StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Review. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy - Book Report/Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
The book is a description of how the small things in life build up, translate into people's behavior and affect their lives. This novel is about the decline and fall of an Indian family, it is partly political fable, partly psychological drama, partly fairy tale.
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.7% of users find it useful
Book Review. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Review. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy"

Book Review. "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy. The book is a of how the small things in life build up, translate into people'sbehavior and affect their lives. This novel is about the decline and fall of an Indian family, it is partly political fable, partly psychological drama, partly fairy tale. Set mainly in Kerala, India, in the 1960s, "The God of Small Things" is about two children, the two-egg twins Estha (brother) and Rahel (sister), and the shocking consequences of the death-by-drowning of Sophie Mol, their English cousin. The twins are only 7 years old in 1969, and they still live almost entirely in a world of their own making. Other characters include their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu (who has left her violent husband), their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist), their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt), and the volatile laborite Untouchable Velutha (it is he who is called the God of Small Things). Chacko's ex-wife, an Englishwoman, has returned to Kirala after a long absence, bringing along her and Chacko's lovely young daughter, Sophie Mol. As it turns out, their arrival not only unsettles the already tenuous balance of the divisive household, it also coincides with political unrest. Roy captures the children's candid observations but clouded understanding of adults' complex emotional lives. Rahel notices that "at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said. The Big Things lurk unsaid inside" (Roy 134). It's easier to talk about small things because the big things in life are far too complex and painful. Roy's most original contribution in this novel is her portrayal of children, entering into their thinking in a way which does not sentimentalize them but reveals the fierce passions and terrors which course through them and almost destroy them. The reader finds himself reading a childlike account of the events that come to pass through the course of the novels. The childlike quality of Roy's narration sophisticatedly creates a lightheartedness that starkly contrasts against the heavy tone and serious nature of the material, thus representing the gap between innocence and corruption. The author uses such stylistic tricks as capitalizing "Significant Words" and "runningtogether" other words. When her mother tells Rahel to "Stoppit," Rahel "stoppited." At Sophie's funeral, a bat alights on a mourner: "the singing stopped for a 'Whatisit' 'Whathappened' and for a Furrywhirring and a Sariflapping." The author also uses odd syntactical and verbal combinations and coinages (a bad dream experience during midday nap-time is an "aftermare"), striking metaphors (Velutha is seen "standing in the shade of the rubber trees with coins of sunshine dancing on his body") and sensuous descriptive passages ("The sky was orange, and the coconut trees were sea anemones waving their tentacles, hoping to trap and eat an unsuspecting cloud"). Roy incorporates phonetic spelling into the narration to give it a childlike quality. Phrases such as "Their Prer NUN sea ayshun was perfect" and "cheerful chop-chop-chopping" show once again the reader that the narrator is a child (Roy 147, 121). The form in which the word is presented to the reader reinforces the content. In "cheerful chop-chop-chopping," the lengthening of the word chopping into "chop-chop-chopping" creates a sing-song quality that portrays the act of chopping as being cheerful, thus reiterating the adjective that precedes it; in other words, the style reinforces the content. Roy also uses rather unusual epithets as well. When the narrator describes a tune that Mammachi plays on her violin, she describes it as "A cloying, chocolate melody. Stickysweet, and meltybrown. Chocolate waves on a chocolate shore" (Roy 174). This metaphor may seem like nonsense at first, but it is not nonsensical, for both are rich; one is rich in taste while the other is rich in sound. In addition, the interspersed lines of children's songs throughout the work contribute to the childlike quality of the writing. As Rahel climbs up the stairs with Baby Kochamma, she sings the song "Popeye the Sailorman" and fills in "Dum Dums" whenever there are pauses. The interspersed lines of children's songs, cheerful alliteration, and phonetic spelling that can be found throughout the narration all contribute to the formation of a playful, lighthearted, relaxed tone that portrays the innocence of childhood. The changing use of language and depth of insight of the narrator in the novel signal to the reader that the narrator has matured as a result of the events of the novel. For example, when the twins discover Sophie Mol is dead and come to the realization that they might go to jail, that realization is followed by a "Dum Dum." And again when they witness the bloody death of Velutha, they learn two lessons: one, that "Blood barely shows on a Black Man (Dum Dum)," and two, "It smells though, sicksweet. Like old roses on a breeze (Dum Dum)" (Roy 293). On the one hand, "The God of Small Things" is a story of forbidden, cross-caste love and what a community will do to protect the old unjust ways. Children's mother broke the rules concerning the relationship between the Untouchables and Touchables. Thus, they are now able to see the action from the policeman's and society's point of view, so when Inspector tapped Ammu's breasts with his baton, "it was not a policeman's spontaneous brutishness on his part. He knew exactly what he was doing. It was a premeditated gesture, calculated to humiliate and terrorize her. An attempt to instill order into a world gone wrong" (Roy 246). This level of thought and insight are evidence that the narrator is more mature and knowledgeable of the way that society works. Thus, the narrator has changed from a naive, ignorant child to a person with a more mature mind and an understanding of society. The Kochamma family business, "Paradise Pickles and Preserves", is emblematic of the social theme. The family is practically pickled in history. Roy demonstrates the burdens of caste and tradition, a double weight that crushes some of her characters and warps others, but leaves none untouched. It is also an illustrative example of the destructive power of the caste system, and moral and political bigotry in general. Prominent facets of Kerala life that the novel captures are Communism, the caste system and the Syrian Christian way of life. For example, bearded Syrian priests swing their censers while "Kathakali" dancers perform at the temple nearby; the Communists are splintering, the Untouchables are becoming politicized. The author tries to face the major cultural dilemmas of post-colonial India, and the image of a "Kathakali" dancer (a traditional folk dance) is a very potent symbol of India's own problems today. He exhibits himself in front of the modern world of tourists to earn his leaving: "The Kathakali Man is the most beautiful of men. Because his body is his soul. His only instrument He has magic in him But these days he has become unviable. Unfeasible. Condemned goods. His children deride him. They long to be everything that he is not. He has watched them grow up to become clerks and bus conductorsHe cannot slide down the aisles of buses, counting change and selling tickets. He cannot answer bells that summon him In despair he turns to tourism. He enters the market. He hawks the only thing he owns. The stories that his body can tell. He becomes a Regional Flavour." (Roy 230-1) Very early on in ''The God of Small Things,'' the grown-up Estha is caring for an ancient dog when he glimpses the shadow of a bird in flight moving across the dying animal's skin: ''To Estha - steeped in the smell of old roses, blooded on memories of a broken man - the fact that something so fragile, so unbearably tender had survived, had been allowed to exist, was a miracle.'' (Roy 11). The end of the novel also describes a brief interlude of intense happiness in this unjust world, and it evokes in the reader a similar feeling of gratitude: it's as if we had suddenly stumbled upon something small and sparkling in all this wreckage. By now we know what horrors await these characters, but we have also learned, like Estha, to take what we can get. Work cited. Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. New York: Harper Perennial, 1997. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Book Review. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Report/Review”, n.d.)
Book Review. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Report/Review. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1515776-book-review-the-god-of-small-things-by-arundhati-roy
(Book Review. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Report/Review)
Book Review. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Report/Review. https://studentshare.org/literature/1515776-book-review-the-god-of-small-things-by-arundhati-roy.
“Book Review. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Report/Review”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1515776-book-review-the-god-of-small-things-by-arundhati-roy.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Book Review. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Macbeth Degree Book Report/Review

Macbeth was the Thane of Glamis, a general and a loyal soldier of King Duncan of Scotland.... In the beginning of the play Macbeth is shown as courageous, superstitious, fearless, ambitious and devoted to his wife.... To King Duncan he was the "worthiest cousin", to Banquo, "My noble partner", and to some others he was "Valour's minion"....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

Africa in Chinua Achebe's Book Things Fall Apart

The author states that Chinua Achebe's presentation of the land and its peoples in his book things Fall Apart is quite different from these 'traditional' Western ideas.... In Achebe's novel, the people spend most of their time engaged in subsistence farming as they survive almost entirely on yams....
5 Pages (1250 words) Book Report/Review

Analysis of The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Although one generation has passed and Camila is being disfigured by small pox, his commitment to her has not changed.... Dona Clara hates this about her mother; Dona Clara prefers to remain the rational art connoisseur of the court. B2 Dona Clara's love for her mother… Outside of the court, she finds herself experiencing the kinds of emotions she had ascribed to her mother and for which she hated her....
7 Pages (1750 words) Book Report/Review

Book review ALL THING FALL APART by Achebe, Chinua

One thing that remains widely spelt in the entire work may be considered as Okwonko's association to the beliefs Review of things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Brief summary The work of Chinua Achene, “things fall Apart”, focuses on thelife of Okwonko.... things Fall Apart: A Novel....
2 Pages (500 words) Book Report/Review

Things Fall Apart by Achebe Chinua Analysis

Additionally, it is focused on the brutality of each side of the divide book review: Things Fall Apart Civilization is characterized by human progress and organization concerning science, culture, advancement, government, and other factors.... The author reviews things Fall Apart book by Achebe Chinua which describes ancient African civilization, as well as, European occupation of Africa and which is based on the culture of a West African tribe known as the Ibo… According to the author, things Fall Apart book by Achebe Chinua describes African oral culture and its gradual interruption by European occupation....
2 Pages (500 words) Book Report/Review

Learning from The Book Faith and Reason : Key Takeaways

A rabbi is a messenger of God and all good things and to be able to deliver the right solution or suggestion at the right time, a rabbi needs to have the required knowledge of scriptures and reality of life.... The author of the book says, “Gandhi defined faith as encounter in the same way when he spoke of the small voice within which had accompanied him through life and to which he had trained himself to listen through mental and physical exercises” (Bergman, 1961, 17)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

Analysis of Pray Without Ceasing Book by Patrick Laude

The author narrated instead that the true purpose of a human being is to know and serve god … Pray Without Ceasing, is just a reminder that all people must have a healthy prayer life.... god wants fellowship every single minute.... It is further said that, “All religions pronounce the name of god in their particular language” (Weil qtd.... ommunication with god may be different though from simple communication with a friend, a relative, or a family member....
7 Pages (1750 words) Book Report/Review

The Review of the City of God

This review highlights that the City of god is a critically acclaimed film directed by Fernando Meirelles.... It is due to such conditions that children in the City of god are shown as individuals engaged in the battle to eliminate poverty and upgrade their living conditions.... Many perspectives are addressed by Mills each of which will be scrutinized in relation to the City of god's representation of childhood in this essay.... The depiction of childhood in the film will be explored in the light of perspectives of childhood illustrated by Mills in his book....
12 Pages (3000 words) Movie Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us