This is an A paper

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.