Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things

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Arundhati Roy 
(1959 –) 

  • Suzanna Arundhati Roy is an Indian writer who is best known for her novel ‘God of Small Things’ (1997) which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997.
  •  She is also a political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes.
  • She was awarded with Sahitya Akademi Award in 2006.
  •  She is labeled as diasporic writer.
Important Works 

 Fictions 

1. The God of Small Things (1997)

  •  It centers around a tragedy that sends a family apart and its lasting effects on the twins who were at the heart of it.
  •  The book explores how the small things affect people’s behavior and their lives.
  •  The story is set in Ayemenem (Kerala).
  •  Fraternal twins Rahel and Esthappen are seven years old in 1969.
  • Ammu is the most important female character. ‘Baba’ is Rahel & Estha’s father who is divorced by Ammu when the children were very young.
  •  The story enters in 1990 as the young women Rahel returns to her village to be re-united with her twin brother Esthappen at the age of 31.
  •  The twins used to call themselves as “Me” or “Us”.
  • The day before Margaret and Sophie arrived, the family visits a theatre to see “The Sound of Music” where Estha is molested by the “Orangedrink Lemondrink Man” a beverage vendor. 
  •  Velutha is an untouchable, a dalit. His family has been working for the IPE family for generations.
  •  Rahel and Estha form an unlikely bond with Velutha and come to love him, despite his untouchable status.
  •  When Ammu’s relationship with Velutha is discovered, Ammu is locked in her room and Velutha is banished. 
  •  In her rage, Ammu blames the twins for her misfortune and calls them “Millstones around her neck”.
Non-Fictions
1. The End of Imagination (1998)
2. The Algebra of Infinite Justice (2001)
3. War is Peace (2001)
4. The Greater Common of God (1999)
5. Walking with the Comrades (2010).

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