Thursday, January 28, 2016
The God of Small Things - quotation analysis
Choose your favourite short quotation (or at least one of your favourites) from the novel. Give a little context
(speaker, situation), then explore the meaning and significance of the
quotation (how it reveals or develops elements such as plot, character,
atmosphere, theme...). Be literary! Due before Monday, February 8th.
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"Then Rahel's Ammu was fed to it. Her hair, her skin, her smile. Her voice. The way she used Kipling to love her children before putting them to bed: We be of one blood, ye and I. Her goodnight kiss. The way she held their faces steady with one hand (squashed-cheeked, fish-mouthed) while she parted and combed their hair with the other. The way she held knickers out for Rahel to climb into. Left leg, right leg. All this was fed to the beast, and it was satisfied." (p.163)
ReplyDeleteI chose because of it's beauty, first of all : indeed, although the family is torn apart (no one else than Rahel came to Ammu's funeral), the importance of love is emphasized by this quoten. Thanks to it, Ammu, who had because disgusting to the reader through Rahel's eyes becomes beautiful again, physically, thanks to the parallelism "Her hair, her skin, her smile" and internally, because of the love she gave to her children. This quote is also very rich because it also deals with other themes explored in the book, such as history and love for the English language ("We be of one blood, ye and I")and violence in the last sentence, in a shift : the peacefulness and beauty of the moment couldn't stay for too long, and we are plunged again in the mysterious atmosphere of the novel. And thanks to this, the quotation not only mentions love, but most all the lack of love felt by Rahel, and Estha, and many characters too.
"In those early amorphous years when memory had only just begun, when life was full of Beginnings and no Ends, and Everything was For Ever, Esthappen and Rahel thought of themselves together as Me, and separately, individually, as We or Us." (p.2)
ReplyDeleteThis quotation comes at the very beginning of the novel, when Estha and Rahel are introduced to the reader. We understand the events will be seen from the point of view of the children. In this quote, some post-colonial themes are already introduced such as memory, hope, time and identity.
The future is hopeful but with the mention of secrets and of 'ends', we can forecast that something terrible is going to happen. There is innocence and purity in this quotation: the children have their whole life ahead of them however they won't get to live it as they would have wished at this time.
Moreover, the children have quite different personalities in the novel, they are definitely not the same person. And yet they balance each other out, they are linked. With all these paradoxes, the reader feels uncomfortable, he doesn't know how the story is going to turn out.
Thus, this passage emphasizes broad themes (capitalization of 'Beginnings', 'Ends', 'For Ever'...), which question human condition.
The repeated quote I chose firstly appears in Chapter 6, when the twins, their mother, Chacko and Baby Kochamma go to the airport of Cochin to pick Margaret Kochamma and Sophie Mol up, Chacko's ex-wife and daughter. The two English have just landed when they meet the Indian family. "And the air was full of Thoughts and Things to say. But at times like this, only the Small Things are ever said. The Big Things lurk unsaid inside." (p. 142). It is attached to several themes throughout the book. First of all, it can be applied to the characters' attitude. In fact, it is a major part of their characterization. They all are secretive and the reader has often access to thoughts that never come out of the characters' minds out loud to the others (e.g. Chacko's man's needs, BK's love for Father Mulligan, the twins presence when Velutha's beaten, Orangedrink Lemondrink episode...). Second of all, the capitalization of some words in this quote reveals one of Roy's most present and significant writing features. Here, it allows her to emphasize on the meaning of the capitalized words in their connection with one another. She might use "things" in order to hint at feelings/thoughts/impressions/situations that are impossible to express with words. However, they are overwhelming and are contrasted with the "Small Things". Here, "Small" contains a paradox within itself (big "s" [form] for small [content]): those things are the first and sometimes the only being expressed by words when they are considered less important if compared to the "Big" ones. Therefore, the reader can either feel sympathy for the characters who refuse unconsciously to reveal what they have inside or contempt for those who consciously deny it, leave it "lurk[ed] unsaid inside" or transform it when it is needed to be released. Finally, this quote that the reader can find throughout the story may be linked to post-colonial writing themes: betrayal, lie, oppression. Indeed, on the one hand, it can be considered as a denunciation of the colonists' attitude towards the colonized, not telling them the actual ins and outs of colonization. On the other hand, it can be applied to the colonized situation: they weren't allowed to express what really mattered for them, how they felt about being controlled and what it changed for them as humans with identities.
ReplyDelete“It was a time when uncles became fathers, mothers lovers, and cousins died and had funerals.
ReplyDeleteIt was a time when the unthinkable became thinkable and the impossible really happened” p.31
In chapter 1 Roy gives us bites and pieces of the story and lifts the vail on what is going to happen using significant details therefore not spoiling the plot development; she gives us the ‘what’ and then guides us through the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the story. This quote can be seen as an overall of all the events she evokes previously. Indeed it hints to Ammu and Velutha’s love story, the twins’ relationship with Chacko and the death of Sophie Moll. These events, as far as we know in chapter 1, seem to be major keys and turning points in the plot.
The first theme explored here is the one of society and social position. The shift between different roles such as “uncles/fathers; mothers/lovers” show how these specific ones attributed by society will be challenged throughout the plot. This introduces another theme which is major in both this novel and post-colonial writing as a whole: transgression. Indeed the opposition between “unthinkable/thinkable; impossible/happened” hints to the reader that laws and limits, whatever their nature, will be crossed over. The second sentence of the quote almost sounds like a foreshadowing or a prophecy of how the world the characters evolve in throughout the book will be turned upside down due to this transgressing. The themes of social position and transgression lead to a third one, central in characterisation in “The God of Small Things”, the one of identity. Indeed social position also refers to the characters’ identity. The fact that there is a shift in the character’s ‘role’ in society results in conflicts of identity, often leading to the character’s downfall. For example we see through the novel how Ammu is punished by the society for trying to be a mother as well as a lover and how the twins struggle to retain their own identity and, as they try to do so, end up transgressing a universal law by committing incest.
This quotation raises questions to the reader: according to who are things unthinkable and impossible? According to which laws, rules? Seeing how society’s and mostly caste’s laws are pointed out as ridiculous, double-standing and pathetic, Roy entails the reader to question the validity of any societies’ implicit laws.
The quotation I chose is in Chapter 1 when the reader gets to know more about Rahel and her life : "What Larry McCaslin saw in Rahel's eyes was not despair at all, but a sort of enforced optimism. And a hollow where Estha's words had been. He couldn't be expected to understand that. That the emptiness in one twin was only the version of quietness in the other.That the two things fitted together. Like stacked spoons. Like familiar lovers' bodies."
ReplyDeleteThis quotation really describes the complex relationship between Rahel and Estha. From when they were young to when they are finally adults and living with the despair and shame put on them after Sophie Mol's death. The twins appear to be an entity, a whole that survives thanks to their common effort to go through life. With the comparison "like stacked spoons" Roy reminds the reader of how they were as foetus, two babies in the same place. Whereas with the comparison "like familiar lovers' bodies" she might be foreshadowing their upcoming incest in chapter 17. In any case this quotation emphasizes the unique and "magical" relationship that the twins have and which is described throughout the book, they complete each other. "Quietness" and "emptiness" are the words we could use to sum up the characters of Estha and Rahel after Sophie Mol's death. Finally I like this quotation because it is, for me, a clear and straightforward description of the twins and their relationship. It incorporates their entire story, present and past, to illustrate how time and history can affect one's identity.
“So there it was then, History and Literature enlisted by commerce. Kurtz and Karl Marx joining palms to greet rich guests as they stepped off the boat.” P126
ReplyDeleteI chose this quote mainly because of the irony present in it. It is firstly interesting as there is a distinct opposition between Kurtz and Marx: Kurtz is a manipulative and mysterious character, wanting to gain as much power as he could whilst Marx spoke about the idea of an uprising of the working classes against the Bourgeoisie – which is the last thing Kurtz would’ve wanted. There is further irony in that Marx is said to be ‘greeting rich guests’, therefore going against his ideology. Roy says that ‘History and Literature enlisted by commerce’ the idea of them being ‘enlisted’ is interesting as it is usually used referring to war and yet there is clearly no war here: it is simply the hotel owners wishing to use History and Literature for their own benefit. This is the overriding idea in this quote, the idea of people manipulating others for their own gain: a very prominent idea in Post-Colonial writing.
“As a child, she had learned very quickly to disregard the Father Bear Mother Bear stories she was given to read. In her version, Father Bear beat Mother Bear with brass vases. Mother Bear suffered those beatings with mute resignation.”
ReplyDeleteThis quotations p.180 is written just after we are made to think about what could have brought Ammu to think as she does. It is the story of Mammachi being beaten by Pappachi when Ammu was little. I found the parallelism between the poor childhood of Ammu and the one of the twins very poignant.
Ammu suffered a lot when she was a child as we see it here and in the following paragraph, furthermore the cynicism of the contrast with the Bear parents stories emphasizes the uneasiness of the reader reading this passage. She lived in fear and despite her strong will to provide her twins with a better life, loving them double etc, they ended up just like her, broken, frightened, though not for the same reason, forbidden relations etc, but this interdiction to have a peaceful childhood led to the same lost adults.
Moreover the secrecy of the family we are made to watch throughout the novel in brought up here (pp.180-181). Ammu is made to read those stories by people who did not knew what was going on between Mammachi and Pappachi and people thought Pappachi was an extremely good man. The themes of appearances, truth, secrets, taboos, beaten women are all present here which makes this quote and the following paragraphs another complex and complete passage of the book.
Finally it ends up with mute resignation, as if they were doom. After all, Mammachi was beaten, Ammu was despised, the twins left alone in life. “Does fighting back worth it for this branch of the family?” seems the question.
Standing outside in the rain, in the cold, wet light from the single streetlight, Velutha was suddenly overcome by sleep. He had to force his eyelids to stay open.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow, he told himself. Tomorrow when the rain stops.
This quote is my favourite quote of the novel. It illustrates so many different aspects of the novel. To begin, we see Velutha's harsh betrayal. He has been rejected by society, by religion, by his family... This shows the absurdity of the Indian society, but also the absurdity of mankind which seems to be continuously seeking power. The fact that men obey to such a system illustrates how important it is for the upper classes of society to show their supperiority, how important their image is to them (ex: Pillai refuses to help a Paravan)... Roy brings out this paradox through Velutha's charcter which is the only one who is able not only to rebell against society to a certain extent (communist walk), but also to experience true love with Ammu. It is the only true love portrayed in the novel (Mammachi beaten, Baby Kochamma never managed to reach a stable relationship with Father Mullingan...)
Moreover, this quote brings forward the character's hope. Although he is outside, rejected, in the pooring rain, he does not give up. He thinks of the dry, sunlit next day. He is an optimist who does not worry the codes of society. He lives in harmony with nature. He represents hope for future generations, change, but also respect of the Indian culture and nature. Through this character Roy is able to criticize the imperial stained Indian society but also to put forward the wonders of the Indian culture.
I chose the quote “There would be two flasks of water. Boiled water for Margaret Kochamma and Sophie Mol, tap water for everybody else.” This quote appears in chapter when the twins, Baby Kochamma, Chacko and Ammu are in the “sky blue Plymouth” to go and get Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma at the airport. This quote is very interesting. Indeed, when first reading it, we could think it is so, because both british girls are not used to the Indian water. However the auxiliary “would” pinpoints that it will be no other way. It has been chosen so and it is going to be so. The difference between the British and the Indian characters is already present. Indeed, the foreigners will have pure water, because they are more sophisticated (and more important). This is emphasised by the similarity of construction of the sentence; when “Margaret Kochamma and Sophie Mol” are directly referred to in the sentence, the others are just “everybody else”. “Tap water” is good enough for the rest of the family but not for them. The way the sentence is written seems to be something that has been said and repeated to the twins, along with the different places assigned to each in the car, that they repeat but don’t understand. It shows the submission of the children to characters such as Baby Kochamma. In addition to that, we understand that from the beginning, Sophie is loved more than the twins are. She isn’t here yet but is already privileged. It is going to be so for the rest of her life. It shows the difference between the different children. Finally, we could see this as a foreshadowing of Sophie Mol’s death. Indeed, she is going to die in the “evil river”, which isn’t purified. In the same way she was not accustomed to “unboiled” water, she was not used to swim in the water. This lack of accoutumence has been fatal to her.
ReplyDelete“And there it was again. Another religion turned against itself. Another edifice constructed by the human mind, decimated by human nature.”
ReplyDeleteRoy is describing Chapter 14 (“Work is struggle”), p.287, how Comrade Pillai betrayed Velutha (and the Communist ideal of equality) by refusing the help and protection he needed, and so sentencing the Paravan to the policemen's rage, to his beating, his agony and his death in the following chapters. What is interesting in this quotation is that Roy considers “official” Communism (embodied by Pillai) as a religion... Even if Marx said that religion is “the opiate of the masses” and that communism is generally anti-religious. But isn't it merely another paradox ? Communism might indeed have turned from the original beliefs to a mere political movement with a complete “doxa”, similar to the religions it it was meant to oppose... This “religion” has “turned against itself” as it does no longer promote and defend the ideals of equity, equality, fraternity and struggle for the weaker (proletariat, untouchables) against the oppression of the stronger (capitalist bourgeoisie, upper classes or casts). Communists, as showed by Comrade Pillai, only aim at (more) power, defending their own interests and struggling in a personal purpose; the very opposite of Communism. Furthermore, we find in this quotation a crucial thesis defended by Roy in The God of Small Things: the idea that “the human mind” can create amazingly positive things, both concrete and abstract, but “human nature” soon pervert the ideals and stain what was originally great (no matter if we consider Communism as a good ideology or not). Finally, I especially liked the fact that with two words, “again” and “another”, Roy succeeds in raising a whole new point, basically that the traditional religions have already “turned against themselves”: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam all advocate peace and love between Men... but stopped to strongly defend these beliefs, allow atrocities to happen and sacrificed some principles upon the “Political Necessity” (quoted by Pillai earlier in the novel) altar.
"Things can change in a day"
ReplyDeleteI picked this quotation located a the end of Chapter 7, which is entitled wisdom exercise notebook because I find it very representative of the whole novel. Indeed , it could even sum up the plot if we wanted to give as little details as possible.
This quotation has a strong meaning, it could apply to Velutha and Ammu and the fact that once their affair was revealed to Mammachi and Baby Kochamma by Vellya Pappen their lives completely changed. Ammu was – as explained in the 7th Chapter- forced to leave Ayemenem and when she died the church refused to bury her. We even understand that she became a prostitute. Therefore, her destiny was completely diffrent from what she expected. She went from a upper class woman in search of emancipation to an abandonned and repulsive prostitute.
When it comes to Velutha he was killed by the policemen. Their love affair condemned them to death. Besides the Novel ends with the word «tomorrow» but the reader know that tis tomorrow is never going to happen because things changed in a day for Ammu and Velutha.
Moreover, it can be related to Sophie Mol's drowning which also led to Velutha's death and Ammu's eviction. If she hadn't board with the twins on the boat she would still be alive and the tragedy could have been avoided.
Finally I would also relate this quotation to the Organgedrink Lemondrink man and the fact that Estha's molestation led to Sophie's death and the rest of the tragic events.
If nothing had happen in Abilash Talkies Estha would have lived in constant fear and he wouldn't have « been prepared» all the time and he wouldn't have board to get somewhere safe , where the Orangedrink lemondrink man wouldn't be able to find him.
I chose a recurrent quote. The first time we encounter it is on page 6 : "Sicksweet. Like old roses on a breeze."
ReplyDeleteUndoubtedly this is associated to Velutha's violent death yet the reader does not find out about this until the end of the novel. Therefore this sentence creates an atmosphere of suspense and awakes the reader's curiosity. The reader can only wonder why it is repeated throughout the novel. I believe its repetition is done to illustrate the trauma of Velutha's death on the children. Indeed it shows that they are incapable of letting go of the memory and that it follows them everywhere they go.
Furthermore the made up adjective "sicksweet" is isolated from the rest of the sentence to make it stand out. It is built on two words with opposite connotations thus it can be seen as an oxymoron. This only adds to the paradox of this sentence. Indeed a rose is usually associated with positive images and the word "breeze" makes it sound light and drifting yet the meaning behind the sentence is dark and morbid. Moreover, Roy associates a smell with a color which creates an interesting and rich imagery. If we picture the rose as being red then it can also be seen as a metaphor for Velutha's blood. This quote therefore appeals to several of the readers' senses which makes it more vivid, dramatic and striking.
« By ‘never’ Estha had only meant that it would be too far away. That it wouldn’t be now, wouldn’t be soon. By ‘never’ he hadn’t meant Not Ever. […] For Never they just took the O and T out of Not Ever. »
ReplyDeleteThis quotation is extracted from the moment when Etha is Returned to his father in chapter 20. He is standing with Ammu at the train station and he wants to know when she gets him back.
This moment is a key moment as it is the separation of the twins. This separation is important as it triggered the different paths they took in life and which forged their identity.
In this quotation, the reader finds Roy’s specific style of writing. Indeed, she decomposes the word « Never », as if Estha was tearing it appart to see in his way the roots of the word. The emphasis on the way a word is built gives importance to language and its meaning. Here it depicts the idea of time passing, and for Estha, ‘never’ is « too for away » but maybe reachable to a certain extent. ‘Not Ever’ means that it won’t happen. This slight difference represents the ounce of hope he keeps. He still ignores what awaits him in life. This is a dramatic irony as the reader knows that Ammu won’t come back for him, and that instead of a month as he hopes, he will have to wait for years until he comes back in Ayemenem.
Here a parallel may be drawn with the first chapter. Indeed, we learn the powerful link Estha and Rahel had, as they were « physically separate but with joint identities » (chap 1). Here, the physical separation is going to be even wider as Estha is taken away. Morevover, in chapter 1, « life was full of Beggining and no Ends ». This passage seems put an end to this belief as Estha is leaving, it is an End to Estha and Rahel’s united childhood full pf games, to the link between them.
FInally, if there was a little hope for Estha, it is really feeble because ‘never’ and ‘not ever’ are in spelling so close and thus, in meaning also maybe. Here, Estha is maybe foreshadowing the tragic fate he has. This create a weighing atmoshphere, full of false hope and contained saddness.
"Ammu's look said, Never Mind Her As Long As You've Done The Right Thing."
ReplyDeleteI think this quote represents the pressure every character has to undergo during the book. It's all about perspective: what "the right thing" is to one character represents the exact opposite for another one. The fact that Ammu doesn't actually say it (her eyes do) underlines the fact that the most important things in TGoST stay unsaid. It's an official rule, that everybody's aware of even though no one actually said it aloud. And those who don't follow the rule are eventually punished for doing so. To me, this quote represents the general dynamic of the family and the Indian society in general. Each person has a role to fulfil, it's the main goal of their lives: doing the right thing. It's not the person in front of them as much as the hierarchy opposing them that's important. But eventualy the difference of perspective brings to the downfall of the family and the suffering of almost all of the characters. The fact that the words are written with capitals underlines the importance of this rule inside the family and between all of the characters.
"It was a time when the unthinkable became thinkable and the impossible really happened." I chose this quote p 31 in chapter 1. In this passage we are actually back in Rahel's present days and she's looking at Paradise Pickles and Preserves remembering all sorts of details from her childhood. She remembers that it was forbidden to produce banana jam because it was "neither jam nor jelly" and so unclassifiable. She compares her family and her story to this saying that "the difficulty that her family had with classification ran much deeper than the jam jelly question". She then introduces the idea ( for the first time in the novel ) of transgression and that they all broke the "rules". That's when she says the quote that I choose. I like it because I feel like it is very representative of how the situation changes all the time in the time in the novel . Roy uses the past in this line, so it implies that things have changed, and so that for the reader there are lots of things to discover about the story and that a lot of things will happened in the novel. Here the notion of time is unreduced also: time as something unstoppable, that we feel already like being what is going to lead and force the events in the story. Its like time was a force going against the characters and we already feel it. The idea of change and action is also marked by the parallel ;"unthinkable :thinkable" which perfectly express the idea of contrary , opposite and transformation. But its also implies -last but not least- the idea of transgression which is a central theme of the novel.This idea of breaking rules, implies how important those rules are too. That way, I thought this quote was pretty complete about several themes of the novel and representativ of the ambiance and composition of the book( disordered past-present, things to discover and to put back in order...). Finally I juts feel like its a beautiful line to think about and, out the context, a sentence that can mean a lot a different things depending of the persecutive you take it.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite quotes is one that is repeated all throught the book and appears first p.31 : "They all tampered with the laws that lay down who should be love and how. And how much."
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I think this quote is important because it is present all through the story to talk about different situations : Ammu and Velutha's forbidden love affair, Mammachi's feelings towards Chacko, Baby Kochamma's love for Father Mulligan, and most of all, Estha and Rahel's "incest". I think that trangessing the Love Laws, who dares to, and what happens when you do, is one of the main subjects of this novel and it can be seen through this quote.
Moreover, this quotation is striking because it is cut on two parts : "(...) who should be love and how." / "And how much." and the fact that "And how much." is in a separated sentence emphasizes the idea that it is where lays the problem. The reader focuses easily on this quotation because even though it is a short one, there's a repetition of "how".
Finally, the quotation is repeated for the last time in The Madras Mail : "Only that once again they broke the Love Laws. That lay down who should be loved. And how. And how much.". This quotation is even more important here because it is in one of the key moments of the novel, when Rahel and Estha finally find a way to "be one" again.
I personnally liked this quotation because of all its meaning in the novel but also because of the meaning it can have in real life, considering that the Love Laws really exist.
“But what was there to say?
ReplyDeleteOnly that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there was a snuffling in the hollows at the base of a lovely throat. Only that a hard honey-colored shoulder had a semicircle of teethmarks on it. Only that they held each other close, long after it was over. Only that what they shared that night was not happiness, but hideous grief.
Only that once again they broke the Love Laws. That lay down who should be loved. And how. And how much.”
(p.328)
I chose this quote because to me this is the climax of the book. A crucial moment we have been led towards by Roy throughout the novel. This is the much anticipated moment where Estha and Rahel make love, or however we're supposed to call it. This quote has everything, it is a big thing, described by small things to mask its importance perhaps. The "But what was there to say?" is supposed to be a rhetorical question, but Roy decides to answer this question in depth using a repetition of the word "Only" to stress that there is always something to say, and no matter how horrible and unspeakable an action may be, there should always be words to describe it. Nothing is taboo. Of coarse we end on "the love laws", which is a very important pattern in the novel, and if ever the love laws were broken, it would be in this passage. Therefore it is not only a very well written and interesting passage in the novel, it is also of a very large significance, and allows the reader to feel the way he wants to feel about the end of the novel. There is no judgement of the action, and leaves the reader completely free to interpret Estha and Rahels "incest", which is another way of seeing it.
Daan van Gorp.
I picked the quote "And the Air was full of Thoughts and Things to Say. But at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said.
ReplyDeleteThe Big Things lurk unsaid inside" appearing in chapter 6 when the family (Ammu, the twins, Baby Kochamma and Chacko) welcomes Sophie Mol and her mother - Chacko's British ex-wife, at the airport. This quotation is representative of the book as it illustrates the themes of secrets and silence which are important features of the story. Indeed we find these themes in the portait of Estha at the very beginning of the book ; he is described as being "a quiet bubble" having "sea-secrets in him". Furthermore, he keeps the assault of the Orangedrink Lemondrink man for himself. This silence is almost a way to communicate between the characters. It is even more interesting than the actual dialogues, sometimes words are not enough to express feelings, for instance when Rahel and Comrade Pillai meet when Rahel comes back in Ayemenem : they both know the situation but no words are being said.
The use of capitalization in this quotation reveals also the importance of "Small Things". It brings out another deeper meaning of these words. The air becomes heavier, thoughts become material and small things become greater. This quotation can also be linked to the synoptic topic seeing as oppression and language are important characteristics of post-colonialism. The British culture and language imposed on the Indian population made it hard for them to find words to express themselves.
The quotation I chose is on page 335: ‘As though they knew already that for each tremor of pleasure they would pay with an equal measure of pain’.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this quotation, which is used to describe Ammu and Velutha’s feelings, could be accurate in almost every situation and for most characters, and therefore is very representative of the book. As far as Ammu and Velutha are concerned, it is obvious that they will pay a high price for having violated the ‘love laws’, and this could also apply to Rahel and Estha’s relation, for instance, which is forbidden too. As a matter of fact, there happen to be no successful love story in the novel, even though there are lots of them. The ‘love laws’ are so drastic that there are always transgressed in a way, which allows no happiness at all.
However, the transgressions aren’t always linked to love, and we could also relate this quote to the kids’ excursion to the History House, when they run away and steal Velutha’s boat before Sophie Mol’s death.
What is really said here is that every time a transgression brings some kind of pleasure, it immediately turns into pain.
Stylistically speaking, it is interesting to notice that Roy chose to use the word ‘tremor’ to qualify pleasure and ‘measure’ to qualify pain, as though pleasure was something rather sudden and unusual while pain was something that could be measured, that was rational, logical and familiar.
"Ammu smiled to herself in the dark, thinking how much she loved his arms - the shape and strength of them, how safe she felt resting in them when actually it was the most dangerous place she could be."
ReplyDeleteChapter 21, p.338: This particular moment in the novel takes place right after Velutha and Ammu first make love, by the river bank, where the twins first found the boat.
I really like this quote because it thoroughly shows Ammu's feelings towards Velutha; It encompasses her attraction and love for him aswell as her fear of the consequences of what has just happened. The fact that by becoming infatuated with one-another when they are from a different caste is a huge problem in itself, but the danger of their situation has worsened since they made love.
The adjectives "safe" and "dangerous" are contrasted to reinforce this idea, safe representing the way Ammu feels when she is in Velutha's arms, and dangerous representing the reality of her being in his arms. This quote pulls the reader back into reality after the past couple of pages in the novel which focus on Ammu and Velutha's affection for eachother. The general atmosphere in this quote is first of all warm and reassuring but quickly becomes solemn/sinister. We can feel the bad ending of their love story coming.
My favorite quote is from the first chapter, page 33, "The laws that lay down who should be loved, and how.
ReplyDeleteAnd how much."
I remember that when starting The God of Small Things, this was the quotation that struck me the most at first. Despite the fact that I wasn't yet aware of what was to happen, this quotation being the phrase that ends the first chapter and because it is often repeated made it visibly relevant. The style is also characteristic of Arundhati Roy, as it is poetic and almost verse-like. The very last line: "And how much." being left on its own at the very end of the chapter highlights the importance of the phrase.
Moreover, I believe it summarizes perfectly well the plot of TGoST. We are reminded of the different types of transgression in love and relationships that we can find throughout the story: Velutha and Ammu, Rahel and Estha, Baby Kochamma and Father Mulligan (although it is unrequited) and Chacko and Margaret Kochamma. These relationships are all different, but they all transgress the established "love laws", laws laid down by society— based on caste, origins, gender, etc.
And, as any law, transgressing them leads to punishment. Velutha is killed, Ammu dies lonely, Baby Kochamma is doomed to a life full of bitterness, Chacko is divorced and after Sophie Mol's death he is weakened and used by Baby Kochamma. Only Rahel and Estha's future are left uncertain after their own "transgression" of these love laws— perhaps, for once they will not suffer as the others did? Perhaps Roy chose to end their story on a hopeful note? Or perhaps, as Estha and Rahel's transgression is paralleled with Ammu and Velutha's, we can guess that they are doomed to a similar faith...
'When you hurt people, they begin to love you a little less. That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.' I chose this quote because it is representative of the relations presented in The God of Small Things. It is quite interesting to see that Rahel thinks about what Ammu told her everytime she makes someone sad. This sentence is one of the most repeated throughout the novel and it shows that the different characters (here, Rahel) are really worried about what the members of their family think about them. It also highlights the uncommon strings that tie the members of the family together. We can see that on one hand, the children look at Velutha as if he was their father and on the other hand, Sophie Mol doesn't look at Chacko as if he was his father (or only as a biological father). For instance in Chapter 6 at the bottom of page 136 'A little less her mother loved her'. This shows that, indeed, Rahel cannot help thinking about the time her mother told her she loved her a little less. We learn with this passage that even if Ammu tries to be nice and protective to her daughter, Rahel still thinks that her mother will never fully love her.
ReplyDeleteMy personal favourite quotation from the God of Small Things is "When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That's what careless words do. They wake people love you a little less." on page 112, chapter four.
ReplyDeleteThis is a life lesson by Ammu to Rahel. I personally find it striking because it is quite harsh for a mother to tell a child he or she isn't loved as much as before. However, here it is linked with Pappachi's moth, and throughout the book, we see that everytime Rahel says something unintentionally hurtful she feeels the moth pressing on her heart and immediately feels guilty. On the opposite hand, when she says something that has a positive effect on people she feels the opposite, almost relieved. Therefore, we clearly see that this life lesson by her mum had such a strong impact on her that it changed the way she viewed things all throughout her life and has changed her from within her heart.
I also think that this quotation reveals a lot about the relationships between characters in the book. Some relationships evolve to become great and happy realtionships while some others completely disappear. It is the little things, the little hurtful words, that make the relationships between characters evolve one way or another. For example, Estha and Rahel never say anything insulting to each other and their relationship is the strongest in the book because their love for each other has never decreased in any kind of way even when they were separated.
“Nothing mattered much. Nothing much mattered. And the less it mattered the less it mattered. It was never important enough. Because Worse Things had happened. In the country that she came from poised forever between the terror of war and the horror of peace Worse Things kept happening."
ReplyDeleteThis quote is the one that struck me the most. It appears in the 1st chapter, when the reader is told about Rahel's story and about Larry McCaslin wondering what Rahel's look meant.
That quote struck me because it seemed to be one of the first times in the book when a simple description or a simple statement about the story became so much more and "swelled" and turned into a statement from the author.
The first four sentences revolve around the idea of importance, the first three are organized around the verb "matter" in the past tense and the first two sentences are really similar in their syntax. Also the association of the capitalized words "Worse Things" and verb "happen" in the past tense is repeated; it stresses the idea and furthermore, serves as some kind of foreshadowing for the rest of the book. In the whole, some kind of scheme, pattern, rythm is created : it sticks in mind and catches the reader's attention.
There is also some kind of contrast in tone : the whole quotation seems to use casual, conversational tone and words but when it comes to describing India, the speaker uses more elaborate and crude imagery with the "terror" and the "horror". The whole phrase contrasts with the rest of the quote, given the fact it's longer than the previous sentences.
Finally, the fact that peace is horrifying is quite unsettling and puzzling for the reader.
All these contribute to the surprise and the unforgettableness of this quote, for me.