God of Small Things

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 4

A Review on

`` God Of Small
Things ``
By
Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy is an Indian author who is known for her novel


``God of Small Things`` which also won the booker prize. This is
her one and only novel. Roy took four years (1992-1996) to
complete this novel. The major part captures her childhood so it
can also be considered as a semi-autobiographical.
The novel has no chronological order. The story commences
somewhere in the middle of the novel. When we start reading the
novel then it is almost the end of it when Rahel returns to
Ayemenem from Calcutta. When we begin with it then we find
that the narrator is someone else (third person) and at some
places we get Rahel`s point of view as well.
``Love laws`` have been discussed at many places in the novel
that who should be loved and how much. It is an emotionally
complex novel because the motivations of the characters are
clear. The political setting of the novel is very complex. Actually it
was the main reason which forced Roy to write it. Because after
that she has not written any other novel and said that she will
write another when she will find it necessary. This shows that she
does not write as a professional but as a language lover who finds
aesthetic pleasure in it.
A true piece of literature is that which reflects its society and has
an aesthetic sense as well. These all things can be seen in the
novel. The novel reflects the caste dynamics and the communist
movement. `` Things which pain you the most are the things you
are vulnerable to. `` It tells us that our lives are not in our hands
but are governed by some invisible bad things. Forbidden love,
tragedy and political problems stay common in the novel.
Lets move towards the story first. The story of novel revolves
around two fraternal twins and how they are affected by ``Love
Laws``. The story speaks of the two fraternal twins from their age
of 7 till when they get 31 years old. The mother of these twins

(Ammu) wants to get rid of her ill-tempered father. She runs away
from her home and marries a man called Baba. The man beats
Ammu, because she refuses to sleep with his boss. That was the
only way by which his job could be saved. So Ammu returns home
with her twin children. On the other hand Ammu`s brother
marries an English woman, who divorces him later. They have a
daughter named Sophie Mol. The novel mainly follows these
characters and the problems that are faced by them.
Sophie Mol dies and the twins are blamed for it. The caste
problem shows up again when Baby Kochama complaints the
police that this untouchable guy is responsible for the loss of kid.
The kids are warned to give the fake evidences to the man they
loved the most, resulting in his death. The problem with Baby
Kochama was that, the guy who loved Ammu was an untouchable
and so she considered it as a disgrace for the family. After these
savage and brutal incidents, the twins were separated and when
they meet again then they realize that no one can understand
them better but these two themselves. The caste system, loss of
trust and the betrayal are everywhere in the novel.
Among all the novels that I have read: it wasn`t certainly the best
among all. The book lacked certain oomph. I wasn`t forced to turn
the pages on and on. The names of the characters were very
tough to recall in the beginning chapters. The novel is too much
descriptive, as each and every spot where any action takes place
has been explained too much.
But we should consider the positive side of the book, as the use of
lexicon was very simple and brilliant and she had used the
language in her own style. It is incredibly descriptive as I have
mentioned earlier. The broken family and the interlocking family
ties were common at that time in India which is also responsible
for the attraction of the reader, as it clearly reflects the society
from all the dimensions. The fragmented language at some places
makes it tough for you to understand.

But overall it was a good read!

You might also like