The God of Small Things

I am again going to read the God of small things, probably the coming week and the desire of reading this book arose out of the curiosity that rose particularly abut the use of language; and she was quotably said to have used the English language musically and poetically, a language foreign to her but she made use of it wondrously and I have learned lots of things about style and I consider her my Gurus when it comes to the use and application of language and she had a perfect choice of words and hardly any other writers could match her neat and majestic style

I thought it was very interesting that the boat that Rahel, Estha, and Ammu use once belonged to Pappachi. First of all this shows the influence he still has on the entire family; a lot of things they use, such as the blue plymouth, used to belong to him. In their own way they change the things to make them more their own. For example, Chacko puts the sign for the pickle factory on the car, which would have outraged Pappachi if he were alive. Ammu uses the boat to disgrace her family. In their own way the characters seem to be rebelling to Pappachi after he's dead. Other characters simply replace him with someone else, like Mammachi did with Chacko.

Another thing is that the boat was crashed on the riverbank where the twins find it when Pappachi was a child. This is symbolic to how the twins also lose their childhood with the boat in that spot. The boat is ultimately what caused Sophie Mol's death, which in turn ended the twins' childhoods.

When I read the passage about the twins cleaning the boat I thought that the image of the spiders floating on the river into the sea was interesting. The mother dies, but her children live on into another far away land. It relates to how the boat takes Sophie Mol's life like it did the spider, but it also shows how Estha and Rahel should have moved on after Ammu's death.

One more thing about the boat is that Sophie Mol and the twins instinctively trusted the safety of the boat against the river, when really it could not save or protect them. This is like how they trusted their mother to protect them from the force of their family; but like the boat Ammu was not able to fend off the current.

After finishing the novel, I thought about the timeline of everything that occurred, and realized that if Joe had not gotten in a car crash and died that none of the story would have happened. The accident was probably a result of something small as well, maybe someone ran a red light and crashed into him, or maybe it was too dark that night, whatever small thing it was, caused the big thing of the car crash. The car crash then caused the rest of the novel, again representing a small thing turning into a big thing.

Another thing was that I went back and reread the first chapter, and I cannot believe how much it revealed, and how much I overlooked. Many events and people are foreshadowed, but since I did not know the characters yet, the only thing that stuck in my mind was Sophie Mol's death. Looking back now though, the first chapter set up a lot of clues for the rest of the novel, but yet it did not spoil the story whatsoever.

Since the characters in the God of Small Things failed at their marriages, I thought that the failure of marriage foreshadowed their miserable story ending.

For example, Chacko who got divorced from Margaret failed to gain his independency. His failure of marriage proved that Chacko is not able to get away from Mammachi. Also, Ammu who married to the guy who had turned as alcoholic and vioent decide to leave him and went back to the Ayemenem. Ammu seemed to have her own life after she left her husband, unlike Chacko. However, she was forced by the society in some way. Ammu seemed to find her real love, Velutha who was abandoned by the society. Since the society decided to kill him, Ammu got ill and died later. She had no hope and no dream after Velutha died.

Therefore, I thought that Roy intened to set up the failure of marriages in the begining of the book so that he can foreshadow the storyline

"To keep her from brooding, her father gave Baby Kochamma charge of the front garden of the Ayemenem House, where she raised a fierce, bitter garden that people came all the way from Kottayam to see" (26).
The garden symbolizes Baby Kochamma's love for Mulligan and her bitterness in the fact that her life is ruined. She also lets her bitterness out on the twins by showing her lack of faith in them. This overall bitterness about life is also personified in the damp and heavy air, and it fills the house so much that "swollen cupboards creaked. Locked windows burst open" (11). Everyone is disatisfied by something in their lives.

When we were talking about the passage on page 30 about how the family no longer lives by the river, I feel we missed a point further down the page. We did discuss how because the river is not there the family has lost all hope and purity. They have no outlet. Although later on the page Roy says, "Though you couldn't see the river from the house anymore, like a seashell always has a sea-sense, the Ayemenem House still had a river-sense" (30). To me this sentence shows they have not lost all hope. While the water is not physically there, it is in their minds. The family still has dreams, the women especially. The women in the story all have a certain goal they want to acheive but are uncapable of doing so because of their gender. By having a river-sense, the woman still have that urge to carry out their dreams even though in reality it is unlikely.

We also may talk about this tomorrow, but there are a few points about this next idea I want to point out if I do not get the chance tomorrow. On pages 52-3 Chacko tells the twins about the Earth Woman. He tells them, "the whole contemporary history, the World Wars, the War of Dreams, the Man on the Moon, science, literature, philosophy, the pursuit of knowledge- was no more than a blink of the Earth Woman's eye" (53). This passage is very important to the twins' take on life. They are being told directly that they don't matter. They are just a small part of a great picture that will have little lasting effect. This relates back to the small god vs. big god. Big god does not care about the twins because he represents the bigger picture like Earth Woman does. Instead they care about small god, who cares about them. Small god represents the smaller things and just enjoys life, which is the message the twins should be getting.

One thing I noticed while reading chapter two were Rahel’s accessories. On the trip to the airport to pick up her cousin and uncle’s ex-wife, Rahel has on a plastic wrist watch with the time painted on it and a pair of yellow rimmed red sunglasses (37). Each of these accessories has a meaning behind them.
The wrist watch represents how time for the twins is at stanby and how time will have no affect on them as in the way that even as time passes, they will always be stuck in the same time period. We have not gotten that far into the book yet, but we already know that even as adults Rahel and Estha act childish, meaning that time has changed and moved on, but they have yet to do so, and to me the plastic wrist watch foreshadows this.
The sunglasses to me represent Ammu's family. Ammu does not allow Rahel to wear the sunglasses for long periods of time because they damage her eye. This is ironic because sunglasses are supposed to protect one's eyes from the sun, not cause them damage. Ammu's family is like that. Families are supposed to be supportive and loving no matter what the situation is, yet Ammu's family treat her and her kids as though they were pariahs. In chapter one when the family is attending Sophie Mol's funeral, Chacko had to "allow" them to attend and while at the church, they were not allowed to stand along side the rest of the family.

In chapter 2 of The God of Small Things, I found it interesting how the focus of many parts of the chapter was on very small things rather than big events. The attention of the reading is turned to when pappachi breaks his wife’s violin. He is so concerned that she will fall out of her place as a woman that he shatters her dreams: “mammachi took her first lessons in violin.. The lesson were abruptly discontinuen when Mammachi’s teacher made the mistake of telling Pappachi that his wife was exceptionally talented and in his opinion, potentially concert class.” (49). There is also some meaning behind when Ammu snaps at Rahel for wearing her beloved sunglasses. It is mentioned that when Rahel put on her sunglasses “The world became angry colored” (81). It seems that the sunglasses dilute the harshness all around them and puts Rahel into an ideal world where the cast system and other social ills do not exist.
The novel brings attention to these things because all that the society they live in is concerned with is social standing, and politics. Roy point out that it is wrong to live according to only these ideas. He gives the example of Velutha, who seems to not care about social standing, and lives a happier life than those around him. Even though he is an untouchable, he goes into a profession that is supposedly only supposed to be filled by touchables.

The passage in the novel about Pappachi's moth on pg 48-49 shows that when Pappachi discovered the new kind of species in his chai, he felt as if it was one of the greatest discovery because it was so new to him. Because of his excitement about his new findings, he took this the biologist, who told him that this kind of species were not new and had already been discovered. Because of this, Pappachi was all sad now because he figured out it was not his discovery. Later on, the biologists declared it as a new species, and it was named after the Acting Director of the Department of Entomology, whom Pappachi disliked. This relates to the theme of corruption because of the type of people in the area of India where Kerala was located, people get jealous of the findings of others, and they usually make the other person feel like nothing is new. Then later on, the same person person would report the findings and get the credit.

This occurring made Pappachi really mad because this new discovery might have been the best thing he might have accomplished in his whole life. His life was shattered and he started to beat his wife, and he later died. Also, this shows the personality of Pappachi because of how he coped with his loss. All of this occurrence led to the death of Pappachi.

One aspect that we pointed out in our class discussion yesterday was the Roy's technique of using allusions to several texts that our class has read in the last few years.

One text that was referenced was The Great Gatsby. When the group is leaving to go see The Sound of Music, Chacko quotes a passage from the novel. "'Gatsby turned out all right at the end. It is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.'" (38). This passage relates Chacko to Gatsby with the similarity of their desires. Gatsby, a resident of the West Egg, owns a large house and holds party in order to try and win back his former love, Daisy. Chacko, on the other hand, pursues something else. When Chacko returns from Oxford, the West Egg/Western influence, he tries to control everything.

This is also related to the last book we read, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Like Kurtz who claims "my Intended, my ivory, etc.", Chacko also claims "my Factory, my pineapples, my pickles" (56). Both characters attempt to use their Western influence to control their heart of darkness.

Allusions can also be made to The Poisonwood Bible. The twins, Rahel and Estha, can be related to several of the Price sisters. Obviously, the twins can be related to Leah and Adah, who are also twins. Moreover, a larger connection can be made to Adah. In Chapter 2, Rahel and Estha are said to be "precocious with their reading". Like Adah, the two excel in reading despite being quiet (especially Estha). Also, the two read things backwards. This can foreshadow that the twins, like Adah, have a different perspective of things with their disability of being twins. They are "Marked for Greatness"!

He knew that if Ammu found out about what he had done with the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, she’d love him less as well. Very much less. He felt the shaming churning heaving turning sickness in his stomach. He longed for the river. Because water always helps” (108).

Estha at the young age of 7 has just gone through a very traumatic experience that he doesn‘t even fully understand, and instead of being able to go to his mother and tell her, the fear of loosing his mother’s love like his sister has stops him from doing so. In this chapter the slipping away of love is a very prominent feature. Before Estha makes this comment, Ammu has told Rahel that a comment she had made lessened Ammu’s love for her. The knowledge of something like this happening to him has Estha scared to express his fears to his mother. Ammu’s comment to Rahel is completely uncalled for. The twins both only have the love of one parent which intensifies the impact of her comment.

Everyone in this family has an issue with losing love, Chacko is bitter of his ex-wife’s unfaithfulness and the lose of his daughter’s love, Baby Kochamma is bitter over the love she lost, and the twins are afraid of losing their mothers love.

In the quote mentioned above, Estha mentions the river which used to be located by their house, and how “water always helps”. The fact that Estha mentions the river makes it obvious that even as a child he sees the river as an escape, a way to leave everything behind and cleanse ones self. Water also plays a part in chapter 3 which takes place on a rainy day while the song “somewhere over the rainbow” plays in the background.

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Originally Posted by weezyhaahhh

One aspect that we pointed out in our class discussion yesterday was the Roy's technique of using allusions to several texts that our class has read in the last few years.

One text that was referenced was The Great Gatsby. When the group is leaving to go see The Sound of Music, Chacko quotes a passage from the novel. "'Gatsby turned out all right at the end. It is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.'" (38). This passage relates Chacko to Gatsby with the similarity of their desires. Gatsby, a resident of the West Egg, owns a large house and holds party in order to try and win back his former love, Daisy. Chacko, on the other hand, pursues something else. When Chacko returns from Oxford, the West Egg/Western influence, he tries to control everything.

This is also related to the last book we read, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Like Kurtz who claims "my Intended, my ivory, etc.", Chacko also claims "my Factory, my pineapples, my pickles" (56). Both characters attempt to use their Western influence to control their heart of darkness.

Allusions can also be made to The Poisonwood Bible. The twins, Rahel and Estha, can be related to several of the Price sisters. Obviously, the twins can be related to Leah and Adah, who are also twins. Moreover, a larger connection can be made to Adah. In Chapter 2, Rahel and Estha are said to be "precocious with their reading". Like Adah, the two excel in reading despite being quiet (especially Estha). Also, the two read things backwards. This can foreshadow that the twins, like Adah, have a different perspective of things with their disability of being twins. They are "Marked for Greatness"!

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weezyhaahhh, keep in mind the definition of an allusion -- it needs to be a direct reference to a specific text, historical event, etc. so the Gatsby comment is absolutely an allusion. Your connection to The Poisonwood Bible is a nice prior text, personal connection, but there is no indication in the novel [I]the god of Small Things[I] that Roy is explicitly referring to The Poisonwood Bible. You clarify the Heart of Darkness reference in such a way so as not to indicate a direct allusion; do the same in the future with other prior text connections.

Chapter 2 begins by stating, "however, for practical purposes, in a hopelessly practical world.." I believe this relates to how the children are treated by the adults around them. The kids keep hoping that their luck will change and they can become happy, however every adult brings the harsh reality to them. For example,whenever Ammu reprimands Rahel, it takes away of some of the child's hope. On pg.69 she states "You're a stupid silly little girl!" in reference to Rahel pointing out Velutha, and also on pg 107, "When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less." These words cause reality and worry to be put on Rahel and even Estha.
Also, in class a couple days ago we were discussing the importance of music in the novel. One passage that relates to this on pg 94 states," A magical Sound of Music smell that Rahel remembered and treasured. Smells, like music, hold memories. This passage reminded me of The Poisonwood Bibe, when Orleanna is sometimes struck by smells of Africa. I wonder if this passage foreshadows any feelings of Rahel when she is older.

To add on to gujupriz' comments on Pappachi's moth, it seems as though this moth and coldness has spread through the family. This moth is referenced several times in the next few chapters. Rahel says, "A cold moth with unusually dense dorsal tufts landed lightly on Rahel's heart. Where its icy legs touched her, she got goosebumps (107)." This moth seems to metaphorically represent what makes a characters heart turn cold, hard, and bitter, until this feeling actually consumes, as it does with Pappachi.

One thing I noticed in Chapter 4 is that when the group separates to enter the restrooms, the author refers to Estha as "Estha Alone" (90,92, 93, and 113). I think this represents Estha's first real separation from Rahel and his new independence. However, after Estha's major accomplishment of using the urinal, one of the worst things that can happen to a child occurs: abuse by the Orangedrink Lemondrink man. This goes along with Ammu's lesson for the twins: "excitement always leads to tears" (94). Even though Estha does not completely understand what has just happened, he feels guilty and begins to question if anyone, including Baron von Trapp from Sound of Music, could ever love him the same again, which contributes to the overall theme of guilt throughout the story. Estha's abuse is also most likely the reason that he becomes obsessed with cleanliness. Rahel also experiences the same feelings after she asks Ammu why she didn't marry the Orangedrink Lemondrink man, and Ammu says that she loves Rahel a little less now.

I found significance in the title of chapter 5. In the brochures for the hotel, the hotel is described as a part of "God's Own Country. (120)" This is ironic because the characteristics of the tourists reflect the complete opposite. The hotel is regarded as bringing in the "Heart of Darkness. (119)" An example of the activites that the tourists take part in is "while fathers played sublimated sexual games with their nubile teenage daughters, Poontha suckled young Krishna at her poisoned breast. (121)" These activites are sinful and emphasize the irony that is displayed through chapter 5's title.