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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Arundhati Roy is one of the most acclaimed writer and critic of twenty first century. She is a figure-head of the anti-globalization movement. The God of Small Things is the only novel written by Roy. She was awarded Bookers Prize for this book, and ever since that she has always written about political issues. She has written on diverse topics starting from Narmada Dam project to India’s Nuclear Weapons. To understand this novel we should have a fair idea about widespread discrimination which…
The novel The God Of Small Things, written by Keralite Arundhati Roy, follows two twins living in Kerala, India. The twin protagonists, Estha and Rahel Ipe, face many tribulations such as love, abuse, death, and complex family relationships, most of which are caused by the social stratification in India. Based on the words of Roy, it is imperative to understand that these norms in Kerala created social boundaries surrounding the romantic and agapic love the Malayali people could share. This was…
standards for others propels the individuals who perpetuate the same conventions. These standards ultimately shatter the lives of the vulnerable individuals in society, propagating their downfall. This notion is prevalent in a novel published by an Indian activist, Arundhati Roy. In Arundhati Roy’s novel The God Of Small Things, the societal standards of India’s once sacrosanct caste system and the disregard for women’s rights dehumanize the twins,…