The God of Small Things

            Suzanna Arundhati Roy was born in born November 24, 1961. She was raised in India by her mother after her father left the family. She received an education from the School of Architecture and Planning, Delhi, where she met Gerard de Cunha, whom she lived with for awhile before their relationship ended. She received a position with the National Institute for Urban Affairs in Delhi where she met Pradip Krishen, who introduced her to the world of films and media, which Roy quickly gained a role. Eventually, she lost her desire to be in the film world, and tried to occupy herself in other ways. She and Krishen split, and Roy went on to write, The God of Small Things in 1997. (More details on her life and India are included in the Background Project, which is the video that can be found below.)

            The God of Small Things is a highly contested work, and Roy’s only work of fiction. She has said before, this will be her only work of fiction and so far she has stuck to her word. Major themes and motifs that appear are “The ‘Rules’ of Love”, “The Weight of the Past,” and the “Perception of Reality.”  “The ‘Rules’ of Love” can be seen in Ammu’s previous relationship, and later her relationship with Velutha, as well as in the relationship between Estha and Rahel, in which they become lost after previous experiences with their family and elsewhere and take their relationship to a level considered inappropriate and undesirable for siblings, especially twins, as well as Baby Kochamma’s relationship as she seeks after Father Mulligan, among others. The “Weight of the Past” can be seen particularly in the life of Estha who struggles constantly throughout his life following his encounter with the Orangedrink Lemondrink man, among several other characters. Finally, the “Perception of Reality” which is demonstrated throughout the novel as Roy does not make her story follow the chronological string of events, but rather jumps between times and places to provide the perspectives of several characters in succession.