Self-Interest as a Driving Force in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things is a novel about how people’s pursuit of their own interests, influenced by the cultural and social contexts in which they live, ultimately determines their behavior. Through utilizing subthemes of self-preservation, the maintenance of social status/the status quo, and power, she portrays Velutha as the only wholly moral character in the story, who, because of his goodness, becomes the target of frequent deception. Roy argues that human nature is such that human beings will do whatever they feel is necessary to serve their own self-interests. Roy asserts that people’s fears of upsetting the power balance based in the caste system often leads to a blind acceptance of the status quo and a continuous sense of self-deprecation by individuals at the bottom of the hierarchy. When Velutha’s father fears that his son’s affair with a Touchable will have potentially disastrous consequences for him, he serves his own self-interest and is willing to endanger is son. He exposes the affair to the grandmother of the woman his son is having an affair with, revealing the extreme degree to which caste and conforming to societal norms drive the behaviors of individuals in Indian society; “So Vellya Paapen had come to tell Mamamachi himself. As a Paravan and a man with mortgaged body parts he considered it his duty…they had made the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible really happen…Offering to kill his son. To tear him limb from limb” (242). His fear of disrupting the status quo (i.e. the Indian social hierarchy) is so great that he is willing to sacrifice his own son’s life to protect his own. Rather than considering the genuine... ... middle of paper ... ...such that individuals disregard the desires of others, even those who are supposedly close to them, in order to advance their own goals. The combination of subthemes allows her to easily juxtapose Velutha with those who aim to ruin his life. Roy also emphasizes the importance of caste and maintaining social status through her depiction of Velutha’s father’s reaction to his son’s affair with a woman of a higher social class. Roy’s political beliefs can be seen interspersed throughout the story and she repeatedly comments on the post-colonial situation in India through the actions of her characters. The amalgamation of Roy’s views on the moral quality of human beings and the political character of 20th century India come together to support her assertion that those who are overly selfless and spend no time trying to get ahead in life ultimately lose in the long-term.
A few upper caste youths, hiding behind parapet of the building in an opposite auction place, stoned the pot. “C-r-a-ash” a sound Teeha heard. The youths struck Methi’s pot and her whole body became drenched completely. It is her caste that is her flaw. By the time, Teeha moved towards Methi as soon as the pot shattered. Methi’s companions stood at some distance from them. Mathi was wet from head to feet. She stood rooted to the ground. The upper caste youths’ eyes roved over Methi’s breast and navel visible through her wet clothes, because the woman was an untouchable’s community in that village. So the upper caste youths wanted to humiliate her in public place. Look at this caste that became a weak and means of under-estimation. Teeha, a Dalit and an outsider, has openly hit a Patel youth that is a burning issue. But a low-caste girl was assaulted which is considered as sign of upper caste
She has criticized the caste system, the Indian government, and now, the United States, which threatens to become the newest world hegemon. Though her opinions are not indicative of those held by the greater Indian population, she serves the useful function of pushing rhetoric to the left, and, in doing so, raises many of the crucial issues that India must address in today’s world. “Not again” is an article criticizing the leaders of America and their foreign policy, which she sees as full of reductionist dichotomies and a thinly veiled attempt to propagate corporate capitalism. As she says in “Not again,” “Wars are never fought for altruistic reasons” (3). Though Roy is clearly denouncing the United States government in her article, the hidden message is the implication that this rhetoric—and action—by the United States can have for developing countries, among them
A disruption of values arises as a powerful factor in the creation of Gandhi’s theory pertaining to spiritual sickness and the gener...
In this book, the people are subject to thousands of different ways to condition them to society. Whether this is based off of there standing in the society, or even the jobs that they are performing. Every single person is conditioned, and they are all expected to think exactly like their fellow caste members.
A change in one’s attitude can change one’s life. In the book, Nectar in a Sieve, the author, Kamala Markandaya, depicts one family’s struggle to survive through the never ending changes occurring in their lives. This story takes place in a small village of India during the late 1940’s. At this time in history, Britain has taken control of India. The story’s main character, Rukmani, experiences change in her youth and at the time accepts change as inevitable. Later, Rukmani, experiences change differently. Rukmani comes to realize that change is occurring faster as time goes on, but refuses to accept she has no control.
I don’t know yet how I’ll manage, here in this new, dangerous land. I only know I must. Because all over India, at this very moment, widows in white saris are bowing their veiled heads, serving tea to in-laws. Doves with cut-off wings […]. I straighten up my shoulders and take a deep breath […]. In the mirror a woman holds my gaze, her eyes apprehensive yet steady. She wears a blouse and skirt the color of almonds” (33).
Velutha’s self-worth is put at stake because of people’s ethical decisions based solely on his unfairly fixed place in society. When Velutha returned to Ayemenem, Mammachi helps him by rehiring him as a factory carpenter. The other workers were extremely upset by this because “Paravans were not meant to be carpenters” so in order to “keep the others happy, and since she knew that nobody else would hire him as a carpenter” Mammachi had to pay Velutha “less than she would a Touchable carpenter but more than she would a Paravan” (74). The prevalence of the caste system is emphasized when the word “meant” is italicized, showing that it was the expected norm to reject and alienate Paravans. While Mammachi holds somewhat to her ethical values because “she knew that nobody else would hire him” she also shows the priority of her reputation her factory, which forces her to pay him less. This is a less extreme case of classism because Mammachi compromises and pays Velutha in between the two wages. However, if she did not feel the pressure to conform to discrimination to maintain her own reputation, she wouldn’t have lowered his wages at all. Baby Kochamma falsely reports a case to the police where she claims Velutha forced himself on Ammu. She misrepresents the si...
Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist, activist and a world citizen. She became famous when her first novel The God of Small Things won the Booker Prize in 1997. Arundhati Roy has brought the issue of untouchability before the world through “The God of Small Things”. In this novel Arundhati has depicted the conflict that is not taking place between Touchable Hindus and untouchables, but it’s between Syrian Christians and untouchables. It shows that untouchables are not only facing suffering, torture and harassment from Hindus but also from other religious communities in this democratic India. The novel exposes the gap between the touchables and the untouchables; the exploiters and the
The God of Small Things, the Booker prize winning Novel by Arundhati Roy, is a powerful predicament of a powerlessness of the people so called citizen of India. The novel presents an excellent and deep study and understanding, sociological and psychological, of various social groups and social sections of the society. Roy has succeeded to a great extent to make those voices speak which silenced in the actual and practical, welfare, democratic, socialistic and liberal society in India. Multiple Voices of the various downtrodden sections of Indian society articulate their whims, wishes, aspiration silently. Various groups such as dalits (untouchables), l...
“’Get the nigger out’, he muttered to his companion” (p. 182 l. 2). The way Sir Mohan treats his wife, by not giving her the attention and respect she deserve, shows that he generally does not care for her. His reputation and presentation of himself is more important than his wife’s happiness and well-being. When the two British soldiers spots Sir Mohan, they see him for what he is. An Indian man. They does not care that he has been studying on Oxford. The only thing they see is a black Indian who has taken their coupe. Karma comes back and smacks him in the face. Now he gets a taste of his own medicine, by the soldiers treating him as he treats all other Indians. Like nothing.
Who lived in a small village of Belari. Hori was a poor farmer who was trapped indebted. The novel depicts the economic and social conflicts in the Indian village. It is Hindu’s belief that making the gift of cow at the time of death will help to achieve salvation. Hori brought a cow from a herdsman Bhola from neighbouring village. Gobar son of Hori falls head over heel in love with the daughter of Bhola ‘s widowed daughter Jhuniya. When she gets pregnant Gobar brings to his family. Hori and his wife Dhaniya did allow her to stay in their home. This act of Gobar ruined his family honour. Caste is one of the main themes of the society. Caste brings obligation and violation in society. The same action of Jhuniya dishonoured her family and her status. People of different vocation represent different
Urvashi Butalia in her book, The Other Side of Silence, attempts to analyze the partition in Indian society, through an oral history of Indian experiences. The collection of traumatic events from those people who lived through the partition gives insight on how history has enveloped these silences decades later. Furthermore, the movie 1947 Earth reveals the bitterness of partition and its effect of violence on certain characters. The most intriguing character which elucidates the silence of the partition is the child, Lenny. Lenny in particular the narrator of the story, serves as a medium to the intangibility created by the partition. The intangibility being love and violence, how can people who grew up together to love each other hate one another amidst religion? This question is best depicted through the innocence of a child, Lenny. Through her interactions with her friends, the doll, and the Lahore Park, we see silence elucidated as comfort of not knowing, or the pain from the separation of comfort and silence from an unspoken truth.
Roy utilizes Pappachi and Chacko to present the audience with two opposing patriarch figures, that act as obstacles for the female characters to overcome. These obstacles present realistic instances that women in India have endured and fought to change. Though these obstacles have not been abolished, the patriarch system has been receiving opposition from feminine movements for change. For this reason, Roy constructed this piece to provide an accurate account of discrimination against women in India, to educate the women of India, as well as the
In this short story the protagonist is a newly married Indian woman who is attending a party with her husband’s western friends. Throughout the short story the reader senses her anxiety of being introduced to people who are not as conservative as her. “She longed for the sanctuary of the walled home from which marriage had promised an adventurous escape. Each restricting rule became a guiding stone marking a safe path through unknown dangers” ("The First Party"). In this quote, the narrator explains how the Indian woman did not feel comfortable or at ease with this new world she had been introduced too. She fiend to be back home but because of her tie that she made to this man through marriage she is in her mind, stuck with him. In addition to her anxiety of being with non-conservative woman, who drank, smoked, dressed provocatively, and had painted nails, the protagonist grew angry in her own head. “She had been so sure of herself in her contempt and her anger, confident of the righteousness of her beliefs, deep-based on generations-old foundations” ("The First Party"). Is this the way that the Indian people reacted to British colonialism? The things that western people found normal, was this disrespectful to the Indian people. The protagonist surely thought it was and was certain that her anger was not misplaced. She felt as her anger was a sign of her strong faith. She came to the realization that her husband was someone who would challenge her beliefs but above all she knew that her beliefs state that her life must be one with his (“The First Party”). This realization must be heartbreaking, to realize that one 's comfort is not found in their life partner. The protagonist was raised to believe that her life must be one with her husband, that she is
The men have internally colonized the minds of women, often making them aware of the limitations. Women are illtreated and tortured for various reasons and are considered a debit to the family though they bear and bring up children; do all the house work and some of them do jobs additionally. Ambedkar points out, “A woman under the laws of Manu is subject to corporal punishment and Manu allows the husband the right to beat his wife”.2 There is another problem which affects almost all women is the problem of gender inequality. Since the women are given the subordinate status, they never feel that they are at the driver seat of their lives. Their role in the family or society is considered inferior than their male counterparts. Even the modern women who are educated and who have economic independence remain unchanged in this aspect that is their subordinate status remains intact. The Indian society which has accepted the laws of Manu denies education to women and thus mental growth. Manu says, “Women have no right to study the Vedas”.3 In modern India, though women are allowed to study, there is a danger of becoming sophisticated slaves in the patriarchal system as ‘Saritha’ in Vijay Tendulkar’s play,