In her novel, The God of Small Things, published in 1997, Arundhati Roy succeeds in creating an unorthodox narrative through her refashioning of the English language. Through the novel’s unexpected events, Roy presents the melancholy predicament of untouchables as well as the struggle of a woman in pursuit of romantic love in a patriarchal society. In this analysis, I will demonstrate how the reader reacts to Roy’s art of storytelling and how her unconventional style illuminates the novel’s central themes. One of the most conventional narrative structures of a novel is the chronological exposition. In most novels, the plot gradually builds up as the story progresses. However, despite its effectiveness, this technique may seem too common and predictable. Roy’s play with chronology creates an unorthodox narrative that draws the reader in and provokes bafflement at the same time. The story runs through different time frames, moving back and forth from the present to the past, foretelling without disclosing upcoming events. The warped timeline leaves the reader, if oblivious to India’s historical context, estranged from the concepts brought up in the novel. Previous knowledge is needed when reading this text to find out the…
How does Roy examine the inherent suffering that comes with love? What is the outcome? How do love laws tie in? God of small things Passion for love comes from tragedy and the harsh reality of love laws in Indian culture, without perspective of how much an individual will work for love it is impossible to see the amount of real emotion that is present. In Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things, Roy writes of true love. Pain and suffering reveals the true love that characters have for…
In The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy, the love laws intervene with the family’s social life because the characters cross their social boundaries for love which breaks these laws that are set up by the caste system in India. The Kochamma family lives in Ayemenem where the caste system is dictated. Each member of the Kochamma family, Ammu, Estha, Rahel, Chacko, Baby Kochamma, Mammachi, and Pappachi, have a downfall due to the caste system, the Love Laws. The Love Laws are rules…
GENDER DISCRIMINTION IN ARUNDHATI ROY’S “THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS” 1. Introduction Arundhati Roy was born on November 24, 1961, in Shillong Meghalaya, in Bengal, North Eastern India. Her father was a Hindu tea planter, and her mother was a Christian teacher and social activist. Roy began her education at "Corpus Christi," a school founded by her mother in Aymanam, India. This school was very informal. As a result, Roy developed a way of thinking and writing. From the beginning of her…
In an Indian Society, can love and family transcend the caste system, that which separates people into separate classes? The caste system has been in India for thousands of years. It has been legally outlawed but still has pull in society to this day. In Roy’s book the theme is that society is an ugly thing. Love and family are unable to triumph over the class boundaries. Ammu and Velutha, like many others who have tried to love across classes end up paying a heavy price. In The God of Small…
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is a novel that showcases a family that has to deal with domestic abuse, divorce, incest, rape, and many more issues. This family has been through it all. They know the meaning of the word suffering. Baby Kochamma, the baby aunt of the family, has specifically gone through many issues including heartbreak and failure. These experiences drive her to jealousy against her family members who, in actuality, have just as or more difficult lives as her. In the…
The Land of the Hypocrisy and the Home of the Ignorance Arundhati Roy, a well-known Indian author, spoke on the issue of America’s relation with foreign countries and immigrants in her famous speech, “Come September”, about a year after the devastating 9/11 terrorist attacks. Although she briefly mentions that event, she first starts out by warning the audience of the dark subjects that lie ahead of them, followed by her thesis, which states, “I believe that the accumulation of vast unfettered…
Hey this is my podcast commentary on a book the god of small things especifically focusing on a page 298 and the character baby kochamma If i had to choose a character from this novel that I hate the most, it would probably be Baby Kochamma. In the novel She acts very selfis as well as shelf-centered. We would probably consider her as the antagonist of this novel. Who is she? Her real name is Navomi Ipe Kochamma is basically a title of honor for a woman Lives with the rest of the family…
Introduction: Arundhati Roy, the first Indian woman writer to have won the Man Booker Prize in 1997 for her debut novel The God of Small Things, has chosen to employ language psychologically, typographically, structurally, and culturally in order to create characters and represent the Indian sensibility in all its cultural dimensions. Language is not only employed to mean the spoken or written words but also the way cultural groups understand and communicate to one another through customs and…
The Greater Common Good Arundhati Roy India book distributor May 24, 1999 Arundhati Roy is a well known Indian author and political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes. In her book the greater common good she tells how in name of development the government takes the rights of people. How the government gives twist and turns to situation which leaves its citizen in a baffled condition. The book starts with Nehru addressing the people of village who were displaced by the…