Annamma's Love With Thoma Summary

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Annamma forgets all conventions and taboos, and indulges in a physical relationship with Thoma. “From that moment, there was no looking back. The conventions were broken. The age old unwritten rules of the family were broken. The Don’ts became Dos. the Dos became Don’ts. But she no longer cared” (BTRPIS 71). As a liberated and independent woman, she defiantly rejects the doctor’s proposal and shocks her father by announcing her love for Thoma. Mathen began to find his world and dreams falling to pieces. The age old rules of the family were broken and its reputation was tarnished forever by her misdeeds.
Annamma shows courage by deciding to resist any attempt by her father to destroy the innocent child in her womb. She also takes
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A woman’s place in the family hierarchy was also dependent on her exemplary behaviour like safeguarding the purity of her tribe and the purity of her body. As a result of this, all kinds of violations including cultural and social are seen in relation to religious violations. Annamma did not want to follow the rules of institutionalized religion. Though she wanted to question the sanctity of many religious practices the pull of religion was so great that she felt guilty for her actions. She felt closer to Mother Nature. She felt closer to God here, rather than inside the church. She felt her guilty consciousness calling her “Sinner! Sinner!” (BTRPIS 87). She felt shame and self-abhorrence. She felt that her body was no longer a symbol of purity but something moved by animal instincts. “There was no escape from the defiled body that housed her mind and soul. The mundu–chatta – the spotless white dress she wore as a symbol of the purity and modesty of a Syrian Christian woman seemed to be mocking at her. White-washed tomb. Decaying inside” (BTRPIS 88). She shudders at the thought that future generations would accuse her for her …show more content…
Mariamma’s mother-in-law was an “aggressive woman” (BTRPIS 103) who controlled everybody in the family including her husband. Mariamma’s father, Mathen, was the supreme authority in her family. So she could not adjust herself to her domineering mother-in-law. Her brothers-in-law and their scheming wives made her life miserable. Her mother-in-law, while being proud of her daughter-in-law’s ancestry and family background, also made use of every opportunity to taunt her so that she would not put on airs in her new familial set up. She never realised that she was doing more harm than good to their

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