THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL STRUCTURES ON CHARACTERS AND RELATIONSHIPS IN THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS AND THE TRANSLATION OF THESE ISSUES TO TODAY’S SOCIETY
Good afternoon, my name is Laura Sutherland and I am excited to be here to present this anthropological presentation on relationships in society. As the director of anthropology and social studies at the university of Sydney, my current area of research is channelled towards this topic of understanding the context and conditions of respective circumstances that result in impacts on relationships over time.
Today, I intend to identify and discuss the impact of social structures in particular, using Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things as a historical document to support my arguments. My first point of discussion will be the impacts of the Caste system in India to various characters and the relationships. Secondly, I will discuss the impact of nationality and the social issues that surround the idea of fixed status in the novel. Throughout, I will then attempt to draw conclusions regarding how these impacts can be seen in the real world as a result of Roy’s accurate representation of social structures through language and character development in her novel.
Roy’s representation of the relationship between Ammu and Velutha is characterised by the restrictions of the Caste system whereas, the relationship between Chacko and Margret is limited primarily by conservative opinions of nationality from each of their families. The restrictions posed by these social structures equate to the common notion that laws and systems overrule human desire and impose limits on ‘who should be loved and how’. These certain limits, which are broken in the story, have destructive impacts on the lives of particular characters including the twins respectively, Mammachi, Baby Kochamma and Sophie Mol. These which will be examined today.
I hope that, as students, you can gain from this exploration the ability to apply my teachings to differentiating between and categorising the cause and effects of social structures from a particular unseen time and place that will be revealed in your upcoming exams.
The God of Small Things is centred around a wealthy landowning Syrian Christian family from Kerala, India. It is set in the backdrop of political discrepancy and eludes to social issues such as the rise of communism in the 1960s, gender inequality, domestic violence and sexual abuse. Although the novel appears to deal lightly with these political issues through Roy’s use of sing-song and childlike tone throughout, it also examines their historical roots and develops insights into the ways in which human desperation and desire emerge from the confines of a firmly established caste society.
To recognise the extent of its impacts, it’s important to reiterate the fundamental elements of the Caste society in India during the 1960s. It was a system of social stratification that lasted for over three thousand years whereby between the 5 separate caste groups, intermarriage, eating together and the sharing of water was prohibited. Arguably, this system is still in existence in today’s society, but to a much lesser extent. In the novel, the Ipe family, including Ammu, are identified as members of a touchable caste compared to Velutha and his family who are referred to as ‘untouchables’ or ‘Paravans’.
Roy eludes to the restrictions on aspects of daily life by listings logistics of the conservative past where ‘In Mammachi’s time, Paravans, like other Untouchables, were not allowed to walk on public roads, not allowed to cover their upper bodies, not allowed to carry umbrellas’. This section of the novel refers to Velutha and his family, justifying their association with the Ipe family as solely resulting from his carpentry skills. Through the repetition of not allowed, Roy emphasises the space between the families and the abnormality of their relation due to caste.
These ideas can be translated to the effects of love laws and the implications of forbidden relationships. As Ammu and Velutha synchronously realise their desire for each other, Roy uses a metaphor to emphasise the restrictions on the intercaste relationships as ‘History’s fiends returned to claim them. To re-wrap them in its old, scarred pelt and drag them back to where they really lived’. The imagery of scarred pelt further facilitates the idea of how the character are so limited of self-expression and the ability to make their own decisions, confined by the skin of reality as a result of the influence of Caste. Roy also insinuates the immediate disconnection between characters as their stories divide once again. At this point, Ammu and Velutha are conscious of the consequences of their potential affair and are restrained from even conversing in the public environment.
We learn that eventually they cannot bear to remain confined by societies love laws as their story disentangles and they begin meeting in secret. It is important to acknowledge that the public discovery of their forbidden relationship is solely the result of being exposed by Mammachi and Baby Kochamma who will not stand for the younger generation of their family to be involved in a sexual relationship with a paravan. Baby Kochamma chooses to misrepresent their relationship to the police ‘not for Ammu’s sake, but to contain the scandal and salvage the family reputation’. She portrays the situation as if it is a disease that needs to be dealt with, highlighting the older women’s fear of the destruction of their status as upper caste members of society. Although they were also impacted by the relationship between then responding with disgust and revulsion, they were never concerned with the security or happiness of Ammu, but instead instinctively took measures to terminate the relationship by force.
Obviously, the forbidden nature of their relationship causes the death of young Velutha, but arguably, it took Ammu’s life as well. Ironically, chapter 19 is called ‘Saving Ammu’ and is an attempted justification of persuading Estha to falsely confirm Velutha’s accusations. To save Ammu. Following this, Estha is returned and Ammu is sent away, unable to see her children. She later dies at the age of 31 which is referred to by Roy as ‘a diable, viable age’ from the twin’s perspective. The frequency Roy’s recurring motif reiterates the degree of the impression that Ammu’s death had on her two small children.
In terms of the impact on Estha, he is aware the consequences of his statement. It is clear that his personality begins to become immensely silent and withdrawn for the next twenty years of his life expressed through Roy’s simile ‘Childhood tiptoed out. Silence slid in like a bolt.’ The image of a bolt exemplifies how Estha is confined and permanently discomfited by his action, locked out of accepting its consequences and instead resorts to cutting himself off from the world around him to deal with his burden.
Therefore, the mutual decision made by Velutha and Ammu to continue their secret relationship was ultimately a major downfall and the cause of many complications for other characters too, but only as a result of the Caste society that surrounds them. Neither character did wrong by engaging in the relationship and if this system was non-existing, the relationship would not have crumbled thus assisting the development of the idea of morals being overridden in order for social structures to succeed.
The next part of this lecture, I will explore how social structures can be shaped by the simple founding elements of culture and humanity. Nationality is another convention of society that has immense implications on relationships and characters in The God of Small Things.
Chacko’s family’s traditional Indian values restrict the extent of their acceptance of Margaret’s nationality. We learn that Mammachi is opposing of their relationship as ‘It wasn’t just her working-class background Mammachi resented.’ Roy disposes this phrase to highlighting the relevance of occupation and the extent to which it reflects a person’s attributes for Indian traditionalists.
We begin to understand the context of their relationship as Roy explores how they met and bonded over time. We learn ‘her father owned a bakery, her mother was a milliner’s assistant’. The occupations designated to these characters imply the strict westernised nature of her family. Roy exploits the idea of their disapproval by juxtaposing the quality of tone used to explain their gestures from before and after she began engaging in a relationship with Chacko. Before their relationship, Roy states: ‘Margaret Kochamma found herself becoming exactly the kind of girl her parents wanted her to be.’ Omitting this phrase lightly and as if it is a positive response. However, she also highlights the pressures that would have been felt by Margaret from the presence of her parents’ controlling views.
After their marriage, ‘Margaret Kochamma’s parents refused to see her’ which sounds considerably more stern and forceful. The difference in tone was purposely implemented to concisely reflect their attitude towards the marriage which they did not attend. This notion of the abandonment of Margaret by her parents is the result of their strictly prejudice ideas about Indians. Her father justifies the decision of not attending their wedding as ‘He disliked Indians, he thought of them as sly, dishonest people’, which emphasises the relevance of nationality. The connotations of the words ‘sly’ and ‘dishonest’ work to execute a sense of character establishment and emphasise traits of the Indians from the westerner’s perspective.
The text does not necessarily highlight that Margaret was severely impacted by their disapproval but eludes to her loneliness and implies isolation during the period of her relationship with Chacko. Through Roy’s repetition of ‘without’ in ‘Without her family’s consent. Without his family’s knowledge’ she emphasises the distance between the two cultures and the couple’s decision to seclude their lives from their respective families as a result of their awareness of their disapproval.
By inferring the accuracy of Roy’s work, we can deduce that the failure of this relationship in the novel is yet another demonstration of the notion of the ability of social structures to override human instinct and comfortability.
In general, race discrimination is an extensive social issue that envelopes society today, however, the novel also addresses the issue of nationality in a slightly different light, constantly alluding to conflict between England and India throughout time using Sophie Mol and Margaret as a link between the contrasting cultures.
Estha and Rahel are significantly impacted by the oppression of imperial forces and factors that result in the manipulation of their self-identity. Roy’s characterisation of Baby Kochamma as a strict traditionalist epitomises these cultural collisions as she reprimands them for speaking Malayalam ‘She made them write lines – “impositions” she called them – I will always speak in English; I will always speak in English. A hundred times each.’ The repetition of ‘I will’ and the action of writing lines reinforces Baby Kochamma’s controlling nature and the presence of cultural oppression as a result of their nationality. Because of this, the twins are confused as to their identity and unsure of what to believe in a time like the 1960s where conflict and dispute were prevalent.
The prevailing theme of racism is introduced as a consequence of the demeaning presence of Anglophilia, fitting suitably into nationality as a social structure. Roy makes it clear that the Indian characters have internalised the supposed superiority of white people using their depth of colour as a measure of value and acceptance.
Roy also uses visual imagery to dictate the assumed superiority of Sophie Mol as an English child. In addition to their individuality issues, the twins are forced to withstand the continuous praising of Sophie Mol, consequently affecting their relationship with her.
The love dedicated to her from relatives that she had no previous affiliation with is based on her ‘beach coloured skin’. The twins are ‘loved a little less’ by their immediate family as a result of their ‘brown’ skin. Roy’s use of short sentence syntax aids the development of imagery as the twins and Sophie Mol are further divided through brief, seemingly defining statements. Kochi Maria also participates in the destruction of Rahel’s confidence and sense of identity by prioritising Sophie Mol over her and exploiting her inferiority. She suggests that when she grows up, Sophie Mol will be their Kochamma ‘she’ll raise our salaries and give us nylon saris for Onam’. Roy, legitimising the physicality of the separation between the two young girls, uses ‘Nylon’ as a symbol of both acceptance and affluence only deserving of a white person. Therefore, Roy highlights Anglo traits in people to make them worthy of worship and good treatment by others, while dark skin reduces a person to the lowest degree.
By discussing the impacts of nationality on each of the characters in Roy’s novel, we can deduce that the impacts of this social structure can be detrimental to a society similar to that presented in The God of Small Things. India during the 1960s was defined by barricading laws and expectations that enforced certain social interactions and relationships which is clearly reflected by the treatment of these issues in the novel.
Nationality is constant and unchangeable and causes the unstoppable defeat of Margaret and Chacko’s romantic association as similar impacts can be seen in reality throughout our global society. Racism contributes to the loss of identity and the undermining of the ones value, deeply impacting the individual in the similar way to Rahel’s in her situation. She becomes lost and unsure of how to respond and interpret waves thrown at throughout the course of the rest of the novel. She seems to lose her innocence as the life of the superior Sophie Mol is taken and it continues affect her as she grows older.
On the other hand, the caste system presents similar impositions that cause death, unhappiness and a similar reaction to that of Rahel as a result of nationality, but seen in her comparable twin Estha.
Essentially, the impact of these social structures in The God of Small Things are immense. Roy constructs a web of complexed interrelationships and develops her characters in such a realistic way that their experiences and the impacts of these experiences can be translated to reality.
As global contributors to our society, we are able to relate to these situations and use this historical document to interpret that the nurture and existence of these structures can easily overcome the ethics of life and what is right and wrong in our society.
We can conclude that outcomes of ethical circumstances can be shaped by social structures which have been created by modern civilisation rather than human instinct, a force which is oppressed and dealt with frequently in the story.
Therefore, as a result of the Caste System and the barriers provided by Nationality specifically, the impacts of forceful, long-lasting and undeniably infiltrate our society today.