Brief Analysis for Mainstream English Year 11 Students studying ‘The God of Small Things’ by Arundhati Roy, AOS1 Unit 1 Analytical Study

Historical Context of The God of Small Things

The God of Small Things takes place mostly in 1969 and 1993, in Ayemenem, in the district of Kerala in India. Marxist ideas grew popular in Kerala soon after India’s liberation from British colonial rule, and in 1967 the Naxalite party split off as a more radical Communist group than the mainstream. The growing social unrest from these labour movements affects the action of the early novel. The ancient Hindu caste system (dividing Untouchables from Touchables, among other rules) was abolished around 1950, but many Indians still clung to old traditions and the class divide. Some of the characters in the novel are also Syrian Christians, an ancient community in Kerala originating with St. Thomas.

Setting/Place

Ayemenem: where most of story takes place; where Estha/Rahel come home to when they are older (1993), where the death of Sophie Mol takes place (1969).

New York: where Rahel lives shortly while married to Larry

Delhi: where Rahel goes to school studying architecture.

Cochin: where the family see “The Sound of Music” and Estha gets molested by the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man. On the way Rahel sees Velutha participating in a communist rally. Location of the airport when the family picks Sophie Mol & Margaret Kochamma up from their London flight.

Main Plot

1. In Ayemenem Pappachi and Mammachi live together. Pappachi is an imperial entomologist who discovers a new species of moth and never gets credit for it, making him resentful for the rest of his life. Elements of pappachi are mentioned later on, Sophie mol has his nose and throughout the novel it is mentioned that Rahel has a moth on her chest, spreading its wings when traumatic events happen.
2. Pappachi beats Mammachi who starts Paradise Pickles and Preserves and is a talented violinist. Pappachi also smashed Mammachi’s violin.
3. When Chacko comes back from studying in England where he meets his only love, Margaret, he sees Pappachi beating Mammachi and tells Pappachi that it will never happen again. After this Pappachi and Mammachi never talk again.
4. Chacko has his heart broken by Margaret while she is pregnant with their child. He moves back to Ayemenem. Meanwhile, Ammu wants to leave Ayemenem and does so by marrying Baba and has the twins with him, she then goes back to Ayemenem after he tells her about his bosses proposal for sex after he loses his job. Baba is an alcoholic, compulsive liar and Ammu later sends Estha back to him when she can’t afford to care for him.
5. The family in Ayemenem go on one of their routine trips to Cochin where they see the sound of music, and Estha is molested by a vendor there. On the way to Cochin they witness a communist rally where Rahel sees Velutha.
6. The next day in Cochin the family pick up Sophie Mol and Margaret from the airport. Rahel then describes everything as if it were a play and everyone is trying to impress Sophie Mol.
7. Velutha tells the twins that the person at the rally is his twin brother when they bring it up.
8. There is a moment where Velutha and Ammu make eye contact, signaling their relationship to begin.
9. Estha is still fearful of the man who molested him, and while he is stirring jam at the factory Rahel walks and he tells her about his plan.
10. They go to the history house on a boat and bring their toys and food. They go multiple times, and on their way back with Sophie Mol, she dies in an accident.
11. Around this same time, the house is alerted by Velutha’s dad about Ammu and Velutha’s forbidden relationship.
12. Ammu is locked in her room by Baby Kochamma and Mammachi. When she comes out she yells at the twins and they go to the history house with Sophie Mol, who dies.
13. Baby Kochamma fabricates a story to the police that Velutha raped Ammu and kidnapped the kids, and is responsible for Sophie’s death. He is beaten to death by police.
14. Ammu later goes to the police station and tries to tell them the truth, but they do nothing and she leaves crying saying “I killed him”
15. Baby Kochamma uses Chacko’s grief to kick Ammu out of town for her actions. Estha is ‘returned’ and Rahel stays with Mammachi and Baby. Ammu dies soon after.
16. Baby Kochamma abandons her garden and becomes consumed by the TV. Kochu Maria joins her. The returned Estha at the house doesn’t speak.
17. Rahel watches Estha as he enters the shower after his walk in the rain and they end up having sex in the bed after.

Narrative Structure

The book is written in a non-linear format using multiple narrators and flashbacks. The story unfolds in two time periods, 1969 and 1993, and the unknown narrator gives details about events outside those times. The non-linear technique with gaps in the plot until the end keeps the reader interested and leaves them with many questions.

Things are seen from Rahel and Estha’s childlike perspectives, for example Rahel is convinced Sophie Mol is alive and that Velutha didn’t die, it was his fictitious twin. The climax of the novel is surrounding Sophie Mol’s death, and it is known from the beginning that she will die due to the non-linear format. This technique creates anticipation regarding Sophie’s death. Even more shock is present during the climax when the Ammu and Velutha’s unexpected relationship is revealed by the sobbing Vellya, the only clue of their relationship mentioned previously being their eye contact.

The non-linear format allowed for Estha and Rahel’s love scene being juxtaposed with Ammu and Velutha’s because they are placed back-to-back. The reader is shocked by the incestuous relationship and also by the graphic nature of Ammu and Velutha’s love scene.

Themes

Love relationships & forbidden love / sexuality / death / dreams / Indian caste system / narrative past / narrative present / time is stagnant / family influence & obligations / change versus preservation of time / western values / white westerners superior / gender politics / Communism / social structures / Indian politics / imperialism / religion / the environment

Symbols

Small Things = small moments, objects and changes that lead to the big things in life, small talk that is a mask for larger hidden feelings, relevant to the taboo relationship of Ammu & Velutha

Big Things = big events in life like love, death and political upheaval

Pappachi’s moth = signifies the family’s downfall and acts as a carrier of negativity

Spider = relates to Ammu and Velutha’s relationship & part of the ‘small things’ they focused on

Rahel’s watch = the time on the watch stays the same at ten minutes to two signifying that time is stagnant, the novel is literally frozen in time

Sophie Mol’s death = while it is a tragic accident her death is tied to many elements in the novel including Estha’s sexual abuse, Ammu & Veluthas taboo relationship & Estha & Rahel’s sexual encounter

The Heart of Darkness = Joseph Conrad’s novel connected to the History House that Chacko explains to the twins how to understand history

The History House = Kari Saibu’s house the Englishman who had ‘gone native’ and was mentally unstable and been corrupted

Communism = Chacko, Pillai and Velutha are communists from different classes yet shows how widespread communism is in India

Love = love and the rules about “who should be loved.  And how.  And how much” refers to love laws in India that are controlled by the caste system

The Sound of Music = the movie is popular because it represents western values and links to the theme of natural beauty against society’s demands on the individual

Ammu’s dream = represents her physical reaction to Velutha as the one-armed man that she cannot touch and Ammu’s own romantic death

Colours as Symbols

White = the association of whiteness as being superior and privileged in status as westerners like Margaret Kochamma and Sophie Mol who are British are compared to the twins who are Indian and darker skinned made to recognise as subordinate their own ways of seeing.  Sophie Mol’s white skin is precious as Rahel says “she’s very delicate, if she gets dirty she’ll die”.

Blue = blue can be negative associated with sadness, fear and depression but on the positive side it can signify harmony, confidence and cleanliness.  Pappachi, Baby Kochamma and Margaret Kochamma represent the old social order under threat of losing its grip everything about them is blue, symbolised by the “skyblue Plymouth”.

Red = red represents rebellion and change in the characters of Ammu, Rahel, Estha, Velutha and Comrade Pillai with the Communist “red flags”.  Red and blue signify warring parties.  Red is also associated with impending danger and an omen of bad consequences such as Velutha’s red blood is his symbolic sacrifice at the blue altar of the Ayemenem Police Station.  Rahel’s “yellow-rimmed red plastic sunglasses” make her a prophet predicting the future.

Yellow = represents fear in the context of cowardice, illness, dishonesty and weakness.  The “yellow church” is a chorus of fear and tragic fate that is the sadness of Sophie Mol’s funeral.  Sophie Mol’s “yellow Crimplene bellbottoms” are bell shaped indicative of silent, fearful bells.  The “yellow teeth” of the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man represent fear.

Green = green is the colour of earth, fertility, youth and the undergrowth.  Green can also have final cruel power taking over Baby Kochamma’s garden but most importantly is linked to the river that is part of the cause of Sophie Mol’s death with its “thick, viscous water … of green scum”.

Main Characters

• Pappachi:               Imperial Entomologist position in Delhi, upper-class education, father to Chacko and Ammu, habitually beats his wife Mammachi with a brass vase until Chacko forces him to stop.  Never overcomes the professional disappointment of discovering a new species of moth but not having it named after him.
• Mammachi:           Esther & Rahe’s blind grandmother who is unhappily married to Pappachi who regularly beats her and smashes her violin before he dies.. After Pappachi dies becomes an entrepreneur starting successful Paradise Pickles and Preserves business.
• Baby Kochamma:                Pappachi’s sister who is fearful because of the western media she consumes. Loves Father Mulligan and tries to become nun to win him over but fails, embittering her. Was forced to wave communist flag in rally by men and is traumatized by this, aims all her anger about this event towards Velutha after finding out about him having sex with Ammu.
• Chacko:                   Ammu’s brother and self-proclaimed communist, takes over factory and makes female factory workers call him comrade and flirts with them. Has a door built into his room so the women he sleeps with can secretly leave. His only love is Margaret Kochamma, who divorced him and took their daughter Sophie Mol to live with her and her husband Joe in England, who dies. Margaret is his only love.
• Ammu:                    mother of Estha and Rahel who got married to Bengali Hindu man Baba in order to escape from her parents to an alcoholic, then separated from him after he offered her to his boss for sex. Had a taboo sexual relationship with the Paravan Velutha, leading to his death. Dies at 31 while waiting for a job interview/trying to provide for her twins.
• Baba:                        Estha & Rahel’s father and Ammu’s ex husband, is an alcoholic who tires to persuade Ammu to safeguard his job by sleeping with his boss.  He gives Estha a loveless home for 2 decades, then decides to emigrate to Australia sending Estha back to Ayemenem
• Rahel:                      fraternal twin of Estha who studies architecture and moves to America marry Larry McCaslin. She separates from her husband and eventually moves back to Ayemenem in 1992 as a 31 year old because she hears Estha has returned.
• Estha:                       Rahel’s male fraternal twin, in 1969 after the death of Sophie Mol is sent to live with his alcoholic father Baba in Calcutta & stops speaking, due to his traumatic abuse in childhood, remains mute for rest of the novel. His reunion with Rahel after a 23 year long separation is a poignant event in the novel.
• Velutha Paapen:                  Paravan/untouchable son of one-eyed father Vellya. Mutual love between him and the twins. Works as a handyman in the Paradise Pickles factory. Has a taboo sexual relationship with Ammu, is the God of Loss & Small Things. Member of the Communist Party. Tragic figure betrayed by everyone and dies as a result of being beaten by the police.
• Vellya Paapen:                     is in debt to the Ipe family for providing a glass eye, putting his son in the Reverend John Ipe’s Paravan school and allowing his family to live on the land. Confesses to Baby Kochamma and Mammachi about seeing his son have sex with Ammu.
• Sophie Mol:           daughter of Chacko and Margaret Kochamamma.  After Joe’s death she and her mother arrive in Ayemenem for a Christmas visit.  Dies because she is flipped off a boat with Rahel and Estha in the Meenachal River. Her death is the central traumatic event that leads to the disintegration of the Ipe family, separating the twins and her death is blamed on Velutha by Baby Kochamma, contributing to the climax of the story.
• Kochu Maria:        Temperamental cook and housemaid at Ayemenem House, lives with Baby Kochamma until the twins return as adults, watches constant TV like her employer.
• Comrade K.N.M Pillai:       Leader of the Communist Party who takes advantage of Velutha’s death by causing a strike that shuts down Chacko’s pickle factory. He is not interested in protecting Velutha when he is arrested by Inspector Mathew.

Brief Analysis for Mainstream English Year 11 Students studying ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ by George Orwell in AOS1 Unit 1 Analytical Study

Introduction

George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ is a dystopian fiction novel set in a futuristic Britain which has become part of a global party state.  The story is told via the protagonist Winston Smith who desperately tries to hold on to his sense of identity while fighting the impregnable doctrines of ‘Big Brother’ and ‘The Party’.  Defying a ban on individuality, Winston dares to express his thoughts in a diary and pursues a relationship with Julia. These criminal deeds bring Winston into the eye of the Party, who then must reform the nonconformist.

First published in 1949 as a dystopian fiction and social criticism, the novel is intended to shine a light on the problems of the present day, even if they are set in the future.  In Orwell’s case this meant highlighting the dangers of totalitarian regimes such as the Nazis in Germany during WW11 and the Communists in the Soviet Union (Russia) after WW11.  By extrapolating into the future, Orwell depicts such a regime being in power in England and explores what the implications of that might be for its citizens. 

Structure of the Novel

Part One – Eight Chapters

• Introduces/describes main characters
• Describes society and control of the masses
• Winston is used to contrast the reality of life in Oceania versus the stated reality of the government
• Relationship between Winston and Julia
• The Proles are introduced

Part Two – Ten Chapters

• Winston and Julia’s relationship develops
• Their commitment to O’Brien

Part Three – Six Chapters

• Winston’s torture/ ‘cure’
• The mighty power of the Party
• The destruction of the individual

Character Study

Winston Smith

Winston Smith is the protagonist and ‘hero’ of 1984.  The novel is told from his point of the view so it is not surprising that the reader connects with him and his plight.  Winston is an individual living in a demoralizing, totalitarian government trying to fight for his right to personal inner and outer freedom.  He is aware of what has been lost and the deceit and immorality of the society.  In his own small way, he stands up for truth and freedom.

Intellectually Winston questions the status quo and is frustrated by the lack of privacy. Every element of life is controlled and people need to even watch their expressions so they so not commit ‘face crime’. Winston can see things as they really are – life is not good. Conditions are poor and lies are everywhere. In fact, he works at the Ministry of Truth, where he has to change facts, history and current news to suit the Party.

Winston is a true hero because he puts in a brave fight and knows on some level that he is doomed. The novel highlights how unorthodox people who rebel are not tolerated and quickly destroyed in such authoritarian governments.  He is a hero but not in the traditional sense of the word.  Key Point is that Winston is characterised by both pessimism and hope.  He feels that he will inevitably be discovered and tortured by the Thought Police, yet he rebels anyway and holds onto hope as long as he can, locating that hope eventually not in his own rebellion but in the proles.

Along the way the reader clearly sees that Winston is genuinely naïve and delusional regarding how much change he can enact.  His tendency towards his nostalgic, emotional yearning probably encourages him to be too trusting of O’Brien and Mr Charrington.  

Winston Quotes

‘Now that he had recognised himself as a dead man it became important to stay alive as long as possible’ (p.33)

‘The one thing that matters is that we shouldn’t betray one another, although even that can’t make the slightest difference’ (p.192)

‘But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished.  He had won the victory over himself.  He loved Big Brother’ (p.342)

Julia

Everything we know about Julia is through Winston’s observations so we may not have the full picture.  Like Winston, Julia is rebellious and an independent thinker.  Unlike Winston, she is confident, daring, determined and very selfish. Julia wants to improve her life and that is enough.  She sees no point in trying to change the political landscape or harp on about the past.  When Winston tries to talk about his memories or the past as well as his dreams, she either does not understand him or does not care and falls asleep on him.  Julia is resilient and ruthless in the way she lives her life.  She has gained remarkable knowledge and knows how to use the black market to get what she wants.  In the end, Julia is a survivor.

Julia Quotes

‘Life as she saw it was quite simple.  You wanted a good time; “they” meaning the Party, wanted to stop you having it; you broke the rules as best you could’ (p.151)

‘As they walked back across the grass, she looked directly at him for the first time.  It was only a momentary glance, full of contempt and dislike’ (p.336)

O’Brien

O’Brien is the embodiment of cold hard evil as he is the system and keeper of the power. O’Brien has lost the ability to separate himself from the Party and he does not care. As quite an intelligent man, he is dangerous because he has no need for emotions. He is both a physical and mental sadist – toying with ideas, facts and memories. When it comes to torture, O’Brien sees all his victims as inferior and deserving of their punishment. It becomes sickly clear O’Brien is doing his ‘job’ with extra zealousness, representing the worst Nazis like Dr. Mengele and his ‘scientific’ experiments on the Jews.

O’Brien loves the power that he has over people and his role in the Inner Party. His arrogance is also due to the fact that he is one of the favourite ‘insiders’ who knows what is really going on; and he lives a more affluent lifestyle.

O’Brien Quotes

‘But at any rate he had the appearance of being a person that you could talk to, if somehow you could cheat the telescreen and get him alone’ (p.13)

‘An unmistakable message had passed.  It was though their two minds had opened and the thoughts were flowing from one into the other through their eyes’ (p.20)

Big Brother

Big Brother is the public face of the Party, the face that watches over all the citizens of Oceania from posters and telescreens.  Orwell based Big Brother’s appearance on that of Joseph Stalin and in the mythology of the Party he was the revolutionary leader who swept them to power.  The slogan that accompanies many of the posters is ‘BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU’, and he therefore embodies the surveillance state that monitors the citizens at every moment.  O’Brien asserts that Big Brother exists when he tells Winston ‘Of course he exists.  The Party exists.  Big Brother is the embodiment of the Party’ (p.296).  In the end Winston accepts that he loves Big Brother which shows the ultimate victory of the Party over the individual.

Parsons

Parsons comes across as ridiculous through Orwell’s use of black humour.  He is happy when his daughter informs on him to the Thought Police.  He represents the powerlessness of people and the hardships they have to put up with it and never complain about, assuming they can see what is wrong. Despite his loyalty and conformity, Parsons becomes a victim – again highlighting the lack of control and security people have.

Symes

Symes is clearly intelligent, which may have led to his downfall.  As the expert on Newspeak, Symes was quick to gloat and talk to others.  ‘One of these days, thought Winston with sudden deep conviction, Syme will be vaporized.  He sees too clearly and speaks to plainly.  The Party does not like such people.’

Goldstein

Goldstein is a scapegoat, blamed for all the problems.  He is stereotyped as Jewish and is meant to symbolize Trotsky.  In Russian history, Trotsky became Stalin’s scapegoat – taking the focus away from his own selfish, evil deeds.

Charrington

For a while, Charrington held for Winston what he yearns for from life – individuality, beauty, the romance of the past.  The items in the shop lure Winston in.  When Winston and Julia are arrested, Charrington’s appearance is changed and he is revealed as a spy for the ‘Thought Police’.

Social Structure of Oceania

INGSOC – Inner Party 2% of Oceania

• INGSOC is the name of the English Socialist Party – representing the political ideology of the totalitarian government in Oceania – Inner Party make policies, decisions and govern whilst living an upper class/privileged lifestyle
• Big Brother is the leader but he may or may not exist
• As history is constantly altered and rewritten, the origins of the Party are somewhat blurred
• At one point Emmanuel Goldstein was a significant member but then he supposedly betrayed the Party or he is classified as an enemy of the Party
• The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism written by Goldstein refers to the Party as an Oligarchical Collectivism

The Outer Party – 13% of Oceania

• Administrative workers such as Winston
• Implement, manage policies
• Voiceless and powerless
• Spied on through telescreens and other surveillance
• Allowed Victory cigarettes and gin as their only luxury
• Very poor living conditions and food rations despite being called ‘middle class’
• Sex is forbidden except for procreation in marriage
• Intimacy, love, relationships are seen as ‘dangerous’ as they may encourage an emotional life with others rather than the Party

The Proles – 85% of Oceania

• Lowest class, manual labourers. 
• Live in poverty, but under less surveillance
• Kept happy with seemingly more freedom – sex, alcohol, sport, gambling, pornography and fiction
• Most are uneducated and thus do not impose such a threat to the Party
• Minimal surveillance for potential ‘thinkers’ by Thought Police

Major Themes
Dangers of totalitarianism / control & power	Interrogation / torture / violence	Propaganda / history / control of the past / manipulation of history	Surveillance / informers
Courage / resistance / rebellion	Love / connection	Language / communication	Language as mind control
Philosophical viewpoints	technology	Psychological manipulation	repression
Death of privacy	Abolishment of sex and intimacy	Memory and the past	Warfare

Major Symbols & Literary Motifs
Big Brother / posters of Big Brother	Emmanuel Goldstein	Newspeak	Doublethink
Mutability of the past	Telescreens	Glass paperweight	St Clements Church
Victory Gin / Victory Cigarettes	Julia’s scarlet anti sex sash	The place where there is no darkness	Red armed prole woman
Urban decay	Dreams	Winston’s mother	Room 101
Memory holes	Song Church bells / Oranges & lemons	Birds	Winston’s varicose ulcer
2+2 = 5	Goldstein’s book	Thought Police	Ministry of Truth
INGSOC slogan ‘Our new happy life’	Song ‘Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree’	Ministry of Love	War is peace / freedom is slavery / ignorance is strength
Thoughtcrime	Bombing of Airstrip One	Oceania/Eastasia allegiance at war	2 minutes of Hate / Hate week
Big Brother’s ‘Order of the Day’	Confessions of ‘Thought Criminals’	News in Oceania emphasis on figures	Winston’s job revisits history