The god of small things.

Serdar Potelli

The God of Small Things takes place in India. We get to follow a family in which we
find the two main characters, the twins Rahel and Esta. The book takes place in
postcolonial India. The British kept the caste-system, but after India gained its
independence they were forbidden. Perhaps the British kept the system so that
there would be inner-conflicts between groups in the country and people would
forget about the larger common enemy. Even though it is forbidden, we see traces
of it in the book, as you do in India today. There are over 250 million untouchables
in India. One could argue that India has gained social sovereignty but not social
sovereignty. The cast system still exist although it is forbidden.
We see some clear signs of the caste-system when Ammu and Velutha get
romantically involved with each other. Veluthas father is so grateful to the touchable
class that he is willing to kill his own son, Velutha for touching Ammu. Their love is
forbidden. What makes this conflict more interesting is that it is between Syrian
Christians and Untouchables. After Ammus and Veluthas relationship is out in the
open. Baby Kochamma then lies to the police and blames everything on Velutha.
Since she is of a more superior class the police dont even question her and
believe her. Velutha is brought in to the station and gets beaten to death. The fact
that Velutha is a communist does not help his cause. And Ammu being a divorced
woman has no place anywhere.
This really shows a major difference between the West and the East. Here, in the
West you are not frowned upon simply because you are divorced. Even 30-40 years
ago. I also see very similar patterns in Turkey. In the western parts of the country we
have to more progressive and secular cities. Divorce is a common thing here. But in
the east, where it is a lot more rural its a whole other story. You simply do not get
divorced, since people there are lot more religious and it is not secular at all.
Even though Velutha is a well-learned man with a respectable job as a carpenter,
they kill him. And after Ammu dies as a consequence of Veluthas death, the church
refuses to bury her. She gets cremated where only the poor get cremated. This can

be seen as some sort of warning to other people. They are not to interfere or
oppress the current love-laws and the caste-system.
I would say that since Velutha is a communist and so is Roy, she makes Velutha
appear as some sort of hero. He stood for his cause and revolted against the long
standing tradition of caste-system in India. And this is what I think makes him the
god of small things.
After all of this Esta and Rahel engage in sexual activities with each other. This
could be their way of following their mothers footsteps and defying the love-laws.
Although the one they commit is much more serious, since incest is forbidden in
most of the world and is taboo in most places.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_of_Small_Things
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India