Picture credit - Goodreads
“Humans are animals of habit.”
A story of childhood experiences of two fraternal twins whose lives were destroyed by the “love laws” of society. How casteism shapes Indian society and how deep-rooted this problem is. The barrier that is put for us to love someone, i.e. who, how, and how much is dealt with in this. In the end, it'll make you wonder whether it is right to love someone that is boundless!
Introduction
Book - God of small things
Author - Arundhati Roy
Genre - Psychological fiction
Language - English
Synopsis - Non-Spoiler Alert!
The story starts in Ayemenem, now part of the Kottayam district in Kerala, novel has a disjointed narrative that shifts back and forth between 1969-1993. The story is set up in a multi-generational family home. A family that has had a pickle factory as their family business for the past two generations.
Ammu Ipe, the mother of the twins, marries their father to escape from her ill-tempered father and ends up in a miserable life with his alcoholic husband who tries to pimp her to his boss and becomes violent towards her and her children. She comes back home after suffering all the consequences of her hasty decision and thinks of starting a new life back in Ayemenem. But the future had different plans for her. There she falls in love with Velutha, a worker in the pickle factory. This relationship is one of the most cataclysmic events in the novel.
The irony against casteism is also reflected in this novel, Velutha who is a Paravan (untouchable) working as a carpenter in the pickle factory, is also a member of the local communist going on in Ayemenem, which brings me to the third point which is the political reform which was going on in Kerala in the late 1960s. The suppression of Dalits by the upper caste was something that was brought to light at that time, but as the story progresses you would see the turning of tables when the local officials exploit the lower caste for the truth to remain hidden.
The separation of twins after the tragic accident that takes place changing everyone's life forever and making us think about how the reputation of a certain class of a group of people is diminished by a certain part of society, how far could someone go just to keep the truth under a veil which could be seen by everyone.
About the Author
Picture credits: NYTimes
The god of small things was the debut novel of Arundhati Roy, which also won Booker’s prize in the year 1997 in which it was published, and became the best selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. This was also highly criticized because it set the norms of society apart. She is also a political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes.
Self Analysis
It’s a novel based on a family drama stating the childhood experience of fraternal twins whose lives were destroyed by the “love laws” set by the society stating who should be loved and how and by how much. It also sheds light on how little things affect life and people’s experiences hence the name god of small things.
Different parts of the novel also bring sexual abuse/assault into light and not stereotype it to a specific gender. Making us see how we neglect small and petty things in our day-to-day life. A lot of different and diverse themes were discussed in this like Indian history and politics, caste relations and cultural tension, forbidden love, social discrimination, betrayal and misogyny and representation of women in India.
It’s written in a non-sequential narrative and it's a patchwork of flashbacks and sidetracks that weave together to tell the story of the Ipe family. It’s narrated in a third-person perspective and the reader sees through the eyes of Rahel.
Indian society is very complex with diverse beliefs, cultures, thoughts and faith. Different religions share the same space. Society is not only divided by the caste system but also by class consciousness. Kerala itself, where the story is set up has a very complex social setup with various religions displaying different lifestyles and traditions. In short, this book could be described as “an inextricable mix of emotion and imagination”.
Famous Quotes
“It is curious how sometimes the memory of death lives on for so much longer than the memory of the life that is purloined”.
“He folded his fear into a perfect rose. He held it out in the palm of his hand. She took it from him and put it in her hair.”
"Smells, like music, hold memories. She breathed deep, and bottled it up for posterity."
Bottom Line
I felt this book to be a life-changing one, the way it portrays emotions and imagination is so surreal. I would request people reading this to have a broader perspective and not perceive things how they are supposed to because at the very end I feel like we are really no one to judge who should love whom, it’s beyond our limits to decide who should be loved, how and by how much.
My rating is 4.5 on 5
Grab your copy on amazon God of Small Things
Written by - Shambhavi Arya
.jpeg)
0 Comments