The God Of Small Things

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS

by Arundhati Roy

 

Award: Booker Winner 1997

 

Nominations: Dublin Longlist 1999, LA Times Finalist 1997

 

Date Read: November 13, 2003 & April 28, 2022

 

The God Of Small Things is a fascinating book about relative privilege, the meaning of the caste structure in India, worker’s rights and love that knows no bounds. Seen primarily through the eyes of fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, readers are a witness to this families undoing. Some within the family are happy to see the upheaval, such as Baby Kochamma, while others are victims of circumstance.

 

Rahel and Estha’s family are considerably well-off by India standards. They own a pickle factory and rubber estate that provides a generous living. They also employ a number of local people, including some that are Untouchable, the lowest caste in Indian society. In particular, Velutha is an Untouchable, yet loved dearly by the twins and, over time Ammu, the twins’ mother. Of course, Ammu being a Touchable and Velutha being an Untouchable is an unthinkable scenario that would have disastrous consequences if found out. And, of course, they are found out.

 

But the undoing of this family really begins with Estha being molested by a movie concessions worker when his heart is filled with so much joy that he is compelled to sing along with the songs in The Sound Of Music. I mean, who isn’t? He is banished to the lobby because his singing is disturbing the other movie-goers. And while in the lobby unsupervised, the concessions man lures him over with a free drink in one hand and his penis in the other. Estha has no one to talk to about what happened but knows with certainty that if his mother were to find out, she would love him much less. 

 

Their trip into the city isn’t just to see the movie, but to pick up Margaret, Chacko’s ex-wife, and their daughter, Sophie. Chacko is the twins’ uncle and he hasn’t seen his daughter, their cousin, since she was born. With the arrival of Sophie, all hell breaks loose.

 

In short order, Sophie is drowned, Ammu is discovered as Velutha’s lover, Velutha is killed by the police and Estha and Ammu are sent away. The pickle factory workers strike and ultimately shut down the factory for it to become a dilapidated shell. The entire family essentially falls apart.

 

The highlights of this novel, for me, are the insight into caste which I have always been aware of in Indian society but I never imagined what would happen if love transcended that boundary. I’m sure it has numerous times over the eons. We have the same in the U.S. but we call it class – upper class, middle class, lower class. These are just labels used, just like Touchable and Untouchable to either make humans feels superior or inferior. But they are entirely made-up constructs.

 

Much of this novel reads like a dream, particularly with the children trying to parse and understand events happening outside their control. This is such a breathtaking work that I read it twice.