Sherry Tsang
Ms. Feole
English 010 10
08 October 2008
Small Things with Massive Meaning
In the alluring novel, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, inconspicuous happenings prove to be vicious forces in the lives of soul-sharing Indian twins, Rahel and Estha, and their family members. The “small” events they have faced are normally thought of as unimportant by others, but to them, the events are by no means insignificant. The occurrences that silently bring despair and internal damage upon them are caused by the “Small God’s” devious deeds. These include Estha’s brief incident with the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, Ammu’s (mother of Rahel and Estha) insensitive remarks to her children, and Sophie Mol’s attempted deed gone awry.
One little incident, that only lasted minutes long, was enough to scar Estha’s life. From that incident on, his life was hushed by memories of it. The event’s effect was powerful enough to leave Estha “unspeakable. Numb. And to an observer therefore, perhaps barely there” (13). This happened in Estha’s childhood when his mother, Ammu, took his sister Rahel, Uncle Chacko, grandaunt Baby Kachamma, and him to see the Sound of Music at Kerala’s premiere cinema hall, Abhilash Talkies. Embarrassed and annoyed by Estha’s eccentric singing during the movie, Ammu allowed Estha to go outside into the lobby where he met the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, “an unfriendly jeweled bear” (97) whose “yellow teeth were magnets” (98). The Lemondrink Orangedrink Man raped pitiable Estha whose mind could not comprehend what was
Tsang
going on. Although he did not understand what happened to him at that time, he did have a “green-wavy, thick-watery, lumpy, seaweedy, floaty, bottomless-bottomful feeling” (102) toward it. He felt “dirty” and disturbed; those feelings were intense enough to carry on even into his adulthood. The Orangedrink Lemondrink Man incident was an “uneasy octopus that lived inside him and squirted its inky tranquilizer on his past” (13). Even though it was a brief “small” event, it had forever damaged Estha’s life.
The shouting of spiteful comments by parents to their children out of careless rage is apparent in the relationship between Ammu and her children, Rahel and Estha. To Ammu, her vicious remarks are just “small things.” However, to the children, her impulsive comments have meaning to them and cut deep into their hearts. Rahel and Estha feel that Ammu loves them a little less, and that she does not care that her cruel words have hurt them. Ammu showcases this at Abhilash Talkies after Rahel petulantly asked, “So why don’t you marry him then?” (106) referring to the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man. Ammu thoughtlessly replied, “When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That’s what careless words do. They make people love you a little less” (107). Ammu’s harsh reply landed “a cold moth with unusually dense dorsal tufts lightly on Rahel’s heart” (107). Those words upset her so much that they stayed with her even as an adult. Because of the “small” comment Rahel broken-heartedly received, she will always feel that Ammu loves her a little less.
A kind “small” deed can drastically turn into an unasked-for tribulation. Unfortunately, this type of happening occurred to Sophie Mol, Rahel and Estha’s half-white cousin who came to Ayemenem on a Christmas visit. To negotiate a Tsang companionship with Rahel and Estha, Sophie Mol decided to bring them presents. However, Sophie Mol never got the chance to win their friendship since her journey to see the twins and her life was cut short by a river. It was a potential friendship that was sadly “left dangling. Incomplete. Flailing in the air with no foothold” (253). During her trip to reach Rahel and Estha so that she could give them their presents and bargain a friendship, Sophie Mol depressingly drowned. Her “small” deed was so full of hope, but never got a chance to be done. Instead, her deed turned into a wicked occasion that resulted into the inhuman beating of Estha by Margaret Kochamma, Sophie Mol’s mother. Once again, “small” things prove to have powerful effects; the deed’s small purpose of winning a friendship led to the devastating loss of Margaret Kochamma’s daughter who was worth everything to her.
Readers of this novel will no longer consider “small things” or even anything to be unimportant. This novel illustrates through the lives of Rahel and Estha and their family members that everything, no matter what size or extent, always has an impact or purpose on someone or something. In this case, “small” things showcase their negative influences in the story through Estha’s unsettling confrontation with the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, Ammu’s bitter remarks to her children, and Sophie Mol’s deed that went terribly wrong. These disconcerting actions that cast both external and internal shadows on people can be blamed on the “Small God;” the unseen causer of personal trouble and grief.
Monday, October 27, 2008
sample essay!!!
The God of Small Things
On a crowded street in India, a poor Untouchable is scowled at by the upperclassmen with disgusted faces. To everyone around he is unclean. This is a way of life for millions of Indians. Social classes and the caste system are very important to everyday life in India. These sentences are short and choppy They don’t flow easily. Could you combine a few to make it flow easily. This idea is demonstrated strongly in the novel, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. In the novel, Roy displays intimate and realistic sides of the caste system through the experiences of Velutha, Chacko, and Sophie Mol. Good thesis
Through Velutha’s experiences, one is able to see the difficult times an Untouchable can go through at any given time. In India, an Untouchable has practically no rights. This idea is shown in the novel once Velutha and Ammu’s relationship is discovered. After Baby Kochamma and Mammachi fight with Velutha, where awkward – I think you mean ‘and” he is practically unresponsive, Baby Kochamma goes to Thomas Mathew’s office. There, she takes the small, polite responses he gave her and “enhanced and embroidered them into threats of murder and abduction” (269). The simple fact that Baby Kochamma was able to do this without Velutha being able to speak up for himself shows that he has no rights. Once an upper-class woman made claims against him to an authority figure, any chance he had was over because no one would believe him over her. Another example of the caste system being shown through Velutha was present tense when Chacko and Comrade Pillai were discussing the feelings of the workers at Paradise Pickles and Preserves toward Velutha. On this subject, Pillai states, “but other workers are not happy with him. Already they are coming to me with complaints. You see, comrade, from local standpoint, these caste issues are very deep-rooted” (263). From Pillai’s statement, the reader sees that workers are against Velutha working with them because he is an Untouchable. The mindset of everyone in the workplace is that someone so low in the caste system shouldn’t no contractions be able to do work just like them and receive the same pay at all. Being looked down upon and being seen as practically nothing made life as Untouchable hard to handle.
To be an upper-class man in India made one’s life easier than most others. Through Chacko, the book portrays what the life of an upper-class man is like. When Pillai and Chacko are discussing present tense - discuss Velutha, Chacko’s seniority is shown through comments by Pillai. Pillai feels that Chacko, as a man of upper class, would be in his own best interest to fire Velutha and get him as far away as possible. The whole situation where Chacko has the power to do this to Velutha because he is an untouchable shows just how much the caste system can influence everyone’s life. You do a great job at reinforcing your thesis statement. Another example of Chacko’s experiences with the caste system is about wrong preposition his marriage to Margaret Kochamma. Intro quote – maybe say Roy writes, “…Margaret Kochamma and Chacko were married. Without her family’s consent” (234). By her parents not approving this is what we call passive. Why not just say – her parents refusal to consent demonstrates… of Chacko marrying their daughter, the distinction between whites and Indians is stressed. Margaret Kochamma’s parent not wanting her to marry someone different and of color, shows that even if a man is well respected in social status and India, it doesn’t matter to others. While being an upper-class man seemed to be much more glamorous, sometimes it was as difficult as being of a lower status. This is not about India, though.
A final way the caste system is portrayed in the novel is through Sophie Mol. As an English, white girl, she is placed above all the inhabitants of India. This is shown right when she enters the airport in India. INTRO QUOTE!!!“When Sophie Mol walked into the Arrivals Lounge, Rahel, overcome by excitement and resentment, pinched Estha hard” (135). Everyone in the terminal waiting with Chacko was overly excited to see her, and treats her with much more respect than any other child gets, just because she’s English. Another way Sophie Mol’s status is shown is by how the other children are treated when she’s around. In the airport when Rahel runs away from all the commotion due to the new arrivals, Ammu brushes it off by simply saying “just ignore her. She’s just trying to attract attention” (189). Because Sophie Mol was in her presence, Ammu completely ignored her own daughter instead of finding out what was wrong. The twins got no attention from any adults whatsoever because there was a white child around them. This action seemed to be reoccurring Melanie – never use seems, instead, just say it out there. It reoccurs when they return home., happening when they arrived home as well. Being a white person in India was close to being royalty, because everyone saw that person as more important. Relate to reality idea in thesis.
Through Velutha’s, Chacko’s and Sophie Mol’s experiences, the reader receives an insight into the ideas of the Indian caste system. Whoa – where is the rest of the conclusion?
On a crowded street in India, a poor Untouchable is scowled at by the upperclassmen with disgusted faces. To everyone around he is unclean. This is a way of life for millions of Indians. Social classes and the caste system are very important to everyday life in India. These sentences are short and choppy They don’t flow easily. Could you combine a few to make it flow easily. This idea is demonstrated strongly in the novel, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. In the novel, Roy displays intimate and realistic sides of the caste system through the experiences of Velutha, Chacko, and Sophie Mol. Good thesis
Through Velutha’s experiences, one is able to see the difficult times an Untouchable can go through at any given time. In India, an Untouchable has practically no rights. This idea is shown in the novel once Velutha and Ammu’s relationship is discovered. After Baby Kochamma and Mammachi fight with Velutha, where awkward – I think you mean ‘and” he is practically unresponsive, Baby Kochamma goes to Thomas Mathew’s office. There, she takes the small, polite responses he gave her and “enhanced and embroidered them into threats of murder and abduction” (269). The simple fact that Baby Kochamma was able to do this without Velutha being able to speak up for himself shows that he has no rights. Once an upper-class woman made claims against him to an authority figure, any chance he had was over because no one would believe him over her. Another example of the caste system being shown through Velutha was present tense when Chacko and Comrade Pillai were discussing the feelings of the workers at Paradise Pickles and Preserves toward Velutha. On this subject, Pillai states, “but other workers are not happy with him. Already they are coming to me with complaints. You see, comrade, from local standpoint, these caste issues are very deep-rooted” (263). From Pillai’s statement, the reader sees that workers are against Velutha working with them because he is an Untouchable. The mindset of everyone in the workplace is that someone so low in the caste system shouldn’t no contractions be able to do work just like them and receive the same pay at all. Being looked down upon and being seen as practically nothing made life as Untouchable hard to handle.
To be an upper-class man in India made one’s life easier than most others. Through Chacko, the book portrays what the life of an upper-class man is like. When Pillai and Chacko are discussing present tense - discuss Velutha, Chacko’s seniority is shown through comments by Pillai. Pillai feels that Chacko, as a man of upper class, would be in his own best interest to fire Velutha and get him as far away as possible. The whole situation where Chacko has the power to do this to Velutha because he is an untouchable shows just how much the caste system can influence everyone’s life. You do a great job at reinforcing your thesis statement. Another example of Chacko’s experiences with the caste system is about wrong preposition his marriage to Margaret Kochamma. Intro quote – maybe say Roy writes, “…Margaret Kochamma and Chacko were married. Without her family’s consent” (234). By her parents not approving this is what we call passive. Why not just say – her parents refusal to consent demonstrates… of Chacko marrying their daughter, the distinction between whites and Indians is stressed. Margaret Kochamma’s parent not wanting her to marry someone different and of color, shows that even if a man is well respected in social status and India, it doesn’t matter to others. While being an upper-class man seemed to be much more glamorous, sometimes it was as difficult as being of a lower status. This is not about India, though.
A final way the caste system is portrayed in the novel is through Sophie Mol. As an English, white girl, she is placed above all the inhabitants of India. This is shown right when she enters the airport in India. INTRO QUOTE!!!“When Sophie Mol walked into the Arrivals Lounge, Rahel, overcome by excitement and resentment, pinched Estha hard” (135). Everyone in the terminal waiting with Chacko was overly excited to see her, and treats her with much more respect than any other child gets, just because she’s English. Another way Sophie Mol’s status is shown is by how the other children are treated when she’s around. In the airport when Rahel runs away from all the commotion due to the new arrivals, Ammu brushes it off by simply saying “just ignore her. She’s just trying to attract attention” (189). Because Sophie Mol was in her presence, Ammu completely ignored her own daughter instead of finding out what was wrong. The twins got no attention from any adults whatsoever because there was a white child around them. This action seemed to be reoccurring Melanie – never use seems, instead, just say it out there. It reoccurs when they return home., happening when they arrived home as well. Being a white person in India was close to being royalty, because everyone saw that person as more important. Relate to reality idea in thesis.
Through Velutha’s, Chacko’s and Sophie Mol’s experiences, the reader receives an insight into the ideas of the Indian caste system. Whoa – where is the rest of the conclusion?
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Giana asks if in the dream, does Velutha having just one arm have any significance to the story. I think it does, but I am not sure I am right. I believe that Velutha cannot save Ammu because he only has one arm, and in real life, he is not her "saviour" because he is only an untouchable. I am not sure, but there must be something in Indian culture about arms because isn't there a god who has many for a reason. Someone find out!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Someone asked the other day what "Locust Stand I" meant in the novel. Well, I couldn't remember, but I thought it was a legal term. It is. In Latin. Locus standi translated means "place of standing" When we think about this in relation to the caste system, and the standing of a young woman who is divorced, and living in an Indian culture, basically it meant that she had no legal standing. She was like an untouchable in the way that her footprints were not left behind. She was a nobody. Not untouchable, but touchable and forgettable because of her station in life. Such a strong character to have no place, like Velutha.
Have you been reading? I have and I am enthralled with the beauty of the language, but disturbed by the ugliness of this story. Such a strange combination.
Have you been reading? I have and I am enthralled with the beauty of the language, but disturbed by the ugliness of this story. Such a strange combination.
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