The God of Small Things

The God of Small Things

In the novel, The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy one of the leading characters, Ammu, is troubled by many problems of classification related to gender, class and her family. In the novel Ammu is an outcast in her own family because she is a female and not the favorite male child. She isn’t permitted to go to college and because of this she marries the first man she finds. When Ammu divorces her husband and moves with her children back to her parents’ house, she is now classified as a broken woman and is predetermined to spend the rest of her life sulking in the family home. But Ammu doesn’t do this. She defies all odds and goes and finds love again, but by falling in love with an Untouchable it causes more problems with classification because she is then breaking the class classification and embarrassing her higher class family; she is immediately classified with her family so anything she does includes them as well. Ammu and Velutha’s affair is the moment of shear embarrassment for the family and Baby Kochamma sees it as her punishment and Ammu’s punishment as well. The following quote states the Baby Kochamma's, and the family's opinion of Ammu's predicament   “She saw it as God’s way of punishing Ammu for her sins and simultaneously avenging her (Baby Kochamma’s) humiliation at the hands of Velutha and the men in the march… a ship of goodness plowing through a sea of sin.” Here we can see just the extreme classification issues that take place for Ammu. She is immediately thrown into a sea of sin just for falling in love with a man her family didn’t approve of because of his class and religion. Throughout the entire book there are many issues related to classification for all of the characters, but Ammu seems to be affected by so many more than the other characters. She is classified by gender, class, and kinship she is even classified by ideas of how women should behave. 

My Opinion: 
Jealousy and hate play big rolls in this book. The fact that an older woman can ruin a member of her families life for no reason other than the man is from a different social class and a member of a political party that embarrassed her is beyond me. The main character, Ammu, is classified by her family yet the family isn't what we consider a close knit or accepting family. It seems like the only thing keeping this family bound is blood. The siblings and children of Ammu are also very distraught characters because of the lack of family support. This is exactly the opposite of the portrait that Ashima paints for us in the novel The Namesake. The children are scared by their families and they end up being messed up individuals when they reach adulthood. This had a very To Kill A Mockingbird feeling to it. This may be because it is a traumatic event told through the eyes of a child. 
Remnants of the Caste System: 
Ammu's love interest in this book is Velutha,a ex- Untouchable. Even though the caste system was abolished in the 1960s and this book took place in the 1960's it shows the stereotypes and opinions of people still hadn't really changed. (This could be though of as the segregation laws in the US even though the laws were revoked peoples' attitudes and opinions didn't change.) The caste stysem really plays a role in this book because Ammu is considered a shame and embarrassment to her family for being with a man below her own social status. It is a sad fact that represents a realistic issue. 

The Caste system is a hierarchy based on Purity and the level of purity decides on the social interactions and occupations. The Untouchable level is seen below the pyramid. They were outcasts  shunned and left to do all of the dirty work. Something interesting is that caste systems didn't only occur in India... they occurred in France, Spain, Africa and Japan as well! Even though the caste system was nullified  it doesn't mean that it doesn't affect how people think and view the world, as seen in this novel. 


Fun Note: When I took my Praxis II test for English certification there was a question about The God of Small Things.