screenplays for two films. She lives in New Delhi. This
is her first book.
Settings:
The book was first published in Britain in 1997. The story happens in
Ayemenem, Kerala, South India in 1969.
Plot:
It is a tale about the childhood of two Indian children, Esthappen (Estha
for short) and his fraternal twin sister, Rahel, and their divorced mother,
Ammu, who live in the south Indian state of Kerala. Ammu, a Syrian Christian,
has had no choice but to return to her parental home, following her divorce from
the Hindu man she had married, the father of Estha and Rahel.
When their English cousin, a nine-year-old girl Sophie Mol, and her mother,
Margaret Kochamma, arrive on a Christmas visit, Esthappen and Rahel learn that
“Things Can Change in a Day”.
The story centres on the visit and drowning death of the twins'
half-English cousin. That visit overlaps with a love affair between Ammu and the
family's carpenter, Velutha, a member of the Untouchable caste "The God of Loss
/ The God of Small Things."
The cousin’s death and the discovery of the forbidden love affair
cause great turmoil in conservative Ayemenem.
The consequences of these intertwined events – the drowning and the
forbidden love affair – are dire: Estha stops speaking after Sophie
Mol’s death; Ammu is banished from her home, dying miserably and alone at
age 31; Rahel is expelled from school, drifts, and marries an American, whom she
later leaves. “The God of Small Things” is beaten to death.
The narrative begins and ends as Rahel returns to her family home in India
and to Estha. Unified again, there is a chance to heal their wounds
together.
Characters:
Rahel and Estha:
A large part of the story is written from Rahel’s perspective. Her
thoughts and feelings are the same as her brother’s because there is a
certain bond between the twins. Esthappen and Rahel think of themselves together
as Me, and separately as We or Us. Even after they are grown and have been
separated, there is still a union between them that almost seems necessary to
make them whole. However important their unity is to their identity, it seems to
be dangerous to those around them, those who are close to them.
But this danger is more due to innocence than intent. It’s an
innocence, which cannot survive in the mixture of Indian and European
society.
Rahel and Estha’s innocence does not protect them from
reality.
Ammu:
Ammu is Rahel and Estha’s mother, who was married to a Bengali from
whom she is divorced. She is very attractive and in a “viable, die-able
age”. Ammu and the twins live in the Ayemenem house with their
grandmother, uncle, and grandaunt Baby. The family owns a pickle factory that
comes into conflict with the Communists.
Ammu loves her children, and they know that. Therefore the twins try hard
to acquire all of their mother’s love.
Her tragic fate is that she loves the man by night, her children love by
day: “The God of Small Things/The God of Loss”, a man from a lower,
untouchable caste working as the family’s carpenter.
Problems:
- Ammu loves the family’s carpenter, who is
also a man from the Untouchable caste. At that time (and even now) it is a real
disgrace to the family.
- Sophimol, the half-cousin of Rahel and Estha,
dies tragically by drowning. She had been in Kerala just for a
visit.
- The time between the death of beloved Sophiemol
and the discovery of the forbidden love affair between Ammu and Velutha are just
4 days. The family couldn’t cope with 2 happenings within that short
time.
- Rahel and Estha’s innocence brings their
relatives into danger.
- The religious system in the Hinduism hinders a
relationship between Ammu and Velutha.
Style of the book:
The novel consists of 21 chapters.
The author's style is both poetic and unusual. The larger story contains
many smaller ones that stand alone.
The story is told in the 3rd person’s narrative. But the
language changes, depending on the character whose feelings and situation the
author wants to describe. Therefore the reader can “watch” the story
from several views, mainly from Rahel’s perspective.
The novel is rich with Indian family relationships, social custom and
mores, politics, human emotions and behaviour. At one and the same time, it is
tragic mystery and a love story.
The story is full of metaphors and filled with ironic and sarcastic
remarks.
Message:
“The God of Small Things” is Velutha. As there is no
understanding for “Big Things” in the relationship between Ammu and
Velutha, they have to fall back on the “Small Things”. The small
things let them have a still fulfilled love.
People take always too much care of the Big Things in life, but they
don’t realize that the Small Things are at least as much important. For
some people the Small Things are the only way to express their feelings because
there mustn’t be any Big Things.
PERSONAL Evaluation:
I have to say that this has been the best novel ever. I think, as the
author is almost my neighbour I have a special relation to that story. I know
all the places where it happens and can imagine the descriptions
better.
However, to my mind, this novel is extraordinary to everyone due to the
excellent writing style and explicit descriptions.
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