Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar

Semester: III

THE ENGLISH AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

UNIVERSITY, HYDERABAD-500007.

Course Title: -A Study of Indian and Western Literary Theory

FINAL ASSIGNMENT

Topic: Feminist Reading of Arundhati Roys God of Small Things

Submitted To: - Dr. Jai Singh

Date: 20 November, 2015.
Submitted By: Devender Kumar

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
Introduction
God of Small Things is a novel written by an Indian writer Arundhati Roy which
focuses on the lives of Indian women suffering in a male dominated society. Her novel is
written from a feminist perspective which talks about the irrationalities and injustices of the
domestic social life. It is thus, through her novel that we realize how the caste based Hindu
society works in favour of men and not for women. Here, Chacko who represents the male
oppressive society enjoys with the low caste women working under his factory, whereas his
sister is condemned for having an affair with Velutha who also belong to a low caste Hindu
(Dalit). Ammus affair is referred as illicit whereas Chacko is forgiven under the reason
mans needs. Likewise male are endowed with lots of advantages from education to
property inheritance to respect; whereas women are deprived of them and has to suffer in the
name of tradition, culture, religion and politics. Men neglect women and fail to appreciate
their hard work and dedication towards family and children. Women are victimized by men
directly or indirectly at home and in the office. In the novel Ammu who represent the
suppressed women, who is also a Syrian Christian Brahmin that goes through a psychological
trauma is an educated woman who challenges the very oppressive society by having an open
affair with a Dalit untouchable Velutha but the society proves to be too strong for her and
ultimately both of them loses their life in a disrespectful manner.
Women have lost their place in the society as a result of caste system, politics, religion
and culture. Their jobs are confined to the lowest form of jobs that dont receive respect.
Marriages take place for almost all the characters but it is soon followed by disaster, which
ultimately give rise to so many problems of losing respect, livelihood and even to an extend
of lives. No marriage turns out to be successful. The novel also highlights the gender
inequality which again is the construct of the society that has the upper hand in man.

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
No respectable place for women in the society
There are three most important characters in God of Small Things thatthe author put
the readers to reflect from the feminist point of view. These three characters represent from
three different generations. Mammachi represent the first generation, Ammu is from the
second generation who is the daughter of Mammachi and the third is Rahel, daughter of
Ammu. Ammu must be treated as the most important character in the novel. She is the
daughter of Papachi and Mammachi and a divorcee with two zygotic twins, Rahel and Estha.
Life for her is not free in her parents house which is controlled by men. Her parents have a
strong affiliation towards traditional Hindu beliefs and they shower more affection to her
brother Chacko. The social norms demands that the men should be given primary importance
and women the secondary preference. Chacko, being the son, was educated at Oxford and
gets much respect from the family. For her son Mammachi was devastated, but secretly
pawned her jewellery and arranged for money to be sent to him in England.(p.248).Ammu
wanted to pursue her further education but Pappachi insisted that a college education was
unnecessary expense for a girl, so Ammu had no choice but to leave Delhi and move with
them. There was very little to do in Ayemenem other than to wait for marriage proposals
while she helped her mother with the house work. Since her father did not have enough
money to raise a suitable dowry, no proposal came along Ammus way(p.38).
In the pickle factory which actually belongs to Mammachi that was later taken over
by her son Chacko, Ammu worked hard with dedication. But her hard work was rarely
acknowledged. Instead Chacko referred to it as, my factory, my pineapples and my pickles.
Legally, this was the case as Ammu, as a daughter had no claim to the property (Roy
57).The laws of the land also discriminates women substantially. He further even goes on to
say, Whats yours is mine and whats mine is also mine. (Roy 57).Chacko often uses these

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
lines intentionally because he feels uncomfortable when Ammu lives with them. Ammus in
desperation Who had to pack her bags and leave. Because she had no Locusts stand I.
Because Chacko said she had destroyed enough already.(Roy 159). Chacko fails to
understand the real needs of a woman. He fails to comfort his own sister who had been
divorced with two children and that too without a job. Ammu was suffering from Asthma.
She was wild sick and sad. She worked as a receptionist in a cheap hotel. She dies alone, in a
dirty hotel room. Rahel, Ammus daughter is the woman who has no place in either her
family or society. Thus the writer gives a bleak view of her as Rahel (no plans, no locusts
stand I), her back against a pillar, watched Karna praying on the banks of the Ganga.(Roy
231).Living in her grandparents house, she does not live like a normal child. Instead she is a
witness to injustices done onto her mother. Baby kochamma disliked Rahel and her brother
Estha for they were fatherless.
Women the victim of ill-treatment of men
Soon Ammu leaves Ayemenem for Calcutta where she finds her second husband who
sells her to his manager. Baba was also an alcoholic and would frequently show tantrums in
the house. Suddenly he lunged her, grabbed her hair, and then punched her and then passed
out from the effort.(p.42). She was the victim of violence. Hirsh and Keller (1990) agree that
Victimization by men has been the primary category of oppression in feminism (Hirish 63).
Man, of course, is physically superior to woman, but the physical superiority is not for using
in a violent manner and to cause harm to the female partners. Man is superior physically
which is given by the nature. And this advantage must be used positively by all men. There
can be two reasons as to why she left her husband. One is because she was sold to his
manager and the other reason is the physical violence. After divorce, her social standing
became even worse in the society. Indian society expects a woman to live with her husband
and accept him unconditionally. A divorced woman is considered equal to a loose moral

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
according to the traditional Hindu values. Men and the society expect women to maintain
certain standards set by the Hindu cultures. Therefore, Prabhati Mukherjee (1978) criticizes
the Hindu tradition with respect to female as, Proceeding down the ages we find that the
ideal held up before a woman is to be a submissive, dutiful and loyal wife totally dependent
upon her husband. An ideal woman is she who is an ideal wife. In other words, it was rather
ideal wifehood, and not an ideal womanhood, that all these authorities were describing at
great length (p.17).So, on her return to her fathers house she is unwelcomed. Parents must
understand the feelings of a divorced woman. In the case of Ammu, parents are more
concerned about the status of a family in the society and so are reluctant when she returns
without a husband. Mammachiwas treated bitterly by her husband Appachi. Every night he
beat her with a brass flower vase. The beatings werent new (Roy 47).The beatings were has
become routine in the house that Ammu 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(p.180).
Mens dominance over women
Chacko is one of the important characters who represent the male oppression over
women in the south Indian society especially in Kerela. Chackos affair with a low caste
women in the factory was accepted in the Ayemenem house but they could not tolerate the
relationship of Ammu with Velutha who is a low caste Hindu too. Mammachi defended her
son by stating this fact that Surprisingly, Baby Kochamma accepted this explanation, and
enigmatic, secretly thrilling notion of mens needs gained implicit sanction in the Ayemenem
house(p.168).Often the low caste women who worked in the factory were paid in cash by
Mammachi and Baby Kochamma to keep the matters at bay. These women accepted the

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
offers in cash because they had to support their family members as they came from an
economically backward people. There are so many men like Chacko who takes the advantage
of womens poverty and ask for sexual favours. When Ammu had an affair with Velutha the
authoress writes Her tolerance for Mens needs as far as her son was concerned, became
the unmanageable fury for her daughter. (Roy 258).Mammachi believes that it is only her
daughter who has put the familys name down and says that She had defiled generations of
breeding and brought the family to its knee. For generations to come, forever now, people
would point at them at weddings and funerals. At baptisms and birthday parties. They would
nudge and whisper. It was all finished now. (Roy 258).Chacko and Ammu are both divorced.
In terms of favours given to them for their biological needs, it is lopsided towards Chacko.
Ammu is locked up in the bedroom and Ammus Velutha is beaten to death. Whereas Chacko
is let to enjoy with the women in the factory and the women are paid. Women must be
respected for the choice they make for their marriage life. Why is it always that the familys
match for women be respected and agreed upon? Why cant women have their own choice?
Women are equal to men and they should also be given equal rights to choose their life
partner as they wish. In the novel, the message is given in the form of warning that if anyone
crosses the boundary that is set by the society one must have to go through uncompromising
consequences.
Chacko after his divorce with Margaret returns home and quickly takes over
Mammachis pickle factory. He refers to it as my factory, my pineapples, my pickles (Roy
57).without regarding Mamachi who had started and developed the factory. He gives the
name of the factory himself as Paradise pickle. He becomes the proprietor and the manager
of the Paradise Pickle factory without giving a share of profit or of ownership to his sister
and mother. His sister and mother becomes a mere labour in the factory and he fails to
appreciate and recognize their effort in the factory. Most women do not occupy the ownership

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
and managerial positions for men still dominate women. Thus Krishna Raj justifies, The
Marxian contribution to feminist theory is the analysis of capitalism Household labour has
now begun to be seen as another than in the subjugation of women and the division of work
in society by sex is not a one to one complementary arrangement. It is hierarchical. It is also
so rigid that it confines women to certain tasks regardless of content or changes in conditions.
This division also influences the rewards available to women (Roy 39).
Further Mammachi was not let to play melody by him on her violins she was
passionate about it. In the middle of the melody, Chacko raised his voice over the chocolate
sound. Mamma! Mamma! Thats enough! Enough violin! (Roy 183). What could
Mammachi say other than to stop it and silently retreat into her bed. On one hand Mammachi
was dominated by her son, on the other hand she was constantly ill treated by her husband.
Papachi did not help her in her work even though she had conical corneas and was already
practically blind instead he was jealous of her wife getting attention from others. Throughout
the novel there are no incidents where Mammachi raises the voice against men. Pappachi
remained very careful about his public profile. He would display gentleman qualities by
donating money to orphanages and leprosy clinic and was thus considered a moral and a good
man in the eyes of the public. The unequal treatment of women in the society is also evident
even in the language people used. For instance Arundhati explains: She referred to her
husband as addeham which was the respectful form of he, whereas he called her edi
which was approximately, hey, you!(Roy 270).
Krishna Raj(1986) justifies that, These various insights have now been integrated into an
overall core concept, namely patriarchy. Patriarchy is now defined as male control over
womens sexuality, fertility and labour power (Raj 39).
Marriage, divorce and the family problem

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
Baby Kochammalives in Ayemenam, who is the sister of Pappachi. Her actual name is
NavomiIpe. While she was young she had fallen in love with Father Mulligan, a young Irish
priest. Baby Kochamma becomes a Roman Catholic and joined a convent against her fathers
wishes. Few lonely months later she comes to realize that she is coming nowhere to her man
she loves and proceeds to study in America where she gets her diploma in ornamental
gardening. She fails in her attempt to win the heart of the young Priest and thus remains
bitterly unmarried throughout her life but she takes pleasure in inflicting pain in others life.
In the novel, she has her hand in the bringing the death of Velutha, Ammu and the suffering in
the lives of the twins.
Ammu leaves for Culcutta to live with her distant aunt not because she had a strong
desire to live with her but because she was not given same priority in the house by her parents
compared to men in the same house. Also she was really tired of the ill treating of her father
to her mother. There she finds a man named Baba, who works as an assistant in the tea garden
and marries with him although the marriage is not approved by her parents. Her marriage is
short lived after giving birth to the zygotic twins Rahel and Estha, for he was not well
employed and sold her to his manager Mr. Hollick. Without having a much choice she had to
return to her parents house. She then has a secret relationship with Velutha. Her relationship
with Velutha is particularly significant in that their affair is considered to be both a sin, as it is
extra-marital, and a crime, as it is between the members of two different classes in the caste
system. In fact, the untouchables are not even regarded as a part of the caste system. In this
respect, we can regard the untouchables as subaltern subjects as well, people whose voice is
lost both in the social class system and also under the colonial rule. It is believed by the
society that a good woman should live with her husband and accept him unconditionally. A
divorced woman is considered equal to an un-virtuous woman. Ammu tries to rebel against

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
the Hindu values and patriarchal system in Indian society. She is unlike her mother who propatriarchy that accepts the dominance of men passively.
Rahel gets married to Larry McCaslin and Arundhati describes her marriage as,
Rahel drifted into marriage like a passenger drifts towards an unoccupied chair in an airport
lounge(18). Rahel seems to show less interest with him as her instincts called her back to
Ayemenem and so they are divorced. Rahel even after becoming a fully grown woman still
finds comfort, love and affection in the presence of Estha. Even within the highly oppressive
patriarchal

society

there

exist

the

love

between

Estha and Rahel. Their love goes beyond the boundaries of societal norms, the caste system,
and even sexual identity in general terms. The narrator in the novel describes them as sharing
a love even before the world existed (because of being twins): 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. As though they were a rare breed of Siamese
twins, physically separate, but with joint identities
The important thing here might be that their relationship as twins, including
their sexual relationship, is practiced in silence, even if there are other people who have the
same type of relationship. From time to time, they watch each other dressing or showering
with a hidden desire, but their desire is silenced for years under heterosexual and patriarchal
dominance. Thus, one may comment that Roy probably intends to give many possible
reactions to the dominance of patriarchal power, but her attempts cannot give voice to the
subaltern subjects of this novel and they still cannot exist within their own identities.

Mens violence against women

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
There is a huge difference between Ammu and her mother. Mammachi accepts the
Indian patriarchal Hindu society although suffers in the hands of her husband but Ammu
resist social to the conventional norms and traditions. Velutha was the low caste Hindu
(Dalits) who had been converted into a Christian. He was the only man where Ammu can
trust and love. He was the only man who could understand her pain. He gave her the
company she needed and cared her children. Mammachis family although they are Syrian
Christians, since they live in India, they cannot avoid being influenced by Hinduism.
Mammachi lives under the control of men. She got married in puberty with man seventeenyears older to her who has nearly controlled every step of hers. Mammachi was a promising
violinist; she had to leave her career because Papachi asked her to do so. It was during those
few months they spent in Vienna that Mammachi took her first lessons on the violin. The
lessons were abruptly discontinued.
Launsky Tieffenthal was exceptionally talented and in his opinion, potentially concert
class. It was a case that showed the dominant nature of man to a woman and domestic
violence was also a part of the life in the Ayemenem house. Papachi, often beat Mammachi
with a brass flower vase. In addition, Papachi insulted Mammachi as she was never allowed
to sit in his Plymouth, until after his death. The other man who dominated Mammachis life
was Chacko, her privileged and Oxford educated son. Mamachi constantly traumatized by her
husband.
Ammu's affair with Velutha is a great escape for her, and we can tell that she has really strong
feelings for him, even though she knows their love can never be public. In a way, it's their
love that brings about both of their downfalls. Baby Kochamma wouldn't have had to make
up stories about Velutha to the police if they hadn't had an affair. Ammu's life after Velutha's

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
death is unimaginably bad. She's lost the only man she ever loved, and she's separated from
her kids.
Baby Kochamma, though old, Rahel thought that, Shes living her life backwards
(Roy 22). She began to wear make ups and would maintain her figure. Rahel had observed
that she had lost weight on her face and shoulder. She was wearing a lot of jewellery that
belonged to Rahels dead grandmother which comprised of diamond earrings, gold bangles,
and flat gold chain. Infact, she was craving for the unfulfilled desire while she was young.
Gender roles
Throughout the novel we see that children were left in the hands of mothers to be
raised and fathers dont seem to bother much. For instance when Ammu is divorced she
leaves Culcutta with her children Rahel and Estha to Ayemenem, Kerala. Their father never
enquires to see how these children were growing up and what they needed and wanted. He
even fails to comfort them emotionally let alone materially. In the case of Sophie she is being
left out by her father in London before birth itself. She is a confused child right from the
beginning of her life and Chacko remains least bothered about her life. She grows up with her
step father and most of the step fathers are unpredictable in nature towards the children. Thus
Hirsch and Keller (1990) argue, If an absent father is depressingly disappointing, a present
father can be dangerous to mothers and their children (Hirish 223). Looking at the manner in
which male behaves in the society, it seems that the function of a man is for procreation of
human beings and the womens job is to bring up the children through hardship by providing
love, care and education to their children. Hirsch and Keller (1990) observes, Some fathers
are literally lost or gone; others can be located but will not, except under rarely effective legal
pressure, offer cash or services. Fathers who provide materially for their children as best they

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
can rarely assume a full share of the emotional work and responsibility of child care(Hirish
223).
Man feels that work which involves cleaning, washing, cooking and other nitty gritty
things are female oriented work. Once while Chacko was studying in London Margarette is
disappointed to see in his room what Roy describes as, Despite the best efforts of his scout
and cleaning lady, his room was always filthy. Books, empty wine bottles, dirty underwear
and cigarette butts littered the floor. Cupboards were dangerous to open because clothes and
books and shoes and some of his books were heavy enough to inflict the real damage. (Roy
244).
Conclusion
Though the novel is about the lonely zygotic twins; Rahel and Estha who are actually
the protagonists in the novel, it shed light on good and evil of the society especially based in
South India. The novel shows the draw backs in the society which is based on the traditional
Hindu values that affects the women. Women in India suffered in the dominance of male
society. Women have become like slaves in the name of the tradition and have been
oppressed, exploited and tortured through the centuries.
The discussion of this novel brings a very thought provoking truth about the position of
Indian women still in this age. Women have been educated but they are still not free from the
evil clutch of the society. Focus of discussion is on three women belonging to three different
generations and each of them reacts differently in the same society they live in. However,
every one of them show the same feelings of dislike to the men dominated societies.
Educated woman like Ammu tries to rebel against society but unfortunately she has to pay a
greater price for her action. This tells us that the society with which it has build its norms and
values are hard to deconstruct. Men over the centuries have enjoyed constructing norms and

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
values in the name of the religion, culture and politics only to benefit them. Men enjoyed
immense prestige and authority over women, whereas women became obedient subordinate
through marriage ceremony and thus became deprived of dignity. Set of cultures, norms and
even the type of language are disposed to women to be displayed appropriately only to
further weaken them. Men must learn to respect women and treat them appropriately.

Enrolment number: 15/2014/H-1697

Name of the Student: Devender Kumar
Semester: III
Works Cited
Hirsch, Marianne and Evelyn Fox Keller. Conflicts in Feminism. New York: Routledge,
Chapman and Hall, 1990. Print.
Krishna Raj, Maithreji. Womens Studies in India. India: SangamBooks, 1986. Print.
Mukherjee, Prabhati. Hindu Women: Normative models. India: Orient Longman, 1978. Print.
Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. London, England: Penguin Books, 1997. Print.