Estha And Rahel example essay topic

In The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy creates an elaborate binary opposition in her portrait of the lives of twins, Estha and Rahel, growing up in the complex social environment of castes and Syrian Christianity in post-colonial India. Wishing for one day, one moment, that is free from suffering, boundaries, and prejudice to last for a lifetime is a dream inverted and ultimately defeated throughout the novel (including the side story of Karna from the Mahabharata). The Oxford educated uncle, Chaco informs Rahel that anything is "possible in Human Nature [: ] Love. Madness. Hope.

Infinite joy" (112). On the surface, the story is of divided loyalty illustrating the predetermined torment of the "physics of power", while at a deeper level, the stories invoke questions about the "Love Laws" and powerlessness in general. As the first chapter ends, the "Love Laws" are introduced as " [t] he laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how much" (33). The dance by the Kathakali dancers presents the mythological story of Kunti as the mother who performed a mantra and gave birth to the illegitimate son, Karna. In the Mahabharata, Kunti "invoked [these] Love Laws" in order to save her "other, more beloved sons-the Panda vas" (222).

As a result she abandoned Karna at birth and left him to grow into a "prince raised in poverty. Born to die unfairly, unarmed and alone" (220). As Kunti makes her request, Karna is presented as a man with divided loyalty. Karna was faced with the "physics of power" and the powerlessness it left behind. If he chose to make the binding promise to his mother, who abandoned him until it was most profitable to her; he would be betraying the only family he had ever known, the man who nurtured him. It was interesting to note that as soon as the Kathakali dancers present Karna's "modified" promise, the now adult, Estha enters the temple.

The deceit presented by his grand-aunt, Baby Kochamma, is a parallel to that of Kunti's plea, where twenty-three years earlier Estha's loyalty was divided between the man who nurtured him, Velutha, and his mother, Ammu, who later abandoned him. The twins, Estha and Rahel, become vigorous carriers for the novels critique on the human condition. It often appears that the character of Velutha is more like that of Karna, in that they are both murdered by deceit. However, it can also be argued that part of Estha died the same night as Velutha, deceived by Baby Kochamma. With the threat of losing his mother at hand, the "Love Laws" were once again invoked, for which Velutha paid the ultimate price. Whichever option is chosen, the "power of politics" insists that you lose.

Estha did not want to lose neither his mother nor the only true father figure he had ever known, but as Baby Kochamma insisted, "what's done is done. The Inspector says he's going to die anyway. So it won't really matter to him" (301). In the end, Estha's choice of Ammu instead of Velutha was in vain, as he was made to leave her and be "returned" to his father. Baby Kochamma's backhanded deceit brutally murdered Estha's voice along with the final "yes" to the Police officers, only concerned with the "Big Things".

The novel's structural complexity allows Arundhati Roy to present the past, as seen through twin children's perceptions of the world, alongside a narrative of events as seen through the eyes of one, now adult, twin. A twin who is trying to come to terms with the tragedy that occurred twenty-three years earlier, and which has left her brother traumatized by guilt into silence. "And the Air was full of Thoughts and Things to Say. But at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said. The Big Things lurk unsaid inside" (136). Trapped within the horror of "Big Things" is the beauty and strength of "the small things" in nature, the nurturing power of love and friendship regardless of power.

The mythical story of the Mahabharata is eloquently presented with Estha striving "not to enter a part but to escape it" (220). Velutha appears throughout like the god Krishna is human form, unable to stop the suffering; he is "The God of Small Things", as weakened and as weighted by tragedy as the victims of loss. As loss is simply a loss, suffering is simply suffering. The "Love Laws" affecting the mothers, Ammu and Kunti, make them powerless against the deceit of "Big Things" orchestrated through Baby Kochamma and Arjuna. In the end, only Rahel is left with the promise of "Tomorrow" (321) possibly escaping the struggle and drama demanded by the "physics of power.".