Ajdaharian

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Kendal Ajdaharian
Mr. Buckner
English
20 January 2016
Witnessing Trauma
Arundhati Roys fictional novel, The God of Small Things, is very successful; it
even won the Man Booker Prize. The novel is so successful because the readers feel
relatable to the characters in an emotional way. The God of Small Things takes our
breath away because it reveals the social abyss that is papered over by convention
(Fox). In the real world, the memories of traumatic events are repeated over and
over again; the readers witness this same experience alongside the characters in The
God of Small Things through Esthas encounter with the Orangedrink Lemondrink
man and Veluthas beating.
In chapter 4, Rahel, Estha, Ammu, and Baby Kochamma all go to the movie
theater to see The Sound of Music. Estha wants to sing along with the movie, so he
steps outside so he can sing as loud as he wants. The Orangedrink Lemondrink man
is a movie theater employee. He is mad at Estha for waking him up from a nap and
lures Estha closer. The Orangedrink Lemondrink man gives Estha a drink and forces
Estha to pleasure him. Even though Estha does not like being with the Orangedrink
Lemondrink man, he does not stop this event and tries to distract himself. Readers
can relate to this experience of being an innocent child and looking up to an adult.
This chapter is captivating because Roy takes a simple activity like going to the

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movie theater and talking to adults and spins this fun activity to the betrayal of the
childs trust in a disturbing way (Fox).
The sexual abuse of Estha by the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man prepares
him (and readers) for the later trauma caused by his observation of the police attack
on Velutha (Fox). Estha and Rahel watch the police attack Velutha in the History
House, another huge trauma in Esthas life. The narrator says the Velutha looks like,
the gurgle of blood on a mans breath when the jagged end of a broken rib tears his
lung (Roy 292). The police tell themselves it is just to beat Velutha because he is an
Untouchable and potentially a kidnapper and killer, and they are Touchables. The
consciences of the police are cleared, but not Esthas. The beating trauma from
watching Velutha being beaten snowballs off of the trauma from his sexual abuse.
When Estha is interviewed at the police station, the Inspector Thomas Matthew
noted his dilated pupils (Roy 297), which is a sign of trauma. Once again, social
classes are a hindrance, which really do affect people in an emotional physical way.
Roy makes a point to add detailed descriptions to Veluthas beating to emphasize its
coldness, just like in todays society (Fox).
The subjectivized story of case in Kerala does not propose a solution but
rather bears witness to the social trauma inherent in the presence of the socially
abject, Untouchable caste (Fox). Roy draws in empathy from her readers by the
trauma Estha endures to open their eyes to the horrors of the world. People
experience this trauma through the caste system and it is covered up or dismissed
as unimportant because of the different classes. In conclusion, Estha is a victim and

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witness of extreme trauma in The God of Small Things to reveal the social abyss that
is papered over by convention (Fox).

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Works Cited
Fox, Chris L. "A Martyrology of the Abject: Witnessing and Trauma in Arundhati

Roy's the God of Small Things." Questia. Questia School, Oct. 2002. Web. 19

Jan. 2016.

Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.