Since being created in the 4th century, love laws have been a core part of Indian culture, helping to maintain social structure and give parents control of their children. Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things reveals the modern disregard of the love laws in the pursuit of happiness. The love laws that “lay down who should be loved,” prevent Ammu, Rahel, and Estha from loving the people they want to (Roy 311). The different tragic histories of these three push them to break the love laws in order to find true happiness or love. In addition to this, all of the characters struggle with the notion of not being loved. For most of her life, Ammu has abided by the love laws, but her history and past relationships lead her to disregard the rules
…show more content…
After Estha is molested in the theater by the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, he feels guilty about the experience and keeps the event to himself, fearing that Ammu will love him less if he tells her what happened. When Ammu screams that the children were the “millstones round [her] neck” and that she wished that she dumped them into the orphanage due to her anger at Baby Kochamma, Estha’s fears seem to be proven true (Roy 240). Even though Ammu doesn’t know what happened to Estha, her comments convince Estha that what happened to him was his solely his fault. Though Ammu did not mean what she said, Estha’s fanatical fears push him to run away, believing Ammu wouldn’t care. Due to the death of his cousin, Estha was Returned and split from Rahel and Ammu, the two people in the world who loved him most. Estha was never able to see his mother again and is left with a feeling emptiness where his mother’s love should have be. When they are older, Estha and Rahel break the love laws by having sex, however, Estha is not sexually attracted to Rahel, instead yearning for a mother’s love. Before this act, Estha remarks that Rahel has grown to look like their mother. He notices that she has “their beautiful mother’s mouth” (Roy 283) and had “grown into their mother’s skin” (Roy 310). As a result of being separated from Ammu and Rahel for such a prolonged time, Estha …show more content…
The arrival of Sophie Mol only added to Rahel’s fear. She is seen as “One Loved a Little Less” in comparison to Sophie Mol, and becomes extremely insecure because of it (Roy 177). Rahel acts out because she sees the love that was once shown to her now given to Sophie. Only Estha shows Rahel the same amount of love. Estha and Rahel are two parts of one whole being, so when Estha is Returned, Rahel loses part of herself and is seemingly alone. Ammu dies when Rahel is eleven and leaves Rahel with only Chacko, Baby Kochamma, and Mammachi. Chacko, who was at the top of the list for people Rahel loved, doesn’t love her as much anymore because of the death of Sophie Mol. To Rahel, her worst fears become reality, and she closes herself in, having “no friends” at school (Roy 18). She becomes unable to emotionally open up to anyone else. During her marriage to Larry McCaslin, he noticed that her eyes “belonged to someone else” (Roy 20). Until she receives back the love she has toward her family, she is unable to love anyone else. Similar to Estha, the loss of her twin left a deep scar, a “hollow where Estha’s words had been,” in Rahel that stayed with her (Roy 20). She can’t fill the space of Estha in her life, no matter how hard she tries. Even though Larry is very much in love with Rahel, his love isn’t enough for Rahel. No matter what he does, the hole where Estha should be will always be there. The
After Estha is molested in the theater by the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, he feels guilty about the experience and keeps the event to himself, fearing that Ammu will love him less if he tells her what happened. When Ammu screams that the children were the “millstones round [her] neck” and that she wished that she dumped them into the orphanage due to her anger at Baby Kochamma, Estha’s fears seem to be proven true (Roy 240). Even though Ammu doesn’t know what happened to Estha, her comments convince Estha that what happened to him was his solely his fault. Though Ammu did not mean what she said, Estha’s fanatical fears push him to run away, believing Ammu wouldn’t care. Due to the death of his cousin, Estha was Returned and split from Rahel and Ammu, the two people in the world who loved him most. Estha was never able to see his mother again and is left with a feeling emptiness where his mother’s love should have be. When they are older, Estha and Rahel break the love laws by having sex, however, Estha is not sexually attracted to Rahel, instead yearning for a mother’s love. Before this act, Estha remarks that Rahel has grown to look like their mother. He notices that she has “their beautiful mother’s mouth” (Roy 283) and had “grown into their mother’s skin” (Roy 310). As a result of being separated from Ammu and Rahel for such a prolonged time, Estha …show more content…
The arrival of Sophie Mol only added to Rahel’s fear. She is seen as “One Loved a Little Less” in comparison to Sophie Mol, and becomes extremely insecure because of it (Roy 177). Rahel acts out because she sees the love that was once shown to her now given to Sophie. Only Estha shows Rahel the same amount of love. Estha and Rahel are two parts of one whole being, so when Estha is Returned, Rahel loses part of herself and is seemingly alone. Ammu dies when Rahel is eleven and leaves Rahel with only Chacko, Baby Kochamma, and Mammachi. Chacko, who was at the top of the list for people Rahel loved, doesn’t love her as much anymore because of the death of Sophie Mol. To Rahel, her worst fears become reality, and she closes herself in, having “no friends” at school (Roy 18). She becomes unable to emotionally open up to anyone else. During her marriage to Larry McCaslin, he noticed that her eyes “belonged to someone else” (Roy 20). Until she receives back the love she has toward her family, she is unable to love anyone else. Similar to Estha, the loss of her twin left a deep scar, a “hollow where Estha’s words had been,” in Rahel that stayed with her (Roy 20). She can’t fill the space of Estha in her life, no matter how hard she tries. Even though Larry is very much in love with Rahel, his love isn’t enough for Rahel. No matter what he does, the hole where Estha should be will always be there. The