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The God of Small Things
The God of Small Things is the 1997 debut novel written by Indian author Arundhati Roy. The novel follows the seven-year-old twins Estha and Rahel as they navigate their childhood and the circumstances surrounding the arrival of their British cousin to Ayemenem, India. The novel's events are set against the backdrop of social discrimination and political upheaval in 1960s Kerala, with casteism and British colonialism in India being central themes.
Upon publication, the novel became a bestseller and was the recipient of the 1997 Booker Prize. The God of Small Things is Roy's most well known work and is considered a staple of postcolonial literature.
The story is structured with a disjointed narrative shifting between 1969 when the fraternal twins Rahel and Estha are children, and 1993 when they meet again in adulthood. Ammu Ipe, their mother, divorces their father and takes the twins with her when she returns to her family in Ayemenem. Chacko, Ammu's brother and the twins' uncle, returns from England after his divorce with Margaret, an English woman. The family home includes Mammachi, the ageing matriarch and mother to Ammu and Chacko, and Baby Kochamma, Pappachi's younger sister.
The death of Margaret's second husband prompts Chacko to invite her and their daughter, Sophie, to visit Ayemenem. On the road to the airport, the family encounters a group of Communist protesters who surround the car and humiliate Baby Kochamma. Among the protestors, Rahel thinks she sees Velutha, an Untouchable servant who works for the family's pickle factory. Later at the theater, Estha is sexually molested by the "Orangedrink Lemondrink Man", a vendor working at the snack counter. Rahel's claim of seeing Velutha in the Communist mob leads Baby Kochamma to associate him with her humiliation. Rahel and Estha develop a bond with Velutha, while Ammu is drawn to him romantically, and they begin a clandestine relationship. When Velutha's father exposes their affair to Mammachi, Ammu is locked in her room and Velutha is banished. Ammu blames the twins for her plight, leading them to flee the house with their cousin Sophie, taking their boat in order to reach the abandoned house across the nearby river. The boat capsizes and Sophie drowns; Margaret and Chacko return to find her body dead on the sofa.
The twins shelter in the abandoned house; unbeknownst to them, Velutha is seeking refuge there as well. Baby Kochamma accuses Velutha of Sophie's death, leading to his brutal beating and arrest by the police, a traumatic event that is witnessed by the twins. At the police station, the twins are questioned by a police inspector, who realises Baby Kochamma's deception. Aware of Velutha's Communist ties, he fears unrest if the wrongful arrest is exposed, and he threatens Baby Kochamma for falsely accusing Velutha. To save herself, Baby Kochamma manipulates Estha and Rahel into implicating Velutha in Sophie's death. Velutha dies from his injuries.
Baby Kochamma convinces Chacko that Ammu and the twins are responsible for Sophie's death. Chacko ejects Ammu from the house and Ammu decides to separate the twins, sending Estha away to his father and boarding school. Rahel moves to America to attend university and work, and Ammu dies alone in a hotel room at 31 from a respiratory sickness. After a failed marriage and divorce, Rahel returns to Ayemenem and reunites with Estha, who lives a solitary, mute existence with Baby Kochamma and her servant, who are now the only occupants of the house. The twins reconcile and seek comfort in one another through physical consummation. The novel concludes with a bittersweet reflection on Ammu's and Velutha's relationship.
Roy began writing the manuscript for The God of Small Things in 1992 and finished four years later in 1996, leading to its publication the following year. The potential of the story was first recognized by HarperCollins editor Pankaj Mishra, who sent it to three British publishers. Roy received a £500,000 advance, and the rights to the book were sold in 21 countries.
Arundhati Roy, after being involved with making films and writing screenplays, popularly In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones and Electric Moon, "wanted to do something where I didn't have to deal with people; I wanted to do something alone." She bought a computer and soon figured out how to use it. She noted she didn't know she was writing a novel. Roy took inspiration from her childhood experiences in Aymanam, a village in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India, where she led an unprotected child's life. Being an "adult child", Roy observed and remembered what she sensed in the village and "said everything I wanted to say at that point of time" through writing the novel.
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The God of Small Things
The God of Small Things is the 1997 debut novel written by Indian author Arundhati Roy. The novel follows the seven-year-old twins Estha and Rahel as they navigate their childhood and the circumstances surrounding the arrival of their British cousin to Ayemenem, India. The novel's events are set against the backdrop of social discrimination and political upheaval in 1960s Kerala, with casteism and British colonialism in India being central themes.
Upon publication, the novel became a bestseller and was the recipient of the 1997 Booker Prize. The God of Small Things is Roy's most well known work and is considered a staple of postcolonial literature.
The story is structured with a disjointed narrative shifting between 1969 when the fraternal twins Rahel and Estha are children, and 1993 when they meet again in adulthood. Ammu Ipe, their mother, divorces their father and takes the twins with her when she returns to her family in Ayemenem. Chacko, Ammu's brother and the twins' uncle, returns from England after his divorce with Margaret, an English woman. The family home includes Mammachi, the ageing matriarch and mother to Ammu and Chacko, and Baby Kochamma, Pappachi's younger sister.
The death of Margaret's second husband prompts Chacko to invite her and their daughter, Sophie, to visit Ayemenem. On the road to the airport, the family encounters a group of Communist protesters who surround the car and humiliate Baby Kochamma. Among the protestors, Rahel thinks she sees Velutha, an Untouchable servant who works for the family's pickle factory. Later at the theater, Estha is sexually molested by the "Orangedrink Lemondrink Man", a vendor working at the snack counter. Rahel's claim of seeing Velutha in the Communist mob leads Baby Kochamma to associate him with her humiliation. Rahel and Estha develop a bond with Velutha, while Ammu is drawn to him romantically, and they begin a clandestine relationship. When Velutha's father exposes their affair to Mammachi, Ammu is locked in her room and Velutha is banished. Ammu blames the twins for her plight, leading them to flee the house with their cousin Sophie, taking their boat in order to reach the abandoned house across the nearby river. The boat capsizes and Sophie drowns; Margaret and Chacko return to find her body dead on the sofa.
The twins shelter in the abandoned house; unbeknownst to them, Velutha is seeking refuge there as well. Baby Kochamma accuses Velutha of Sophie's death, leading to his brutal beating and arrest by the police, a traumatic event that is witnessed by the twins. At the police station, the twins are questioned by a police inspector, who realises Baby Kochamma's deception. Aware of Velutha's Communist ties, he fears unrest if the wrongful arrest is exposed, and he threatens Baby Kochamma for falsely accusing Velutha. To save herself, Baby Kochamma manipulates Estha and Rahel into implicating Velutha in Sophie's death. Velutha dies from his injuries.
Baby Kochamma convinces Chacko that Ammu and the twins are responsible for Sophie's death. Chacko ejects Ammu from the house and Ammu decides to separate the twins, sending Estha away to his father and boarding school. Rahel moves to America to attend university and work, and Ammu dies alone in a hotel room at 31 from a respiratory sickness. After a failed marriage and divorce, Rahel returns to Ayemenem and reunites with Estha, who lives a solitary, mute existence with Baby Kochamma and her servant, who are now the only occupants of the house. The twins reconcile and seek comfort in one another through physical consummation. The novel concludes with a bittersweet reflection on Ammu's and Velutha's relationship.
Roy began writing the manuscript for The God of Small Things in 1992 and finished four years later in 1996, leading to its publication the following year. The potential of the story was first recognized by HarperCollins editor Pankaj Mishra, who sent it to three British publishers. Roy received a £500,000 advance, and the rights to the book were sold in 21 countries.
Arundhati Roy, after being involved with making films and writing screenplays, popularly In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones and Electric Moon, "wanted to do something where I didn't have to deal with people; I wanted to do something alone." She bought a computer and soon figured out how to use it. She noted she didn't know she was writing a novel. Roy took inspiration from her childhood experiences in Aymanam, a village in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India, where she led an unprotected child's life. Being an "adult child", Roy observed and remembered what she sensed in the village and "said everything I wanted to say at that point of time" through writing the novel.