English
Introduction
The God of Small Things by Arundhuti Roy points out to the vices of a paternalistic caste system. The author explicitly explores the complicit Indian women and the oppressions that are meted out to her in this book. She points out intricacies related to the treatment of Indian women along with the lower class or Dalit families. Roy portrays the resistance to oppression in the Indian women by the characters of Rahel, Baby Kochamma, Mammachi and Ammu. The author shows that despite being resourceful and talented, the female characters are suppressed and oppressed. The female characters do not have the courage to challenge societal norms and are torn between modern and traditional values. This leads them to engage in acts of moral transgression as a means to challenge the cultural boundaries, social norms, laws and customs. Such acts of moral transgression leads to their downfall and demise.
Ammu – challenging societal norms
The oppression caused to Ammu by her husband is not understood by her family members. He made her suffer to satisfy his supervisor’s carnal instincts and ensure that his job was secure. She, on the other hand, protested and refused to be a prostitute. Ammu ultimately divorced her husband and came back to her parents. In her own house, she was treated like an unwelcome person. This can be seen from the phrase, “Ammu left her husband and returned, unwelcome to her parents in Ayemenem” (Roy, 42). The irony is that her brother Chacko, an Oxford graduate has a very limited outlook as compared with Ammu’s who did not have a chance to pursue her education. This is one of the vices of the paternalistic Indian society which does not allow the right of equal education to its female members. Ammu was constantly rejected by her own family and maybe the constant acts of humiliation may have made her to fall in love with Velutha, the carpenter. The author states that “Ammu learned to live with this cold, calculating cruelty she did exactly nothing to avoid quarrels and confrontations. In fact, it could all be argued that she sought them out, perhaps even enjoyed them” (Roy, 182). Ammu was rejected by her own family, her children and even the Syrian Christian church refused to bury her. She died at a young age of thirty one, alone and in Aleppy. The plight of the oppressive Indian women is showed by the portrayal of this main character in the novel, The God of Small Things. The author subtly links this trauma and torture to the act of transgression that is depicted in the form of an extra marital affair between the carpenter, Velutha and Ammu. Despite knowing the bounds of the traditional Ayemenem society, Ammu challenged the societal norms in her own way.
Mammachi – silently accepting oppressive societal norms
The second women in this novel, is Chacko and Ammu’s mother, Mammachi. Despite having business acumen and the desire to start a pickle factory by her, she is stopped by her own husband. The novel quotes, “Pappachi would not help her with the pickle-making because he did not consider pickle-making a suitable job for a high ranking ex-govt. official” (Roy, 47 – 48).
The manner in which her pickle factory is taken over by her son, Chacko and she is instead made a sleeping partner is also notable. The paternalistic society along with its caste politics takes an upper hand in this matter. Mammachi is singled out both in terms of her gender as well as her clan. However, she concedes defeat to Chako’s retort “what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is also mine” (Roy, 57). She also accepts the unethical behaviour displayed by Chacko when he flirts with women from her pickle factory. Chacko also forces these women to sit in the same table and drink tea along with him which is disapproved by his mother. However, Mammachi displays resilience in character as she does not protest but accepts the situation by maintaining “Men’s Needs”.
She also has artistic skills which are abruptly ended when her teacher praises her for playing the violin beautifully. Unlike, Ammu, Mammachi passively accepts the trauma and torture and never questions the conditions to which she is subject to. The God of Small Things, shows the contrary characters of two women – one who speaks out against oppression and the other who silently accepts the oppressive conditions.
Baby Kochamma – oppression and negativity in character
Another female victim in the story is that of Baby Kochamma. She is Pappachi’s sister. Her dream to marry the Irish priest is shattered and she converts herself to the Roman Catholic faith. However, she is isolated and stays alone in the Ayemenem house. Maybe, this strange twist of fate, led her to conspire with the local police to put Velutha in jail. The negativity in her character is a subtle depiction of the manner in which the unjust and malicious treatment towards her is vented out. Baby Kochamma concedes defeat against the communal, casteist and sexist prejudices. The phrases, “the fear of being dispossessed” and “the fate of the wretched Man-less woman” depict her condition (Roy, 62). The quotes further tell us that celibacy is not a choice for Syrian Christian women. Her conversion to the Roman Catholic faith is the depiction of subtle resistance against the social structures and patriarchy.
The depiction of Mammachi and Baby Kochamma in this novel portrays the subjectivity of the Indian women to the patriarchal society. However, on a closer examination, there are traces of subtle resistances to the biased economic and socio political situation in the post – colonial era.
Rahel – oppression and moral transgression
Rahel is the daughter of Ammu. She has to silently suffer as her parents are divorced. Moreover, she is hated by her own relatives and is expelled from the convent school three times. The stigma of having mixed parents – her father is a Bengali and her mother, a Syrian Christian, is also that Rahel has to face. However, she considers Velutha to be a father figure and this can be traced from the phrase “She knew his back. She’d been carried on it. More times than she could count” (Roy, 73). But, once she knows of Velutha’s arrest, she goes to the police station along with her brother Estha to identify him as a criminal. She is the victim of a dysfunctional family and does not have self-confidence.
Her resistance towards the biased society is determined by her incestuous love for her brother, Estha. “Rahel watched Estha with the curiosity of a mother watching her wet child. A sister a brother. A woman a man. A twin a twin” (Roy, 93). The final portrayal of transgression in which Rahel has an illicit affair with Estha is again a depiction of a deliberate act to challenge Ayemenem societal norms.
Her lack of self-confidence and the inability to take decisions is portrayed when she decides to study architecture in Delhi. When she meets Larry, she decides to marry, not because she loves him but because she slowly drifts into marriage. The phrase, “like a passenger drifts into an unoccupied chair in an airport lounge” (Roy, 18) signifies this lack of decision making and incompatibility in marriage.
Conclusion
The portrayal of Ammu in this book is that of a divorcee having two children, Rehan and Estha. The setting of this book is in Kerala and the main theme of this novel is a doomed and socially transgressive affair between Ammu and Velutha. It explicitly points out the clandestine meetings of Velutha and Ammu. The total disregard for caste and traditional values by Velutha and Ammu becomes one of the subject matter of this novel. The lead protagonist is one of the first examples of female oppression leading to moral transgression. The same defiance is viewed in Rahel when she develops an incestuous relationship with her twin.
Works cited:
Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. Thompson Press: India, 1997. Print.
