THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS >PUBLISHED 4/4/1997 by Random House >COMPLETED IN 1996 >WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE IN PTR ate sere Indian author and the firstndiagy woman to win the price)ARUNDHATI >Born as Suzanna Arundhati Roy eRe a) >Mother-Mary Roy a well known Erle ca iis >Father - a Bengali Hindu tea EW »Uncle-George Issac pe Nau ee oR MMOL and lived in a squatter’s colony in eral PAM een Reco »She married with Gerard Da Cunha but she divorced after 4 Mey »She has worked as a production designer and written the screenplays for two films . Page 2ARUNDHATI ROY — BOMBING FOR FEMINISMN Short extract of a speech of Arundhati Roy discussing the US war on Afghanistan and Iraq. rau) Page 3rae ue dialed lg Small Things is based on my Se RE aRCe od ow up in Kerala. Most interestingly, it was the only place in the world where religions coincide, there is Christianity, Hinduism, Marxism and Islam and they all live together and rub each other down. When | grew up it was the Marxism CLE CR pat Cen ZAC ET} CT Rene uireR Mel Sta week.... To me, | couldn't think of a ge oh Lee Berle a rey Tol l1a)e aa ndjan finalaya cHin PAKISTAN paw NEpyy Rajasthan Northern ae India Gujarat, maharashtra wouea eousan) y Goa ‘ oradesh Karnatiiiieg Tam Sadi 5 r kerala SAI LANKA 1A 0 ~~ 400 km BHUTAN Pb cLaneal ent h~ Sa ® meee’ afvanmal ANDAMAN ANKOBARSUMMARY ‘The God of Small Things is a heart-rending story about seven years old Estha and Rahel, two-egg twins. Estha and Rahel along with their Ammu (mother) live in their maternal grandparents’ house in Ayemenem (Kerala) following Ammu's divorce. Ammu works in the family's pickle factory in spite of which she and her kids are denied any rights, let alone love, by her Oxford returned brother Chacko who considers them nothing less than millstones around his neck. The Olas (ol Ram Ola-le eee SUM ee eee oi daughter Sophie to Ayemenem on a visit from London. The ill-fated visit ends in the demise of Sophie for which Estha and Rahel have to pay a heavy price. The kids are the biggest victims as they are snatched of their childhood, their happiness sought in small things. The story reveals History's cruel way of taking revenge at people who break the Love Laws. E o ‘The laws that lay down who should be love and how. And how muct } Page 5CHARACTERS N=) KOCHAMMA. PAPPACHI Nea be Tce a * enn PAAPEN ¥ SOPHIE MOLRAHEL... > becomes preoccupied with things and can't seem to sit still > has an incredibly active imagination pa oR lM RCo eas ee) >‘s imagination is childlike and wondering. Pa ee ACE aR BCR Remo ele pea EAN e Walle lsle MA el Bee) 9 2) Separated from Estha, her other half, she is kind of a lost soul. > enters an architecture program in Delhi when she meets Larry McCaslin > spends most of her adult life drifting from one thing to the next >Estha is really the only reason she returns . || “Rahel never wrote to him. There are things that you can't [oe CR ULM Carew eo Coane ee Lael en awepal Ul RU s >'s imaginary is more like a worst-case-scenario handbook em MAU LeU RLU >is protective of Rahel > loves Elvis Presley (he wears his hair in a puffed-up style to imitate iy Peace Rs men em Romine) PAI Bele eRe ood >has anxiety about being molested again >No longer is it a happy and innocent place for him. >When he has been re-returned to Ayemenem, he has stopped speaking entirely and he spends his days going for long walks and doing the household chores.> INDIAN INDIPENDENCE FROM ENGLAND 1948 > SINO — INDIAN WAR 1962 > WAR AGAINST PAKISTAN1947 » MAHATMA GHANDI ‘S INFLUENCE ( the traditional ruler and high priest, and announcing the "peaceful liberation" of Tibet and India) >THE SUCCESSION OF SYRIAN CHRISTIANS BY COMMUNISTSE MEANINGS OF THE ee 1) Small things (e.g. beginning of the novel; Estha’s dog; Murlidharan) Big God( in control ) Vs Small God (from the children’s perspective)away from the adult boundaries; small transgressions in language the structure of the book is a collection of small thing (episodic, uN RRs eV NICS) VELUTHA is actually the God of small things for Ammu Pao NV See COR RST Uae dT Things ever lurked inside. They knew that there was nowhere for them to go... . They had no future .” Page 10