The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy's Novel of Gender and Caste Constuction in India
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy tells the story of the communist state of Kerala and the forbidden love between two castes, which changes the lives of everyone.
The God of Small Things is Arundhati Roy's first novel, winner of the Booker Prize in 1997. It is a stunningly lyrical love story that takes place in the communist state of Kerala, India and told through the eyes of "two-egg twins," Esthappen and Rahel. Their recently divorced mother, Ammu, takes her children home to the village of Ayemenem in Kerala where she is not welcomed warmly by her family. Estha and Rahel learn quickly that "things can change in a day" and that "anything can happen to anyone."
The Plot of The God of Small Things
Ammu, Estha, and Rahel's return to Ayemenem also marks a period of unrest in the Ipe family. Ammu's mother, Mammachi owns Paradise Pickles and Preseves and it is slowly going out of business. Ammu's brother, Chacko, bought so much automated machinery that the factory is drowning in debt so much that it can hardly afford to pay its employees. The one good thing that the factory has going for it is the Untouchable, Velutha, who is a master of machines. He works at Paradise Pickles and Preserves for much less than he deserves because of his status as an Untouchable in the caste system. Because he is an Untouchable, the factory workers get upset at his working in a "Touchable" factory and start complaining. These complaints put Mammachi and Chacko on edge as they begin to consider ways to rid themselves of him.
Chacko's ex-wife arrives with their daughter, Sophie Mol, and as Rahel puts it so eloquently: "Things can change in a day." This day, the day of Sophie Mol's arrival, marks the beginning of an affair between Touchable Ammu and Untouchable Velutha. Estha and Rahel are caught in the middle and their lives will never be the same. Ammu, Velutha, Estha, Rahel, and Sophie Mol are victims of circumstance that they'll never recover from.
Analysis of The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy does a brilliant job painting a vivid picture of the horrors of the caste system in India. Not only that, but in the same painting she shows how forbidden love in the caste systems are treated and how women in general are marginalized. Paradise Pickles and Preserves is Mammachi's factory, but after the passing of her husband, ownership flowed directly to her son, Chacko. Ammu's divorce made her an outcast and brought shame on the entire family. These two examples are used by Arundhati Roy to show the condition of women in India. They held no power and had no rights even in their own lives.
Ammu's relationship with Velutha only worsened matters at home. Their forbbiden love affair broke the Love Laws and the very traditions that the country was founded upon. Estha and Rahel, innocent children with innocent eyes, tell the story in such a way that makes the reader sympathize with Velutha because they loved him so much. He was the man "her [Ammu] children loved by day and the man she loved by night." Arundhati Roy uses Ammu and Velutha's forbidden relationship to show how love transcends castes and shouldn't be forbidden as it is.
Overall, the novel is a scathing critique of gender structure, caste structure, and communism in India. Arundhati Roy, however, uses Estha and Rahel in such a way that tones down the tone of the novel so that any scathing criticism is in the backround, and the tragic lives of the characters are in the foreground.
Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. New York: Harper, 1997.
