The God of Small Things

The God of Small
Things
Study Guide by Course Hero
large percentage of the story is told as witnessed by one main

What's Inside character, Rahel. This focus, especially on a young girl's
perspective, is especially useful at revealing the foolishness of
some of the traditions and power structures that Arundhati
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 Roy criticizes.
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1 TENSE

The God of Small Things is told in past tense, but the story
a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3
ranges from prior events to events happening in the current
h Characters .................................................................................................. 3 time of the novel. Frequent flashbacks and the use of
foreshadowing take readers from past to present to future.
k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 9
ABOUT THE TITLE
c Chapter Summaries .............................................................................. 16 One of Arundhati Roy's main themes in The God of Small
Things is that day-to-day life—the "small things"—can be
g Quotes ........................................................................................................ 30
greatly affected by the "big things" such as politics, racism, and
cultural mores. The author suggests that everyone could use a
l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 32
god who might protect them as they try to succeed in small
m Themes ...................................................................................................... 33 ways to love deeply, work successfully, and find happiness.
e Suggested Reading .............................................................................. 35
d In Context
j Book Basics The God of Small Things has been labeled semi-
autobiographical fiction because its setting is so obviously
AUTHOR reminiscent of Arundhati Roy's childhood home, and the events
Arundhati Roy take place in the time frame of her own life. She does not deny
this characterization, although she refutes any claims that the
YEAR PUBLISHED
major events described are based on real-life experiences.
1997
However, Roy does write with rich detail about the India she
GENRE knows. Reading the novel may be enriched by an
Fiction understanding of the country's geography, government, and
politics, and by an awareness of some of the specific cultural
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR norms and celebrations she references.
The God of Small Things is narrated from the third-person
omniscient point of view, so it is told by someone who sees the
action and knows the characters' secrets without being part of
the story. This narrative choice allows readers to experience
the events from different characters' perspectives. However, a
The God of Small Things Study Guide In Context 2
more radical Marxist-Leninists, particularly a branch known as

The Kerala Coast Naxalites, took a more violent approach. References are also
made to Naxalites in the novel.
The setting for The God of Small Things is the small village of
Ayemenem, in the Indian state of Kerala on the west coast of
India. Roy grew up there in a village with a name very close to
her fictitious village: Aymanam. The name of the river beside
The Caste System
that village, Minachil, must have also influenced her choice for
The social stratification system known as the caste system has
the name of the important river in the novel: Meenachal. Roy
existed in India for around 3,000 years, although the Indian
did not disguise other names of places where some events
constitution (adopted in 1950) banned the use of the system as
take place—the cities of Kottayam and Cochin (now known as
discriminatory. The caste system divides people into groups, or
Kochi)—and her detailed descriptions of flora and fauna,
castes, according to their work and religion. In India the
buildings, climate, and so forth are based on fact.
traditional groupings are as follows:
Kerala is a very popular tourist destination, often described as

Brahmins are at the top. They are intellectuals, usually
a tropical paradise. Its western beaches stretch along the
priests or scholars.
Arabian Sea, with southern beaches along the Indian Ocean,
Kshatriyas are just below Brahmins. They are rulers and
and the mountain range known as the Western Ghats forms
warriors.
the eastern border. The state animal is the elephant, and the
Next come Vaishyas, who hold professional jobs such as
state tree is the coconut. Vegetation abounds, with groves of
bankers, traders, and merchants.
coconut palms, aromatic spices and flowers, and agricultural
The lowest group is the Shudras, who are unskilled laborers,
products growing everywhere. Many rivers flow through the
servants, and peasants.
state, and houseboats called kettuvallams are often seen on
rivers and lakes. In The God of Small Things, the author vividly Outside of these groupings is a large class of people known as
describes this lush landscape. the Untouchables. These people are thought to be unclean,
mostly due to the jobs they do such as garbage collection and
the cremating of dead bodies. Now referring to themselves as
Indian Government and Politics Dalits ("the oppressed"), the group formerly treated with such
disdain and all but excluded from associating with the rest of
Since 1947 India has been an independent republic with a two- society is working to overcome oppression and stigma. In The
house parliamentary system of government headed by a prime God of Small Things, the caste system is still in force, and
minister. The nation is made up of 28 states and seven people are expected to adhere to the rules: marrying within
territories. one's own caste, staying with the work acceptable to the caste
into which you are born, refusing to share food or water with
Kerala is a politically significant state, due to high education lower castes, never touching Untouchables, and openly
levels and relative wealth among its residents. So when the repressing those in castes below you.
Communist Party of India (CPI) took power in the state in 1957,
it was notable. It was the first government within India not to
stay true to the traditional Congress Party. The leader of the
Kerala Communists at this time was E.M.S. Namboodiripad,
Kathakali
who is mentioned several times in The God of Small Things.
Derived from sacred rituals performed in Hindu temples in
Under his leadership, several reforms were introduced in the
Kerala, Kathakali is a dramatic dance performance. Without
next few years, but there were violent protests against them,
speaking, male actors in heavy makeup and elaborate
also seen in The God of Small Things. General dissatisfaction
costumes act out ancient stories, accompanied by singing,
within the party led the CPI to split into two factions, the
drumming, and the playing of cymbals. The stories are epics
Communist Party (Marxist) and the Communist Party (Marxist-
originally written in Sanskrit (the ancient language of Hindu
Leninist). Namboodiripad went with the Marxists and continued
Indians), so the performances are quite long.
to focus on a peaceful transition to socialism, whereas the
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The God of Small Things Study Guide Author Biography 3
Traditionally, a Kathakali performance began at sundown and prestigious Man Booker Prize, the annual British award for a
ended just before sunrise. Audiences knew what to expect, as novel written in English.
the performances follow a certain pattern. Drumming signals
the beginning, calling the gods to come. A satin curtain hides However, Roy turned away from fiction writing as she became
the stage as the actors begin to arrive. They are moving from more politically active, choosing to exercise her voice and fame
the earthly world to the gods' world and usually pray behind while writing nonfiction works aimed at disrupting policies she
the curtain while still out of sight. Next, singers join the drums, despises. She has written, for example, against the caste
with the musicians showing their greatest skills to inspire the system, in favor of nuclear disarmament, and against the
audience for what is to come. As the curtain falls, the action displacement of large numbers or people when huge dams are
begins and the story unfolds hour after hour, with the climactic built.
death of the evil character occurring just before dawn. The

It took Roy 20 years to publish a second novel, The Ministry of
audience joins those presenting Kathakali to dance, eat, and
Upmost Happiness (2017). But as she has pointed out
celebrate the victory of good over evil.
regarding her return to fiction, "Fiction is truth. I think fiction is
This is the type of traditional performance Roy portrays in The the truest thing there ever was."
God of Small Things. The story featured is particularly relevant

to the novel. It is a traditional tale of an illegitimate son of a
queen who is raised by a chariot driver. Despite his royal blood, h Characters
he suffers from the type of discrimination experienced by the
Untouchables in the Indian caste system. His anger makes him
a great warrior.
Rahel
As a child, Rahel has an incredibly intimate connection with her
a Author Biography twin brother, Estha. Their bond leads them to think of
themselves together as "Me." They share a type of telepathic
Arundhati Roy was born on November 24, 1961, in Shillong, communication and a spoken language that is uniquely theirs.
India, not far from the northern border of Bangladesh. Rahel is also very sensitive about her mother's feelings and
However, she grew up far from there, in a small village in the responses to her and gets easily hurt. So when both of these
Indian state of Kerala on the southwest coast of India. This is beloved people are taken from her at a young age and Rahel is
the setting for The God of Small Things. basically left to fend for herself, she dissociates herself from
making any new emotional connections. She grows up to be an
Roy's father was a Bengali Hindu, descended from the
indifferent woman, not interested in relationships or any sort of
inhabitants of the region once named Bengal and now taken up
significant work. This is why she yearns so much to have again
by Bangladesh and West Bengal in India. Her mother was of
with Estha the type of intimate relationship they enjoyed as
Syrian descent. She divorced her husband and moved her
children when they are reunited after 23 years. However, the
daughter to the Syrian Christian community in Ayemenem,
intimacy they find is an inappropriate sexual bond.
Kerala, where she opened a school. In addition to taking the
unconventional action of divorcing her husband, Roy's mother
sought certain rights for women. As Roy told an interviewer in
2007, she "had none of the conditioning that a normal, middle
Estha
class Indian girl would have." She was also aware of the
For Estha as a child, his relationship with his twin sister, Rahel,
diversity and caste system that still characterizes India.
is more important than anything. They can communicate
Roy left home at age 16 and studied architecture in New Delhi. without speaking, and they live in their own world, with their
However, she dreamed of being a writer and in the late 1980s own way of viewing it and talking about it. He is viewed by
and 1990s wrote film scripts. The God of Small Things was her adults as a quiet and practical child; most do not seem to
first novel, and it was a huge success, both critically acclaimed understand how sensitive he is. He experiences trauma
and wildly popular. The year it was published, the book won the beyond what Rahel endures. He is molested, forced to betray

The God of Small Things Study Guide Characters 4
Velutha while looking at his broken body, and sent to live with
his alcoholic father. His response is to withdraw into himself, Baby Kochamma
ceasing to speak and mostly wishing to be invisible. When he is
reunited with Rahel as an adult, Estha's interior quiet is The daughter of a Syrian Christian priest, at 18 Baby
disrupted. The memories he has successfully repressed Kochamma falls in love with her father's young Irish monk
threaten to overtake him, and so he finally seeks safety in the friend, Father Mulligan. Quite attractive in her youth, Baby
sexual embrace of the one person he has always loved most, seems to catch his attention, but nothing comes of a casual
Rahel. flirtation. So she then converts to Catholicism and joins a

convent in Madras to be near Father Mulligan. This plan also
fails, and Baby leaves the convent. She gets a diploma in
Ammu Ornamental Gardening in New York and returns to Ayenemen

an obese woman still pining for Father Mulligan. She designs
incredible gardens for the house and cares for them for some
Beginning in her teen years, Ammu seems to feel robbed of the
50 years before abandoning that pursuit for constant TV
chance for a happy life. Her parents move their unhappy
viewing. Eighty-three years old at the time of the present
marriage and her to Ayemenem at that time, and she longs to
narration, Baby remains a spoiled and vain woman, still in love
escape. When she finally goes to Calcutta for a family wedding,
with the now dead Mulligan and intent on preserving the family
she jumps at the chance to marry practically the first man she
honor through any means necessary.
meets. However, Baba is a bad choice—an abusive
alcoholic—and soon enough Ammu is back at Ayemenem, this
time with twins. Back to feeling trapped in a dead-end life,
Ammu is suddenly drawn to Velutha. In his arms she feels alive, Sophie Mol
but the price she and the family must pay for her unacceptable
relationship with an Untouchable is death, on many levels. Sophie Mol only lives for seven years, but her life and death
Ammu herself will not survive for long, dying of asthma at age impact the Ipe family for decades. Daughter of Chacko and
31 while applying for another dead-end job in a long string of Margaret Kochamma, raised by Margaret and stepfather Joe,
them. Sophie Mol is a somewhat spoiled only child. Yet she is very
interested in forming a friendship with her cousins, the twins,
and succeeds in just a few short days at becoming part of the
Velutha tight circle that is Velutha, Estha, and Rahel.
Born a Paravan (an Untouchable), Velutha nevertheless

experiences many privileges because of his association with
the Ipe family. When he is around 11, Mammachi notices his
great skill with making things. She makes sure he goes to
school, and he also studies with a German carpenter to hone
his abilities. As a teenager he can design and build furniture,
house additions, and theatrical settings and props. Velutha also
takes care of all the machinery at the factory. He has a kind of
quiet confidence about him that causes his father to worry he
will one day be forced back into his place as a Paravan. This
worry seems unfounded until Velutha does the unthinkable and
has an affair with Ammu. That is when the only thing people
seem to know about him is that he is an Untouchable who must
die for his act.

Character Map
Rahel
Detached survivor of
childhood trauma; in search
Great-aunt of meaning; daughter
of Baba
Cousins Mother
Twins
Sophie Mol Ammu

Death at age nine Disenfranchised member
affects a whole society; of society; sister to Chacko;
daughter of Chacko Cousins ex-wife of Baba
Estha
Mother
Silent, tortured victim
of childhood trauma;
in search of peace;
son of Baba
Great-aunt Illicit lovers

Great-aunt
Velutha
Baby Kochamma
Talented Untouchable;
Spoiled inheritor of
killed for going against
Ayemenem House
social mores
Aunt
Main Character
Other Major Character
Minor Character

Full Character List Baba is the absent father of Estha and

Rahel, although Estha is sent to live
Baba with him at age seven. Baba's violent
alcoholism led Ammu to leave him when
Character Description
the twins were toddlers.
Rahel is the female protagonist of the

Baba's father is a wealthy and
novel whose perspective as a child and
important man in Calcutta who gives
as an adult is important in the narration
Baba's father Baba and Ammu a fancy wedding and
of the novel. After a separation of 23
Rahel presents that he then takes back. He
years following a series of tragic
dies before Estha and Rahel are born.
events, she is reunited with her twin
brother, Estha, at their family home in
Ayemenem, India. Balls-in-Brackets is the cruel name
Balls-in- Estha's schoolmates called the bow-
Brackets legged man who carried their luggage
Estha is the male protagonist of the
at the train station.
novel who was so emotionally wounded
as a child that he is now a mostly silent
Estha
adult. He and his twin sister, Rahel, are Adoor Basi is a popular Indian
together again in Ayemenem, India, comedian who is at the airport terminal
after 23 years apart. Adoor Basi on the day Sophie Mol arrives; he
performs a comedic routine for his
admirers.
Ammu is the mother of the twins Rahel
and Estha. Her illicit affair with Velutha,
Ammu
an Untouchable, leads to tragedy for The bellboy who takes the family's
the whole family. luggage to their rooms the night before
Bellboy
Sophie Mol arrives is an old man in a
faded uniform.
Velutha is a member of the
Untouchables caste in India, but his
unusual talents, discovered at a young The owner of the café where Margaret
Velutha age, make him acceptable and useful to Kochamma works when Chacko meets
the Ipe family—until he becomes Café owner her is displeased with their flirtation; he
Ammu's lover. He dies for that illicit lectures Margaret about how to behave
affair. while on the job.
Baby Kochamma is the sister of Chacko is the only son of Mammachi

Pappachi and the one who inherits the and Pappachi; he fancies himself to be
Baby
house at Ayemenem. She is spoiled and Chacko quite a scholar but never holds a
Kochamma
manipulative, the self-appointed decent job outside of managing his
dictator of what is right and wrong. mother's factory.
Sophie Mol is the daughter of Chacko Chella is Velutha's mother who dies of
and Margaret Kochamma; her tragic tuberculosis during the four years when
Sophie Mol Chella
drowning while visiting Ayemenem is a he is mysteriously gone from
key event in the story. Ayemenem.
Aleyooty Ammachi is the wife of The conductor on the bus Ammu,

Reverend Ipe, the great-grandmother Estha, and Rahel ride home from the
Aleyooty
of Estha and Rahel; her portrait in the Conductor police station grows impatient when
Ammachi
house shows a serious, somewhat- sobbing Ammu fails to state their
sorrowful woman. destination as he punches their tickets.

A woman who is eating delicious Indian The Kottayam police form a posse to
sweets with her family on the train, capture Velutha after the accusations
Kottayam
seated near Estha as he travels to his of rape and murder are lodged against
police posse
Eating lady father's, offers him a treat, too. She him; the severe beating they give him
nicely tries to coax him, but he declines leads to his death.
because he is "feeling vomity" as he
says his final farewell to his mother.
S.V.S. Kurup is a young boy described
as "scornful" when he sees Rahal eject
S.V.S. Kurup
Mr. Hollick is Baba's womanizing boss a bead from her nose at the doctor's
who threatens to fire him for his poor office; he wails when he is called in.
performance and alcoholism but says
Mr. Hollick he will keep him on if Ammu will have an
affair with him. Baba proposes the idea Kuttappen is Velutha's older brother;
to Ammu; she responds violently and during Velutha's mysterious absence
soon leaves him. from Ayenemen, Kuttappen falls out of
Kuttappen a coconut tree and becomes paralyzed
from the chest down, dooming him to
Founder of the family dynasty as the life on his back in a miserable hut,
father of Pappachi and Baby fighting fear and insanity.
Kochamma, Reverend Ipe is a priest in
the Syrian Christian church in
Reverend Ipe Latha, the Pillais' niece, visits them from
Ayemenem. He is known as "The Little
Blessed One" because an important the nearby city of Kottayam; they are
spiritual leader, the patriarch of Latha proud of her elocution skills and have
Antioch, blessed him as a child. her recite for Chacko when he comes
to their home.
Joe is Margaret Kochamma's second

husband, whom she married shortly Lenin is the Pillais' son, around the
after divorcing Chacko; Sophie Mol same age as Estha and Rahel;
Joe Comrade Pillai in particular thinks Lenin
thinks of Joe as her true father Lenin
because he raised her until his sudden is intellectually gifted and teaches him
death. speeches to recite long before the boy
can understand them.
Kalyani is the alluring wife of Comrade

Kalyani Pillai and the mother of Lenin; she will Kurien Maathen is the family friend who
not allow Untouchables in her home. Kurien serves as Estha's escort on the train
Maathen ride to his father's. He is a heavy
smoker with thick lips.
Johann Klein is the German carpenter
who comes to Kottayam, a city near
Ayemenem, on a three-year Christian Mammachi, the mother of Ammu and
Johann Klein Chacko, was regularly beaten by her
mission trip to teach carpentry; Velutha
studies under him daily and becomes husband until Chacko intervened; by
an accomplished carpenter. the time the twins come along,
Mammachi
Mammachi is nearly blind and lives a
strict and reserved life, playing her
Margaret Kochamma is Chacko's ex- violin and displaying an unhealthy level
wife and the mother of Sophie Mol; she of love and possessiveness for her son.
Margaret divorces Chacko shortly after Sophie is
Kochamma born because she grows tired of his
lazy, slovenly ways, and falls in love When the family car is stopped at a
with Joe. railroad crossing and a communist
march passes by, one of the marching
Marching man men invades the car; he mocks the
Kochu Maria lives with Baby family and makes Baby Kochamma
Kochamma in the house at Ayemenem; wave a communist flag and repeat a
Kochu Maria she is the foul-tempered cook and maid slogan.
but usually just watches television all
day with Baby.

Inspector Thomas Mathew is a Vellya Paapen is Velutha's father and

calculating and politically savvy man. has always worried that his son does
Inspector Even though he dislikes the caste not follow the rules for Untouchables;
Thomas system and knows Baby Kochamma Vellya Paapen when he learns of Velutha's affair with
Mathew misled him, he protects himself and the Ammu, Vellya Paapen tells Mammachi
police force before the people he and starts the whole sequence of tragic
serves. events.
Larry McCaslin is the man Rahel Pappachi, father of Ammu and Chacko,
Larry marries but who never really knows her; is a famous entomologist but is bitter
McCaslin they divorce because of her seeming that a moth he discovered is not named
Pappachi
indifference toward him. after him; an ill-tempered, egotistical,
and vain man, Pappachi is a dreadful
husband and a snobby Anglophile.
Miss Mitten is a "born again" missionary
from Australia who becomes Baby
Miss Mitten
Kochamma's friend; the twins dislike The patriarch of Antioch is the
her and treat her rudely. sovereign head of the Syrian Christian
Patriarch of
church; he supposedly blessed
Antioch
Reverend Ipe when John was just a
Murlidharan is an insane war veteran child.
who has no arms and is often seen
Murlidharan
sitting naked on signs around
Ayemenem. Comrade Pillai is the leader of the
Ayemenem Communist Party and has a
Comrade Pillai design and printing company; he is self-
Father Mulligan is the only man Baby serving more than he is interested in
Kochamma ever falls in love with, but the rights of all people.
that love is not reciprocated. An Irish
Father monk when she meets him at 18, Father
Mulligan Mulligan is a friend of Reverend Ipe and Comrade Pillai's mother leaves with him
a regular visitor at the house, but later Comrade and his family; she appears to be
in life he converts to the life of a Lord Pillai's mother extremely old and senile, spending her
Vishnu devotee. time rocking and grunting.
The nurse at the pediatrician's office Punnachen, the accountant at the

where Lenin and Rahal are taken Punnachen family's factory, reads Mammachi the
because they have stuffed things up newspaper every morning.
Nurse
their noses is frightening to look at and
dismissive in her attitude toward her
young patients. Kari Saipu, known as the Black Sahib, is
an Englishman who became more
Indian than English; he is the owner of
One old lady in Ayemenem shows up at the abandoned History House across
Kari Saipu
Old lady at most funerals, including Sophie Mol's, the river from the Ipe estate, which has
funerals even though she does not know the been empty in the years following his
families. suicide due to the loss of his lover, a
young boy.
Estha calls the disgusting man who
molests him at the movie theater the The unfriendly taxi driver who takes the
Orangedrink Lemondrink Man; the man family from the movie theater to the
Orangedrink runs the concession stand and lures motel on the night before Sophie Mol
Lemondrink Estha behind the counter with a cold Taxi driver arrives obviously lives in his car; he is
Man drink when Estha is in the lobby by so small that he can barely see over the
himself. He then threatens to come and steering wheel, and he drives
find him in Ayemenem if Estha ever tells recklessly.
anyone what he forces him to do.

The God of Small Things Study Guide Plot Summary 9
beginning of monsoon season, and returning to the muggy

The man who uses a torch (flashlight)
to guide the family to their seats for climate and the family home brings back Rahel's memories of
Torch man The Sound of Music obviously childhood, including stories of her and Estha's birth, the funeral
disapproves of the fact that they have of their nine-year-old cousin Sophie Mol, a visit to the police
arrived at the movie so late.
station, and the twins' separation when Estha was sent to live
with his father. The only living relative still at the family home is
Dr. Verghese Verghese is the main
83-year-old Baby Kochamma, the twins' grandfather's younger
Dr. Verghese pediatrician in the city of Kottayam,
Verghese near Ayemenem; he once sewed up sister, who lives in the house with a surly cook named Kochu
Kochu Maria's split earlobe. Maria. Estha is also back and no longer speaks, spending most
of his days on long walks. Rahel's life since losing Estha is
quickly outlined: schooling, marriage and divorce, jobs. Baby
Kochamma's life is also quickly reviewed, allowing readers to
k Plot Summary learn about her, her parents, and life at the family home in the
past and present, including some of the history of the family's
factory, Paradise Pickles & Preserves.
Structure and Settings As the opening chapter draws to a close, there are hints that
Sophie Mol's death is at the core of the unraveling of the twins.
Arundhati Roy does not present a sequential narrative in The
Equally important is what Roy terms "the Love Laws ... that lay
God of Small Things. Rather, the chapters move about in time
down who should be loved, and how." A tragic romance
and place, reflecting memories, reactions to current
follows.
happenings, and thoughts about the future, often from
different viewpoints, some childlike and some adult. This is how
people mentally process life's events, after all, with memories
of the past influencing the response to the present—and both
Car Trip to Cochin
creating ideas about the future. In thinking about one's life
The novel's setting then goes backward in time, to a car ride in
story, the mind bounces around instead of following a linear
December 1969. The twins, their mother (Ammu), their uncle
path, and perceptions of reality can change radically from
(Chacko), and Baby Kochamma are traveling to the city of
childhood to adulthood.
Cochin to see The Sound of Music movie, spend the night, and
Reading the novel is not unlike eating an orange; piece by then pick up Sophie Mol and her mother at the airport. Sophie
piece the central events are revealed and digested until the Mol is Chacko's daughter, and her mother is his ex-wife
whole is understood and appreciated. What is helpful to know (Margaret Kochamma). Details about the characters reveal
from the beginning, however, is that there are two general time their looks, personalities, and some key events in each
frames in which the major events occur: the past and the person's life. Ammu's wedding, marriage, and the birth of the
present. The past is December 1969. The present is 1992. In twins are explored. The twins' father (Baba) is a violent
the past the twins Rahel and Estha are seven years old and alcoholic, which is why Ammu leaves him and brings the
experience many traumatic events, ending with their children to Ayemenem, feeling that her life is over. No one
separation. In the present they are both alive and finally approves of her actions, and Baby Kochamma is especially
together again. In both the past and the present, they are unhappy.
based at the family home in Ayemenem. Generally, chapters
The car they ride in is a rolling advertisement for the Paradise
alternate between the past and the present.
Pickles & Preserves business, with a billboard on top, so details
are also provided about how the business began and about
Ammu's parents (Pappachi and Mammachi). The travelers
Rahel's Return experience delays on the trip when the billboard must be
secured, a train crossing is blocked, and the Communist Party
The novel opens in the present. Thirty-one-year-old Rahel has
stages a protest march among the cars stalled while waiting
just returned to Ayemenem after a long absence. It is the
for the train to pass. Because Velutha is part of the

march—although the adults in the car deny the truth of Rahel's memory returns the narrative to the past, to the day after the
sighting of him—Velutha, an important character, is introduced, movies, when the family picks up Sophie Mol and her mother
with details about how the life of this Untouchable has become from the airport.
entwined with the family's existence.
Everyone is dressed in fancy clothes for the meeting. The initial
encounter is quite awkward, and none of the three children
Broken Connection behave as coached and expected. Ammu is very angry with the
twins. Nevertheless, the children begin to get to know each
other in their own way.
The next chapter returns again to the present time, to the
house at Ayemenem. As Baby Kochamma and Kochu Maria
engage in their full-time hobby—watching television—in the
filthy house, Rahel secretly observes Estha bathing and Death of Ammu
washing his clothes after his usual long walk. She longs to feel
the connection they had as children. She touches him, but he Back in the present, Rahel is trying to reach Estha in a different
does not respond. way. Remembering that she hid things in Pappachi's study as a
child, she finds the cache. With her treasures she finds
something Ammu must have placed there, notebooks the twins
Molestation wrote lessons in so long ago. As she reads it aloud to Estha,

Rahel thinks of her mother and the sad state she was in as she
approached her death: "Wild. Sick. Sad." Ammu was the same
Then readers are returned to the trip to the movies, just as the
age the twins now are when she died. Rahel recalls the last
family arrives at the theater. Chacko drops them off and goes
time she saw her mother alive, glad that Estha never saw her
to check on their lodging arrangements. The movie has started,
that way. She remembers the trip to the crematorium. Finishing
but it doesn't really matter since they have seen it before and
her memories and her reading, she sees that Estha has left;
know the plot and all the songs. When Estha can't help but sing
she still has not reached him.
along, he goes to the lobby so that he will not annoy the
audience. There, the man who runs the refreshments stand
molests him, luring him with a soft drink. Estha returns to the
theater, but then feels like he will vomit, so Ammu takes him to Fatal Romance
the restroom. He never tells anyone what has happened.
Ammu decides he is ill and they must leave, so they take a taxi The narrative returns to the day Sophie Mol and her mother
to the hotel. As Rahel recalls spending the night in Chacko's arrive, to a choreographed scene at the then-impressive family
room so Estha can be with Ammu, the details of Chacko's home, designed to welcome the visitors in fine style.
marriage, divorce, and the death of Margaret's second Mammachi's jealous feelings toward her ex-daughter-in-law
husband are given, along with background information about are revealed as her violin playing for the homecoming is
the current state of the family factory in light of the communist described. Kochu Maria prepares a huge cake, and all of the
movement in Kerala. factory workers line up to greet the travelers. As the scene
unfolds, Rahel spots her favorite person (Velutha) and goes to
him. As Ammu watches Velutha and Rahel, she feels an intense
Sophie Mol physical attraction. This attraction becomes the fatal romance
at the core of the story.
Again the novel shifts to the present, as Rahel muses about

how much Ayemenem has both changed and remained the
same. As she walks, she encounters the local communist Past, Present, and Future
leader, Comrade K.N.M. Pillai. As they catch up on their lives,
Rahel remembers his son, Lenin, and a shared doctor's visit. Returning to the present time, the narrative features Rahel
Pillai pulls out old photographs, and Rahel sees one of her and sitting in the untended garden at the house as twilight comes.
Estha with Lenin and Sophie Mol shortly before she died. This She is thinking about what her future might hold as she

remembers how she and Estha and Sophie Mol steadily grew room will be a prison for Ammu, until the door is knocked down
closer from the time they met until her death just days and she is told to leave. It is where she will pack Estha's things
later—and how they enjoyed doing things with Velutha. From into a trunk because he, too, will be sent away.
where she sits she can see Estha in his room, and she
acknowledges the terrible burden they have carried since
those days of their childhood, the days leading up to a terrible Echoes of Family Tragedy
event ("The Terror") that took not just Sophie Mol but also
Velutha and Ammu. She stays in the garden for hours until she The next chapter picks up the narrative of the present, and
hears the sounds of a kathakali performance, coming from the Rahel has arrived at the temple for the kathakali. Details about
nearby temple, and decides to go to it. these traditional performances and the specific story being
acted out are described. The story has marked similarities to
Rahel's own family tragedy. Rahel soon becomes aware that
A Tiny Boat Estha has arrived. They watch the whole performance, silently,
together and walk home as dawn arrives.
But the next chapter is again set in the past, on the day Sophie
Mol is welcomed to Ayemenem. Estha has gone to the factory
to get away from the scene and to think. He is worried that the Sophie Mol's Death
man who molested him at the theater knows how to find him
and might come for him. He decides that he needs to have a The narrative returns to the past, to the afternoon of Sophie
getaway plan, that a boat would be a good way to escape Mol's arrival at the Ayemenem house. She is napping with her
across the river. There is an abandoned house, called the mother in Chacko's room. (He has moved to Pappachi's study
History House, on the other side that would be a good hiding for their visit.) However, she is not asleep, just watching her
place. When Rahel finds him, Estha announces that they need mother sleep and looking around the room. As Sophie Mol
to go visit that place, and she makes a plan to pretend to take studies a photograph of the wedding of her mother and
her afternoon nap and then sneak away when Ammu falls Chacko, details about the two and their relationship are
asleep. provided for the reader. They met when Chacko came to the
café in Oxford where Margaret Kochamma was a waitress. He
When the twins meet as agreed on the riverbank, they find a
was a Rhodes Scholar, and the two married as soon as he
long-forgotten tiny boat, a wooden vallom, just the thing Estha
finished his studies. The marriage did not last long, and
had been thinking of. However, when they put it in the water, it
Margaret left Chacko for Joe, who became her second
sinks. Nevertheless, they work to wash it and then carry it to
husband, soon after Sophie Mol was born. Chacko returned
the hut where Velutha lives with his paralyzed brother,
home to India. Mammachi was thrilled to have her adored son
Kuttappen, and their father, Vellya Paapen. Only Kuttappen is
back.
home, so the twins show him the boat and ask him if it can be
repaired. He advises them that it's a matter of simply finding Margaret Kochamma and Chacko stayed in close touch by
the leaks and plugging them. Velutha arrives before long, and letter, since it was the only way he could remain informed
he confirms that he can probably fix it. However, both brothers about his daughter. So when Joe is suddenly and tragically
warn the children that the river is dangerous and if they have killed, it is natural that Chacko would invite his ex-wife and
the boat to use, they must always be careful. Then Velutha, daughter to India for Christmas and for a much-needed change
Estha, and Rahel begin sandpapering the boat, working for an of scenery. This is how Sophie Mol came to be in that
hour until Rahel suddenly remembers she must run back to the bedroom. Later, in a tragic accident, her body will be found
house before Ammu awakens. floating in the Meenachal River.
Ammu has been sleeping deeply and dreaming. When Estha This is where the narrative picks up. It is morning when the
and Rahel waken her, the three of them lay together, listening body is found. Ammu has been locked in her bedroom, and
to music and singing, until Ammu gets up to go to the Rahel and Estha are missing. The day before, Velutha's father
bathroom. There she examines her body while the twins play in had arrived at the house. Vellya Paapen was drunk and
the bedroom. Foreshadowing is used to suggest that soon that

demanded to talk to Mammachi. Granted an audience, he tells stop tells him he must go see Mammachi, so he goes directly
of seeing Velutha and Ammu crossing the river night after to the house. She meets him with a violent fit of temper,
night, joining their bodies as lovers at the History House. Baby cursing him, spitting on him, and threatening to kill him if he
Kochamma hears the conversation and immediately begins does not leave forever.
plotting how to handle the situation, how to prevent the ruining
of the family's reputation with this forbidden love. She and Velutha responds by going to Comrade Pillai's house, thinking
Mammachi lock Ammu in her room and send for Velutha. When the man will help to protect him. But Comrade Pillai refuses to
Sophie Mol's body is found, Baby Kochamma goes to the get involved. So Velutha goes to the river and swims across to
police department and tells a story she has woven, of Velutha the History House. A few hours later Estha, Rahel, and Sophie
trying to rape Ammu and then threatening the family when they Mol set out in their boat to cross the river to the same place.
told him he must leave. She suggests that Velutha was behind The twins' mother, locked in her room, has screamed at them
this death and the disappearance of Estha and Rahel. that it is all their fault. So they are running to the place of
safety that they have been stocking since Estha announced
Meanwhile, Chacko and Margaret Kochamma have arrived after being molested that they should have a secret escape.
back at the house from their trip to check on the airline tickets Sophie Mol is joining them so she will not be questioned about
to find Sophie Mol's lifeless body on a chaise lounge. The their whereabouts. Halfway across the river, the boat tips over
shock is huge. and Sophie Mol is lost forever. The twins make it to the History
House, unaware that Velutha is also there, asleep in the
After learning all of these details, the reader is returned to the darkness.
room where Sophie Mol is still not sleeping on the first day of
her visit. She finds the presents she brought for Estha and
Rahel and leaves the room to take the gifts to them and tries to
become their friend. Meanwhile, Chacko is going to visit
Legacy of the History House
Comrade Pillai, to request that he design and print labels for a
The narrative returns to the present day, to Estha sitting alone
new product from the Paradise Pickles & Preserves line.
in his room on a rainy night. Kochu Maria is asleep in front of
However, his underlying purpose is to see how the communist
the television, and Baby Kochamma is in her own room, filling
movement is going and how it might affect the factory. He also
out mail-in rebates and remembering a long-ago romance. She
wants to learn more about Velutha's involvement. Comrade
is also listening for sounds of movement by Rahel and Estha,
Pillai warns him that Velutha is going to be a problem for the
suspicious that they have sometimes been out all night
family. His Untouchable status is an ongoing issue, especially
together.
given his prominent role as "practically run(ning) the factory."
The other workers resent that. On this night Rahel comes to Estha's room after Baby
Kochamma has fallen asleep. Looking at her, Estha remembers
This section ends with foreshadowing of what is to come.
the day he had to say goodbye to her and Ammu at the train
Comrade Pillai will be the last person Velutha visits. With
station, when he was sent away to live with his father. He also
Sophie Mol's death will come the death of the factory, due to
remembers how he and Rahel had witnessed the brutal beating
Chacko's grief and inability to run it effectively. Land will be
of Velutha by the posse of police officers who descended on
sold to pay the bills, and Chacko will move to Canada. Baby
the History House where Velutha, Estha, and Rahel had gone
Kochamma and Kochu Maria will be forced to live off of a small
to hide. When the police officers found the twins, they took
amount of rent and whatever money they can get from the
them to the police station and emptied the house of all the
coconut harvest.
supplies. The officers knew that would not fit with the story
that Velutha had kidnapped them.
Family Betrayal What happened at the police station is narrated in the next
chapter. As Inspector Matthew learns about the well-stocked
The narrative then focuses on Velutha on the day his father History House, he figures out that Baby Kochamma's tale is not
betrays him to Mammachi. He has been in the city to get parts true. He calls her to the station and explains that she has set
needed to fix a factory machine. A factory worker at the bus him up to kill an innocent man and he can file criminal charges

against her. The only way this situation is to be avoided is for

Ammu to file a rape charge against Velutha, or for the children
to say that Velutha did indeed kidnap them.
So Baby Kochamma bullies and tricks the children into making

the false claim. She tells them that only they can save their
mother from going to jail. When Estha and Rahel agree to the
scheme, the inspector takes Estha to where Velutha lies dying
and asks him the question. Estha says one word, "Yes." Then
Baby Kochamma takes the children home. The next morning,
Ammu hears their story and goes to the police station to try to
set things right. However, the inspector shuts her down. And
Baby Kochamma completes her scheme by urging Chacko to
throw Ammu out of the house and send Estha to his father.
End of Everything
The next chapter then opens by focusing again on Estha's
departure by train as a child. As this painful memory leaves
him, he returns his attention to his beautiful sister. The twins
perform a forbidden act on this night, brother and sister
making love, united by their lifetime of shared grief. This scene
leads into the first night long ago that Ammu also participated
in forbidden love, with Velutha. It was the first of 13 blissful
nights that led to the end of everything.

Plot Diagram
Climax
7
10 Falling Action
Rising Action
6
11
5
4 12
3 Resolution
2
1
Introduction
8. Sophie Mol and the twins try to cross the river.

Introduction
1. Ammu moves back to Ayemenem with twins Rahel and

Climax
Estha.
9. Sophie Mol drowns.
Rising Action
Falling Action
2. Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma arrive in Ayemenem.
3. Ammu and Velutha begin having an illicit love affair. 10. Kottayam police find Velutha and beat him to death.
4. The affair is discovered. 11. Chacko throws Ammu out, and Estha is sent to Baba's.
5. Ammu is locked in her room.
6. Velutha is told to leave forever. Resolution

7. Ammu screams at the twins that they should leave.
12. Rahel and Estha reunite in Ayemenem 23 years later.

Timeline of Events
1958
Pappachi retires and moves the family to Ayemenem.
1960
Mammachi opens the pickle factory.
1961
Sophie Mol is born, and Margaret Kochamma divorces

Chacko.
November 1962
Rahel and Estha are born.
1965
Ammu divorces Baba and moves to Ayemenem with the

twins.
December 1969
Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma come to

Ayemenem.
Same night
The affair between Ammu and Velutha begins.
Two weeks later
Sophie Mol drowns.
The next day
Velutha is killed by police.
Within days
Ammu, Rahel, and Estha are split apart.
Summer 1992
Rahel and Estha reunite at Ayemenem.

The God of Small Things Study Guide Chapter Summaries 16
divorced Larry McCaslin. Children see terrible things that they

c Chapter Summaries shouldn't see and are torn away from their families. And
people, despite strong Christian roots, are expected to follow
societal rules that label some people untouchable. These are
Chapter 1 the "Love Laws."
Analysis
Summary
Roy uses plenty of details to describe both the setting and the
The novel opens in what is the present time for the narrative, characters that are introduced in this dense opening chapter.
the summer of 1992, in the small town of Ayemenem in the Without really understanding the events from the past that are
tropical state of Kerala, India. Rahel, who spent her childhood woven into the narrative, however, readers might feel at a loss.
in Ayemenem, has returned to the Ipe family home at age 31 Certainly, the enormity of Sophie Mol's death is spelled out
after a long absence because her twin brother, whom she has with "it all began when Sophie Mol came to Ayemenem." Her
not seen since 1969, has also returned there. Inseparable until funeral and burial are well described. But how does she die?
age seven—so much so that they thought of themselves Why are so many lives ruined by it? That is what the novel will
together as "Me" and shared each other's thoughts and tell the reader. As Roy explains near the end of this opening
feelings even when not experiencing things together—they no chapter, it will take time to unravel the mystery, to sort it all out.
longer know each other, and she hopes to restore their close "(L)ike the salvaged remains of a burned house—the charred
relationship. clock, the singed photograph, the scorched furniture—must be
resurrected from the ruins and examined."
Being in Ayemenem floods Rahel with memories. One of the
strongest is of the day of the funeral and burial of Sophie Mol, So this novel is to be like an investigation into an unsolved
the twins' cousin who died while visiting the family. An mystery. Readers will be well served to focus on individual
upsetting trip to the police station with their mother after the memories of events and try to keep them sorted out. This
funeral is part of that memory. opening chapter keys the reader into several that will be
fleshed out later:
The present is also upsetting. The family home has decayed,
occupied now only by Rahel's 83-year-old great-aunt, Baby Someone named Orangedrink Lemondrink Man does
Kochamma, and the cook/housekeeper, Kochu Maria. The two something to Estha in a theater.
of them spend the whole day watching satellite television. Ammu dies when she is just 31.
Estha is more like a ghostly apparition than a person, intent on Ammu takes the twins to the Kottayam police station after
taking up "very little space in the world." He has not spoken Sophie Mol's funeral. The twins had spent time the previous
since childhood and spends his days walking all around day there. Inspector Thomas Mathew is not nice to their
Ayemenem. Whereas Rahel responded to the traumatic events mother, and on the way home she cries and says, "He's
of their childhood with rebellion and reluctance to make dead. I've killed him."
commitments to people or meaningful activities, Estha simply Two weeks after the funeral, Estha is shipped off to his
shut himself off from the world. father in Calcutta.
A man named Comrade Pillai, a Communist leader at one
But dysfunction runs deep in the Ipe family. The narrator
time, has something to do with the events leading up to
shares details proving that. Baby Kochamma loved a priest as
Sophie Mol's death and Estha's exile.
a teenager and tried to win his heart by becoming a nun. When
Estha is haunted by the memory of someone's badly beaten
that failed, she became a gardener and spent her life tending
body and himself saying "Yes, it was him."
to the gardens at the Ayemenem house. Unhappy marriages
Sophie Mol's mother seems to think Estha has something to
and divorces are the rule, not the exception. The twins'
do with Sophie's death.
parents, Ammu and Baba, divorced. Sophie Mol's parents,
Chacko and Margaret Kochamma, divorced. Rahel married and Several stylistic features of Roy's writing are noticeable in this

chapter. First, she is comfortable with the intuitive, spiritual Delhi to Ayemenem in her teens. She disliked it there, but her
world and will weave mystical elements throughout the novel. father did not believe in college education for girls, so her only
Rahel and Estha communicate thoughts to each other way out was to get married. She did just that, after meeting the
telepathically as children, and Rahel communicates with twins' father at a wedding in Calcutta—even though she wasn't
Sophie Mol's spirit during her funeral. A Big God and a Small in love with him. She left him when the twins were toddlers
God dictate the actions of people. Second, when the twins are because he turned out to be a violent alcoholic and was willing
thinking about or expressing important ideas, they will appear to have her sleep with his boss in order to keep his job, and
in print with initial capital letters: Real Life, Thing One, Thing moved back to Ayemenem. She has a restless spirit that
Two, Something Burning, and so on. Third, complete thoughts sometimes reveals itself as an "Unsafe Edge." As for Chacko,
are often expressed in short, telegraphic sentences by Roy he thinks of himself as an intellectual and claims to be a writer.
rather than grammatically complete sentences. This allows her He returned to India from England, where he had been an
to give emphasis to the most important details of what she Oxford Rhodes Scholar, after Margaret Kochamma divorced
describes, and it can also result in a lyrical feel. For example: him. He did not make the move to Ayemenem until after
Pappachi died. He had not gotten along with his father since
making him stop the nightly beatings of Mammachi, who
Thirty-one.
adores her son to an unhealthy degree. The only thing Chacko
Not old. really works at is putting together model airplanes, although
both he and Ammu do help to run the pickle factory begun by
Not young. Mammachi. The car they are driving in, a blue Plymouth, had
But a viable, die-able age. been Pappachi's pride and joy but is now a rolling
advertisement for the factory, with a billboard mounted on its
roof.
Finally, the chapter titles only make sense after the chapter is
read. This chapter title seems mysterious until near the end The journey is interrupted when a railroad crossing bar comes
when readers learn the family used to run a factory, built on the down. It is a long wait for the train to pass by, so the twins
land between the house and the river, where "pickles, amuse themselves by studying the other vehicles and
squashes, jams, curry powders and canned pineapples" were passengers and Murlidharan, the homeless and crazy veteran
made. This approach fits with Roy's way of revealing the bigger who sits by the crossing, naked, day after day. But then a line
picture clue by clue. of marchers appears, carrying communist flags and banners.
Even though Chacko is himself a Marxist, Baby Kochamma is
very afraid of the protesters and urges everyone to look down
Chapter 2 and ignore them. But Chacko speaks to the protesters, and
then Rahel spies a man named Velutha identified only as "Her
most beloved friend" among them and calls out to him. He
Summary doesn't respond and disappears into the crowd, but later
details are given about him. An Untouchable, he has
Set in December 1969, this long chapter tells of a family trip to nevertheless become somewhat a part of the Ipe family. He is
see a movie, The Sound of Music. However, the trip is much a talented carpenter and mechanic and makes furniture for
more significant than that, for they are also going to pick up Mammachi, repairs the house, and fixes the factory machines.
Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma—Chacko's daughter and The twins think of him as their best friend and often visit him at
ex-wife. Margaret has lost her second husband in a tragic car his hut on the river by their house.
accident, and Chacko doesn't want them "spending a lonely,
When one of the marchers opens Rahel's door of the Plymouth
desolate Christmas in England."
to mock the family, Baby Kochamma's fright escalates. Sensing
The chapter is full of descriptive details about the looks and it, the man then forces her to take his flag and hold it while
attire of the people in the car: Rahel, Estha, Ammu, Chacko, repeating a communist slogan. The tension in the car following
Baby Kochamma. It also reveals details about the lives of the this builds, with everyone becoming testy and arguing until
adults up to this time. Ammu had moved with her parents from finally the crossing bar goes up and they can continue on their

way.
Chapter 3
Analysis
Summary
Another unique use of language is introduced and explained in
this chapter. The twins, who are obviously very intelligent, have Set in the present of the narrative, summer 1992, this chapter
a sort of secret language that they use with each other. They opens with a description of how filthy and neglected the house
say words backward. So stop, for example, is pots. They began at Ayemenem has become. Baby Kochamma and Kochu Maria,
this when a friend of Baby Kochamma, a missionary called Miss old and addicted to television, either don't notice or don't care.
Mitten, gave them an insultingly easy book to read. Bored with What Baby Kochamma does mind, however, is that the twins
the "baby language," they read the words backward for more are living at the house. She doesn't trust them and wishes they
of a challenge. Throughout the novel readers should be alert to would leave.
what looks like a language other than English but is actually
their "backwards speak." Rahel is trying to make a connection with the silent Estha, but
he seems oblivious to her presence. After he comes in from
An important symbol is also introduced in this chapter and is its walking, she watches him undress in his spotless room. She
title. Pappachi was a famous entomologist who was very high reaches out to touch him, but he only retreats more into his
up in the Indian government. He discovered a new species of silence. She watches him begin to wash his clothes.
moth, but its importance was not fully understood until after he
retired. That meant that the moth had not been named after
him per the usual science protocol, and this seems to be at the Analysis
root of his rage and bitterness—which he takes out on his wife
by beating her and on everyone else with sullen anger. Rahel There is a sharp contrast between the filth of the rest of the
refers to Pappachi's moth throughout the novel, and it house and the "obsessive cleanliness" of Estha's room. Even
symbolizes unhappiness and fear. though Estha is portrayed as the strange person, readers
should wonder if perhaps he's the sane one in a world gone
Rahel also often refers to things that disappear from the world mad. Roy hints at this by saying it is a "positive sign of volition
as leaving a mark behind them. She seems to need to know from Estha." He has not really given up on living.
that nothing is insignificant enough to just disappear. In this
chapter the images are of holes or stains in the universe. Also notable is how many words in this short chapter Roy uses
to describe the physical beauty of both Rahel and Estha, the
Roy continues to dole out clues about major events that still twin children of a mother described in the last chapter as
cannot be fully understood. In this chapter readers learn: "Sometimes ... the most beautiful woman that Estha and Rahel
had ever seen. And sometimes she wasn't." Beauty is desirable
The twins will soon go into the mysterious History House
in their world, but it must be backed by inner beauty. Estha and
across the river from their home, "where they weren't
Rahel, so damaged by life, are nonetheless still beautiful.
supposed to be, with a man they weren't supposed to love."
They will see something there that is "history revealed" and As Rahel studies her twin brother closely, she sees him as a
that will stay with them forever in a scarring way. woman sees a man. She is saddened by the fact that she can
Velutha's father, Vellya Pappen, worries that his son does examine him so closely and yet not know him. How can her
not follow the rules of caste society. He will see him touch, beloved twin have become such a stranger to her? And to what
enter, and love someone he shouldn't, and he will tell lengths will she go to try to reclaim him? The overall feeling is
Mammachi about it. that of a dream, unreal with a hint of danger. Indeed, the title
refers to a story told within the chapter in order to get across
the idea that all people have hopes and dreams. Whether
dreams are viewed as big or small depends on one's
perspective and station in life.

Chapter 4 Analysis
It is an example of situational irony that when the family arrives
at the movie theater Ammu is worried about Estha going to the
Summary bathroom by himself. She is not worried about his being alone
in the lobby with the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man. The irony
The narrative goes back to the family trip to the movies.
is compounded by the fact that after Rahel intuits the man's
Chacko drops everyone else off and goes to check on the
evilness and mocks her mother's assessment of him as
hotel arrangements for that night. They are late, but they do
"surprisingly sweet to Estha"—using the words "So why don't
not rush to go into the theater. Everyone uses the bathroom
you marry him then?"—Ammu is furious at her and claims such
first, and then an usher guides them to their seats. Because
words "make people love you a little less." Sensitive Rahel is
they have seen the movie several times, they know all the
crushed by losing her mother's love, as made clear by the
songs, and Estha likes to sing along. This disrupts the
image of a cold moth on her heart, its chill spreading through
audience, and so he asks if he can go out to the lobby in order
her bones.
to sing along.
Another now-familiar image is used as Chacko thinks about

In the lobby Estha's singing wakes the man at the concession
Joe's death: "a Joe-shaped Hole in the Universe." It is a hole
stand from a nap. The Orangedrink Lemondrink Man is at first
that fat, lazy, slovenly Chacko cannot fill, and he seems to
grumpy, but then he sees an opportunity to engage in the sick
know that. Nevertheless, his love for his daughter and ex-wife
behavior of molesting young Estha. First, however, he learns
remains strong.
details about where Estha lives—details he uses later to
threaten him should he ever tell what has occurred. Rahel and Estha's deep love for each other is also clear in this
chapter. When Estha comes to the room, Rahel knows he is at
Back in the theater, Estha feels like he is going to throw up, so
the door without his knocking. They share the same dream
Ammu takes him to the bathroom. She exchanges pleasantries
during the night, one that seems to comfort them.
with the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man who makes it clear he
knows where Estha lives and can find him. As the family leaves As far as hints about bigger stories to come, Roy provides
to take a taxi to the hotel because Estha is ill, Rahel intuits that these in the chapter:
the man has done something horrible to Estha.
When Ammu, Baby Kochamma, and Rahel visit the
After a somewhat stressful taxi ride to the motel, the family bathroom together and share the time as females tending to
settles into two rooms. So Ammu can care for Estha, Rahel is female business, Rahel does not know "They would never
with Chacko. As Chacko gets ready to sleep, he remembers be together like this again."
how wrenching it had been to leave Sophie Mol as a baby and When Rahel wonders how Ammu might punish her for her
feels his heart soar at the prospect of seeing her and Margaret saucy comment, there is this ominous foreshadowing: "They
Kochamma the next day. He also thinks about the impact of would all learn about punishments soon." Some can last a
communism on the factory workers, especially wondering if lifetime.
Velutha will be at the center of the turmoil. It becomes clear When Chacko looks at a picture of Sophie Mol, Rahel feels
that the factory is not thriving in terms of profits, and an the moth of fear. Something bad will happen to coincide
uprising among the workers could bring about its demise. with this visit. Later, as she sleeps with Estha, Roy adds
another warning: "Somehow, not wholly unaware of the hint
After finally throwing up in Ammu's room, Estha slips out to
of doom and all that waited in the wings for them."
come and sleep with Rahel. The twins, arms wrapped around
each other, dream of their river.
Chapter 5

Summary Summary
Returning to the present, the chapter opens by contrasting the Once again the narrative focuses on the time of Sophie Mol's
healthy river of Rahel's childhood with the polluted trickle it has arrival. The family members dress in their best clothes for the
become. The History House on the other side has been turned trip to the airport. At the airport, Rahel is intrigued with four
into a luxurious hotel where people feel like they are stepping cement kangaroos whose pouches are used as ashtrays and
back in time. Rahel observes other changes as she walks trash bins. As the passengers come off the plane, Sophie Mol
around Ayemenem, which has grown into a small town. and Margaret Kochamma are spotted. Chacko introduces
everyone, but the scene is awkward. The children don't want to
She is waylaid by Comrade Pillai, who insists on talking. She cooperate with making a good first impression, and Ammu gets
remembers his son, Lenin, and the time as a child that she and very angry.
he were both at the doctor's office because they had forced
objects up their noses. Now Lenin, who has changed his name Despite the initial awkwardness, the cousins start to make
to P. Levin, works in Delhi for the Dutch and German friends as children do. Rahel, obsessed with losing more of
embassies. Then Pillai shows her a photograph of her, Estha, Ammu's love to the newcomer, asks questions about who loves
Lenin, and Sophie Mol, taken just days before Sophie Mol died. who most. Sophie Mol declares her love for her dead
Sophie, the sophisticated child from England, is mugging for stepfather, Joe, and shows off her sophisticated English ways.
the camera while the others look frozen, as if "caught in the
headlights of a car." On the trip home, they see a dead elephant in the road. Rahel
and Estha sing the English song Baby Kohamma taught them
and has made them practice over and over.
Analysis
Despite the changes around Ayemenem, this chapter puts the Analysis
emphasis on all the ways things are frozen in the past. On the
grounds of the old History House is an important "small The meeting at the airport has been long-awaited, and the
forgotten thing." It is the toy wristwatch that Rahel always wore children have been groomed to make a good impression. They
as a child, with the hands painted on, still frozen in time at 10 to feel the falseness of it all, and they think of the situation as a
two. Earlier, readers have learned that she had longed for "a play in which they must perform. Throughout the chapter,
watch on which she could change the time whenever she Rahel and Estha assume different roles—as ambassadors, as
wanted to (which according to her was what Time was meant an Airport Fairy, as English singers—which supports the staged
for in the first place.)" Sadly, Rahel has never been able to do feeling of it. When Rahel hides, it's behind a curtain, and
that. She and Estha remain frozen in the events of long ago. Chacko presents flowers to Margaret Kohamma and Sophie
Mol the same way actors onstage receive them after a
People today visit the old History House to learn about the performance.
past, and to see traditional items and scaled-down versions of
the ancient kathakali performances. The past remains very Obviously the twins are jealous of the adoration bestowed on
present in Ayemenem. Comrade Pillai shows old photographs, Sophie Mol. They want to be loved as she is. Yet from this
frozen pictures of moments in time, and children call Rahel a beginning interaction with her, it's clear that she is just herself,
hippie "twenty-five years too late." not some sort of ideal child. Although her entry into the Ipe
family is the start of life-altering events, it is not by her choice.
The dead elephant is an omen of terrible things to come, but to
Chapter 6 her it is just an interesting sight.

"Chacko said she had destroyed enough already." So her

Chapter 7 actions are behind the loss of her family. As Rahel says, Ammu
"never completed her corrections."
Summary
Chapter 8
The action returns to the Ayemenem House at the present
time in the narrative. Rahel is in Pappachi's study, looking for
items that she hid behind books as a child. She believes she
might be able to reach Estha inside his silence if she can share
Summary
things with him from their childhood. She is surprised to find
The "play" that has been orchestrated for Sophie Mol's arrival
that other people have hidden things, too. She finds the
continues as the Ayemenem House is staged for the arrival of
notebooks referenced in the chapter title, items created by the
the blue Pontiac bearing its precious cargo. Roy describes in
twins as part of their education, probably put there by Ammu.
detail the grand house before its decline and the grand dame
Rahel reads aloud entries written by Estha. One entry titled of the house, Mammachi. She will be playing the violin as the
Little Ammu and written about their mother's birthday car arrives. Although she looks forward to meeting her
celebration has been corrected by Ammu and leads Rahel to granddaughter, she is jealous of Chacko's ex-wife and wishes
think about the last time she saw her mother alive and to recall she were not reentering her son's life.
the details of her death. She had died alone in a "grimy room,"
Kochu Maria is busy completing a tall cake with the words
succumbing to asthma at just 31 years of age. Chacko took
WELCOME HOME OUR SOPHIE MOL. Her strange
Rahel to the crematorium where Ammu's body was burned.
appearance is described, along with her singular mix of native
They were given her ashes in a clay pot. Rahel never
Indian and converted Syrian Christian attitudes. She finishes
communicated with Estha about it.
just as the car is heard approaching. At this point all of the
When she looks up from her musings, Rahel sees that Estha factory workers stop working and line up along the driveway. A
has silently disappeared. When she looks for him, she sees him proud Chacko leads Margaret Kochamma and Sophie Mol to
headed through the gate, out for his daily walk. meet his mostly blind mother.
Rahel, who is feeling invisible and ignored, spies Velutha and

goes to him. Ammu observes how the two of them interact, and
Analysis then her eyes lock with Velutha's. Suddenly an undeniable
charge of physical desire pulses between them. They are both
Significantly, Rahel refers to Estha early in this chapter as "An
shaken, but the "play" continues around them.
Estha-shaped Hole in the Universe." She is acknowledging that
he is no longer of this world, yet he has left his mark on it. She Rahel quizzes Velutha about his presence in the communist
doesn't seem to realize that trying to reach him through their march the day before—he coyly denies it—and they both notice
damaging childhood is not the way to go. that Estha has also removed himself from the welcome scene
and is nowhere in sight. Kochu Maria delivers the cake and
As she remembers her last day with Ammu, Rahel also
declares that Sophie Mol is "a little angel." When Margaret
acknowledges that her mother participated in the desire to
Kochamma responds to Kochu Maria's traditional way of
hold time frozen. She wanted her children to remain the way
kissing with an ignorant comment, Ammu has a sarcastic retort
they were when the family was split apart, unchanged until she
and then goes to her room in an angry huff. She has never
could have them with her again. She lived outside of reality
been one to avoid confrontation or "act nice," having learned
because it was the only way she could survive. To a certain
as the child of an abusive, cruel father to stand up to injustice
extent, this is true also of her children.
and behave recklessly at times. A particularly cruel scene with
A significant clue about the big event that tore the family apart Pappachi when she was nine years old is described to
appears in this chapter. Rahel mentions that Ammu had been substantiate her viewpoint.
forced to pack her bags and leave Ayemenem because

Then the cake is served. Mammachi plays the violin, and Ammu missed is Baby Kochamma's dark warning about Velutha: "That
calls Rahel in for her afternoon nap. Rahel delays obeying, man will be our Nemesis." In explaining why Baby makes this
stopping to kill some ants. Sophie Mol tries to join her, but comment, Roy gives us another clue about the terrible events
Rahel runs away. about to occur. She calls it a "prophetic vision" even though
Baby only intends it "to get him into trouble."
Analysis
Chapter 9
People in the family have trouble with normal feelings of love.
Mammachi has taken her son into her heart as "Her Man" ever
since he made Pappachi stop beating her. She is jealous of any
woman who might take him from her. She does not want him to
Summary
have a sexual relationship outside of what it takes to fulfill
Returning to the present, the narrative focuses on Rahel sitting
"Man's Needs," so she facilitates his trysts with factory
outside in the garden one evening. She is wondering what will
workers in the hope that will keep him from seeking a new wife.
become of her and Estha. As she studies the toads hopping
She is very concerned that he and Margaret Kochamma might
around the fountain, she remembers a long-ago day when she,
resume their sexual relationship but deals with that by putting
Estha, and Sophie Mol—who had quickly become true
money in Margaret's pockets and deciding she is just a whore
friends—dressed up in saris and visited Velutha, pretending to
like all the others.
be three fine Indian ladies. He had gone along with their
Rahel and Estha obviously feel at constant risk of losing their playacting, just as he had allowed them a few days later to
mother's love. Instead of offering the unconditional love that paint his nails red.
mothers give their children, Ammu regularly threatens them

As lights come on in the house, Rahel can see Estha in his
with the lessening of her love. Their grandmother and great-
room, still and staring. She realizes again how very damaged
aunt are similarly stingy with love toward them. So when Rahel
they both are. She identifies Velutha as the victim of the event
and Estha see how Sophie Mol is so clearly loved without
called "The Terror," and recalls that her mother was lost to
limits, it is very upsetting to them. We learn in this chapter that
them as well. She despairs that they cannot get past their
Ammu comes by her hard heart honestly; she was horribly
tragic childhood.
abused as a child. Yet she is clearly passing on some of that
damage to her children. In one flash of insight about this, Hours later, still sitting in the garden, Rahel hears the drums of
Ammu is amazed when she sees that Rahel can feel utterly a kathakali performance and decides to go. She stops to look
happy nonetheless—in the presence of Velutha, in a "world of in the abandoned factory and remembers that this is where
smiles and laughter that she, her mother, had no part in." Soon she found Estha on the day Sophie Mol arrived in Ayemenem
after that realization, when she feels the physical attraction and he disappeared.
between herself and Velutha, Ammu surely has a sense that
love does not always have to be destructive.
Analysis
Chacko does seem to still be in love with Margaret Kochamma,
but it is not based in reality. She can never love him back. She
Rahel's despair is evident in this chapter. Using the words No
obviously had a very good relationship with Joe, and Sophie
Locusts Stand I, an incorrect translation of the Latin phrase
Mol is already showing that she is quite a normal girl. The
locus standi, she labels herself as a person with no real
situational irony lies in the fact that she is not a part of the
identity, no standing, no home. She has "no plans" for what to
family dysfunction yet she will soon be placed at the core of it.
do with her life. She sees that both she and Estha are lost
For now Rahel is so jealous of Sophie Mol, despite having
souls, utterly damaged and without even anger to release them
declared at the airport that of course she must love her, she
from the burden.
cannot be around her.
"The Terror" is becoming more clear, as Roy provides more
One important comment in this chapter that should not be
clues. That story involves the police capturing Velutha when his

nails are painted red. They mock him for that even as they boat, and Velutha confims it when he gets home. So the twins
make him a victim. Ammu follows him through the "Hole in the get busy sanding the boat until Rahel remembers she must get
Universe" he leaves, and she does nothing to help her children back to the house before Ammu wakes up and finds her gone.
cope.
Meanwhile Sophie Mol, whose appearance in the family is Analysis

consistently claimed as the start of the trouble, continues to be
portrayed as a well-balanced child who quickly endears herself Woven throughout the chapter are warnings about the dangers
to Estha and Rahel. She will not play the games of family of the river. The twins are good swimmers, but they have been
dysfunction and lack of reality. She does not wish to take taught to respect the rushing currents, and they think about
anything from the twins. this as they ponder crossing in the small boat they have found.
When Kuttappen hears of their plans for the boat, he warns
them of the river's dangers. These warnings are heavy
Chapter 10 foreshadowings of events to come. The inclusion of a ghost
story about the History House is also important. For the
children, the idea that the place is haunted might be helpful in
Summary dealing with the evil that will eventually happen there. This
mysticism is also apparent in the fact that Rahel seems to intuit
On the day Sophie Mol arrives at Ayemenem, Estha that Estha is sitting on the boat before she meets him at the
disappears. The story now finds him in the pickle factory, river. The events are all set to happen by the universe; the
where he has gone to think about the horrible encounter he twins do not bring them about.
had with the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man. He fears the fact
Another key point in this chapter is Roy's blatant statement for
that the man knows where to find him. As he thinks, Estha stirs
the first time that Ammu and Velutha will have an affair. Ammu
a batch of banana jam. He comes up with three important
will use the boat to cross the river, "(t)o love by night the man
thoughts related to his ordeal:
her children loved by day." The clues given throughout the
1. Anything can happen to anyone. book are all starting to add up.
2. It's best to be prepared.
When the twins find the boat, Roy uses the word white
3. One needs a boat to row across the river.
repeatedly to describe the "boatworld" it sits in. Then as the
In essence he sees the need to have an escape plan should twins move it into the water, a white boat-spider drowns, but
the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man come for him. Rahel finds her babies are released, only to be swept away. Readers
him shortly after he settles on these ideas, and he shares them should recall that Velutha's name means "white" in the native
with her. He says the escape will involve going across the river Malayalam language. It is a joke because he is so black. But it
to the History House in a boat. This is rather shocking, as no is not funny. This boat, this spider, this love that Velutha will
one has gone to the old home since Velutha's father, Vellya share with Ammu—it will only end in tragedy. As fresh and pure
Paapen, claimed to see the ghost of Kari Saipu there and pin it and new as the ideas seem, blackness will overtake it all and
to a tree with a sickle. The twins decide they should take a sweep people away in the endless rush of an unfair caste
communist flag when they go there, which will make the system.
statement that they don't believe in ghosts.
Rahel agrees to sneak out from her nap to meet Estha at the Chapter 11
river. There they find a long-buried boat. They wash it, but it
sinks, so they decide to carry it to Velutha's hut so he can fix it
for them. Kuttappen, Velusha's paralyzed brother, is the only
one at home, but they are obviously used to being around him;
Summary
he is even well informed about the events happening at the
As Rahel and Estha get back to the napping room, Ammu is
house. He advises them that they should be able to fix the
just waking up from a dream of a one-armed man who holds

her in the light of an oil lamp, on a beach littered with broken

glass. The twins realize she is having a bad dream and debate
Summary
whether or not to wake her. They decide they will just disturb
This chapter is set at the kathakali performance Rahel decided
her, but she senses them there and is not ready to be done
to attend back in Chapter 9. Kochu Thomban, the temple
with the dream. When she does awaken, she realizes the
elephant, is there asleep, and Rahel presents him with a
dream has made her happy.
coconut. The performance has begun. Roy provides
She sees the twins are covered with sawdust and figures out background information about what the kathakali has become
they have been with Velutha. Then she curls up with them for a in a world of tourism. The actors are stoned, but the story is so
while, until she is ready for them to stop touching her. She familiar that it doesn't matter much.
goes to the bathroom, locks herself in, and examines her body,
Rahel senses Estha arriving. The violent stories of kathakali
her hair, thinking that her future is something to dread.
and of the Terror they experienced as children converge and
The children play in Ammu's bedroom while she is gone. bind them together even though they do not stand close. They
Foreshadowing indicates this will be the room where terrible stay through the whole performance, until dawn, when the
things will happen. Ammu will be locked inside it. Chacko will bloody madness of the story finally ends. Coming out of the
threaten to kill her. The door will be knocked down as Ammu temple, they encounter Comrade Pillai, who was the person
extracts a promise from her children: "Promise me you'll always who first introduced them to kathakali as children. He is
love each other." Later, she will pack Estha's things in that pleased that they are still "interested in your Indian culture."
room and ask for his promise to write. And, much later, in the The twins walk home in silence.
present of the narrative, it is the room where Rahel watches
the silent, adult Estha bathe and wash his clothes.
Analysis
Analysis The violence of the kathakali tale seems to be part of the very
fabric of Indian culture. It is hard for many readers to imagine
As Ammu thinks about her dream, she identifies the man in it taking six-year-olds (the age Rahel and Estha were when they
as "the God of Loss, the God of Small Things." Already she first attended kathakali) to a performance so graphic. Yet their
seems to know that she cannot change the Big Things—the own family is characterized by violence, with fathers beating
culture, the Love Laws—but by trying to have the Small Things their wives and children, and characters in the world missing
she will lose. A song playing on her radio as she thinks about limbs that have literally been blown off. As Roy suggests, when
this confirms it: forbidden love leads only to death. This the kathakali actors take off their makeup at the end of the
chapter, the one named with the title of the book, is the point performance, they go "home to beat their wives."
at which things are fully set in motion. Readers now know
Still, the violence of the Terror witnessed by the twins has not
where Ammu and Velutha are headed—toward an illicit love
left them. As they are reunited in that pain, their closeness
affair that seems beyond their control. And they know it will
seems to be getting restored. The last words in this chapter
end in tragedy. If any further proof of that is needed, Roy has
show the shift: "They walked home together. He and She. We
also inserted a brief description of the cremation of the
and Us."
elephant the family had seen dead on the road when driving
home from the airport. The bad omen must not be forgotten.
Chapter 13
Chapter 12
Summary
This long and important chapter is set on the afternoon of
Sophie Mol's arrival, in Chacko's room where she and her

mother are napping. However, the events described do not into shock. She directs her rage at the two children who
happen in that room. What is described comes from the past survive, Estha and Rahel, but especially Estha. She never
and from the future. learns what really happened.
First readers learn about how Chacko and Margaret The chapter ends with a return to Chacko's room, to the first
Kochamma met. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford in afternoon of the visit, two weeks before tragedy strikes. Awake
England, and he came to a café where she was a waitress. from her nap, Sophie Mol takes the gifts she brought from
Friendly and good-looking, he charmed her, and before long England for her cousins and goes to find them, "[t]o negotiate
they were dating. After a year they were married, although her a friendship."
father disapproved and his family knew nothing of it. Chacko
struggled to find work, and Margaret soon fell out of love with
him and in love with Joe. She was newly pregnant with Sophie Analysis
Mol. When the baby was born, she asked Chacko for a divorce.
He returned to India, where he could easily find work, and then Layers of false information and misunderstandings are built
moved to the house in Ayemenem once Pappachi died. He into this chapter. When Margaret Kochamma meets Chacko,
became lazy and fat and content to live with his adoring she doesn't really know much about him. She is ill-prepared to
mother. Margaret Kochamma wrote him regularly with news of enter into marriage; "She never believed that she would ever
Sophie Mol. Their friendship was deep enough that she consent to be his wife." Yet, marry him she does. She is
accepted his invitation to visit Ayemenem after Joe's death. disappointed with who he really turns out to be and quick to
But that decision would haunt her for the rest of her life. She get out of the marriage. For his part, Chacko returns to India to
never got over seeing the drowned body of Sophie Mol, demand his mother's adoration while torturing her for it. He
stretched out on a chaise lounge. lives in the afterglow of the only love he ever felt for a woman,
a love that can never be returned. So he builds a fantasy
The narrative fast forwards to the future, to the day of Sophie around his ex-wife and his daughter.
Mol's death about two weeks after her arrival in Ayemenem.
Estha, Rahel, and Sophie Mol are discovered missing that When things fall apart around Sophie Mol's death, no one is in
morning, and then a child's body is found floating in the river. It possession of all of the facts. Action against the
is Sophie Mol. Chaos had occurred on the night before, with a unthinkable—Ammu sleeping with an Untouchable, even one
visit from Vellya Paapen and the locking of Ammu in her who has been welcome in the family—is swift, but then the
bedroom. When her children asked her why, she had screamed story is twisted and tangled in an attempt to save the "family
through the door, "Because of you! If it wasn't for you I honor." Meanwhile this family doesn't even notice the absence
wouldn't be here! ... I should have dumped you in an orphanage of its young children until it is too late, and then that also
the day you were born! You're the millstones round my neck!" becomes part of the elaborate cover-up in process. The one
Then the twins had left. who has not been a part of the dysfunction is dead, and her
death can now be used as the reason for everything that will
The visit from a very drunk Velya Paapen was nothing short of continue to go wrong.
earth-shattering. He told Mammachi that Velutha and Ammu
were having an affair, that they met every night at the History Inspector Thomas Mathew also participates in the ruse. He
House. Mammachi's response is violent, and Baby Kochamma, seems to know the story is not correct and is suspicious
happy at this news that will finally get Ammu out of the house, enough to check with Comrade Pillai about Velutha and
immediately comes up with "the Plan." Ammu is locked in her whether or not the communists will try to protect him. The
room. Velutha is sent for. And the next morning Baby inspector has his own reputation to guard, and he knows the
Kochamma goes to the police station to file a false report—a caste system is too powerful to go up against.
report that Velutha has raped Ammu and threatened the family.
By the time she returns to the house, Chacko and Margaret are
back from their trip to the airport to check on the airline
tickets, Sophia Mol has been found and her body placed on the
chaise lounge, and her parents have seen it. Margaret goes

of, to the river.

Chapter 14
Analysis
Summary
More details of the looming tragedy are given. The death of
While the women take naps on the afternoon of Sophie Mol's Sophie Mol is significant, but the family will also lose its
arrival, Chacko visits Comrade Pillai, who does the printing for business. This is not just the story of one family's demise; it is
the factory. He does have an order for Pillai to fill, but Chacko the story of the breakdown of a whole society.
also wants to check with him about Velutha's role in the
Communist Party. Pillai is not there when he arrives, so Chacko Chacko is on edge about the whole communist movement
visits with the family while he waits. Pillai's wife, Kalyani, has occurring in Kerala. As Roy explains, when he is in Comrade
their teen niece, Latha—visiting from Kottayam—do a recitation Pillai's home, suddenly he feels disrespected for his wealth and
for him. standing. Even though he claims he is not supportive of the

caste system, he comes from a long history of it, as a member
When Pillai arrives he has their son Lenin also recite. It is an of its top layer. He wants to be viewed as an educated,
odd performance, as Lenin is only six and does not understand progressive person, but Pillai is more realistic about that.
what he is saying; yet he flawlessly says an entire Marc Antony "Rome was not built in a day," he reminds Chacko. It seems
speech. After Chacko and Pillai attend to the business aspect clear that Pillai himself, although espousing equality for all, is
of the visit, Chacko broaches the subject of seeing Velutha not willing to go against such a well-entrenched system, the
among the marchers in the protest the family encountered "centuries of oppression." The chapter makes the statement
yesterday. Always cagey, Pillai thinks carefully about how to that Pillai will betray Velutha, and ends with that betrayal
respond, and decides to claim he is talking to Chacko as a happening. The Untouchable will go to his death without any
friend. He warns that Velutha will cause trouble for him and support. It begins with his own father's betrayal and ends with
should be sent away to work somewhere else. He explains that those in power refusing to help him despite their supposed
the caste system runs very deep among the workers, and they commitments to changing the system.
resent any special treatment Velutha receives. Chacko resists,
pointing out that Velutha is the one who keeps the machinery
running. A philosophical discussion follows about employee Chapter 15
unions and revolution.
This section of the chapter ends with foreshadowing. The

Marxists will lay siege to Paradise Pickles, and the factory will
Summary
close. Exactly how involved Comrade Pillai is in that will never
Velutha swims easily across the river and reaches the other
be known, but he will be the last person Velutha visits in his life.
shore within minutes. Then he makes the short walk to the
As for Chacko, he will leave India for Canada, and Baby
History House. He feels optimistic, thinking "Things will get
Kochamma and Kochu Maria will live off the meager proceeds
worse ... Then better."
of the rubber estate and the coconut trees left on the family
property.
Two weeks later Velutha is unaware of any of this, having been Analysis
in Kottayam on factory business. A fellow worker sees him at
the bus stop when he returns, and he tells Velutha he is wanted What Velutha seems to realize is that he will soon be free from
by Mammachi. So Velutha goes directly there, only to be the life that has been so restrictive. He removes his garment, a
shocked by her spewing venom as she tells him he must leave traditional mundu tied around his waist, for the swim, and it
Ayemenem forever because of his affair with Ammu. He leaves becomes a sail over his head as he dries it. The image is of the
the house and goes directly to Comrade Pillai's, but Pillai will wind blowing it freely. He is naked except for red nail polish,
not get involved. So Velutha goes to the only place he can think applied with joy by his young friends Estha, Rahel, and Sophie

Mol. He is:
Chapter 17
The God of Loss.
The God of Small Things. Summary
Returning to the present time of the narrative, the chapter
However, Velutha continues to be mostly invisible in the world.
opens with Estha once again sitting silently in his room at the
He leaves no ripples in the water, and he leaves no footprints
Ayemenem House. It is a rainy night, and he sits in darkness.
on the shore. Even though his actions are considered the worst
Kochu Maria sleeps in front of the television on the floor of the
thing to happen in Ayemenem for a generation, he is an
drawing room. Baby Kochamma fills in discount coupons and
Untouchable, not important enough to be seen in the world.
writes her daily entry in her journal: "I love you. I love you." She
has never stopped loving Father Mulligan, even though he has
been dead for four years now. She is also eavesdropping,
Chapter 16 trying to keep track of the whereabouts of Estha and Rahel.
She doesn't know that Rahel is in Estha's room, lying on his
bed. Rahel is thinking about how beautiful she is, how much
Summary she looks like Ammu.
As the chapter title suggests it is not long before Estha, Rahel, Estha is also thinking about the farewell scene at the train
and Sophie Mol also go down to the river to cross over to the station when he was sent to Baba's to live. He remembers
History House. Estha and Rahel have been screamed at by meeting the man who escorts him on the trip to Madras. He
their mother, who is trapped behind her locked bedroom door, remembers his last glimpse of his beautiful mother and his
and it is their opportunity to go to the safe place they have sister. And then he remembers the final, horrible events leading
been preparing. Sophie Mol insists she must go with them up to his departure that no one but he and Rahel really know
because otherwise the adults will torture her to reveal where the whole truth about, as eyewitnesses to what happened to
the twins are hiding. Velutha at History House so many years ago.
Halfway across the river, however, the boat tips over. Estha
and Rahel, strong swimmers, make it to the other shore, but Analysis
Sophie Mol is swept away. Devastated, the twins go on to the
History House. They do not see Velutha there. Things have never really changed much around Ayemenem
House, except for the decay seen everywhere. The blue
Pontiac can still be seen, and the factory still stands. Baby
Analysis Kochamma still loves Father Mulligan and distrusts Rahel and
Estha, wishing they would leave. The haunting memories are
Roy refers to two different traditional children's stories in this still in the rooms and brought to mind by the strong family
chapter, "The Pied Piper" and "Hansel and Gretel," as if resemblances.
reminding readers that this is no fairy tale and is more horrible
than any story imaginable. Rahel's heart is smothered by Several times in the novel Roy has referred to the History
Pappachi's moth; the twins are both "numb with fear, waiting House as the "Heart of Darkness." This chapter ends with a
for the world to end." The fact that the usually intuitive siblings particularly ominous reference to it, stating that the police
have no idea Velutha is there seems to indicate that all the cross the river and go "clumping into the Heart of Darkness," in
magic in the world is lost. Darkness has won. pursuit of Velutha.
Heart of Darkness is a novel by Joseph Conrad (1899), set in

the Congo. One of the main themes of the book is that so-
called civilized people are not very different from people

labeled as savages. Civilized people can be violent and hateful, rubber goose is popped with a cigarette. Despite how broken
especially when racism exists. The relevance to The God of Velutha's body is, the Lucky Leaf shape on his back can still be
Small Things is obvious. The "civilized" upper castes in India are seen. All of the pieces of the puzzle of the Terror are now
horrible to the lower castes, and horrible violence is about to complete.
occur
Chapter 19
Chapter 18
Summary
Summary
When the police get back to the police station, Inspector
In the early morning hours of the night Velutha, Rahel, and Thomas Mathew deals with the children. The officers tell him
Estha cross the Meenachal River and go to the History House, about the provisions found at the History House, and this does
six police officers follow them. They march in step to the house not make him happy. He realizes that Baby Kochamma has lied
and then creep around until they find Velutha on the veranda. to him about Velutha's responsibility in regard to the
They attack him violently, kicking him and beating him. The disappearance of the children—much less the rape of
police do not know Estha and Rahel are watching. The scene is Ammu—and he sends for her. He threatens to have her
bloody, and the children see it and smell it. Rahel tries to deal charged with making a false claim, and so she knows she must
with the horror of what she sees by pretending it is Velutha's get the children to corroborate her tale. The way she does this
make-believe twin brother who is being beaten. is through threats. She accuses them of murdering Sophie Mol
because of jealousy. She says they and their mother will go to
When the police find Estha and Rahel, they also find their jail. However, because the police have made the mistake of
supplies. They realize this might be evidence that the children believing Velutha is guilty of the crime, if they go along with
have come here on their own, have not been kidnapped by that story they can save themselves and Ammu. Baby
Velutha as has been implied, and so they take everything with Kochamma points out that Velutha is going to die anyway.
them. The children are walked out, and the police drag Velutha,
barely alive but nevertheless handcuffed, on the ground. So the inspector takes Estha to where Velutha has been
locked up and asks him one question. Estha identifies Velutha
as the guilty one, and the twins are released from the station.
Analysis Velutha dies that night.
This scene is horribly cruel and violent, yet Roy opens the When Ammu hears from the children the next morning what
chapter by portraying the Kottayam police as cartoon-like. It's happened at the police station, she goes to try to set things
as if what happens is too hard to deal with as reality. The right with Inspector Thomas Mathew. But it is too late.
beauty of nature and of the History House are juxtaposed Shocked that Ammu would admit to sleeping with Velutha,
against the ugly brutality of the police officers' actions. Still, Baby Kochamma determines she must be made to leave
Roy wants to be clear that the men feel justified in what they Ayemenem. She works on the grief-stricken Chacko's rage
do; they believe they are protecting the "Touchable Future." until he throws his sister out. Baby also orchestrates the
Their actions are based on fear, fear of a change in their status removal of Estha to his father's house, leaving just Rahel for
and in the fabric of the culture. They act to "inoculat[e] a the family to care for.
community against an outbreak."
Several things that have been referenced previously in the Analysis

novel are now placed as part of this devastating scene. The
police officers notice Velutha's nails, painted red by the In this chapter Baby Kochamma is portrayed as perhaps the
children. The children's toys are taken away, but Rahel's watch, most despicable character in the story. Her manipulative, ugly
the one with the time painted on it as 10 to two is left behind. A personality rules the day in a time of tragedy. Her cruelty to the

children is hard to imagine. They never recover, are never sure

that they had been tricked into betraying Velutha. After all, they
Analysis
were given a choice and they chose "Save Ammu."
It is striking how desperately Ammu is trying to hold onto her
People in authority also continue to act out of self-interest. The mother role as she watches her young son being ripped away
inspector knows he has ordered a terrible action, but he has no from her. She tries to maintain a sense of normalcy against the
intention of setting it right. He, too, is cruel to the children. No backdrop of a world gone terribly wrong. The fact that there is
one should have to see Velutha in the horrible condition he is family riding in the car with Estha, talking to each other in
in, especially not the young Estha who loves him. But the normal ways, makes the scene even more poignant.
inspector forces that to happen. As Rahel did at the History
When Estha says he is "Feeling vomity," the reader is taken
House during the beating, Estha decides he is looking at
back to the trauma he experienced not so long ago with the
Velutha's make-believe twin brother. How else could he get
Orangedrink Lemondrink Man. Layer on top of that all that he
through it?
has witnessed and now his removal from the family, and it does
Unlike Baby Kochamma or Inspector Thomas Mathew, Ammu not seem surprising at all that he will retreat from the world
does try to take responsibility for what has happened, simply and stop talking.
by telling the truth. Yet the truth is not what people want to
The love scene between Rahel and Estha is her final attempt
hear, and so she is banished. Velutha is dead, and as Roy
to restore their lost intimacy. They share their "hideous grief" in
points out, "the end of living" has come to Ammu, Rahel, and
a loving way, but readers do not learn if it will make any
Estha.
difference.
Chapter 20 Chapter 21
Summary Summary
As the train carrying Estha away from Ammu and Rahel
In lyrical prose this chapter describes the first time Ammu and
prepares to leave the station, a lady seated near him tries to
Velutha make love, the night of Sophie Mol's first day in
get him to join her family in enjoying some sweets. Estha
Ayemenem. Somehow they both know the other will be at the
declines. The lady listens as Ammu talks to Estha through the
river, and their encounter occurs on its shore. For the first time
window, giving him instructions about his ticket and the lunch
in years, Ammu feels alive. Velutha feels terror about what he
she has packed for him, and promising him she will come and
has done, but she calms him with her embrace.
get him soon. Prophetically, Estha says that will be never.
Ammu and Velutha meet for 13 more nights before the real
The last conversation Ammu and her children have together is
Terror occurs, at the History House. A tiny spider watches
about the school she will start and they will attend and the little
them, and they grow to love the spider's fragility, which they
house they will all live in. As the train pulls away, Estha feels
know they share. On the last night they make the same
like vomiting and Rahel screams and screams.
promise to each other they have made every night:
The next section of the chapter then shifts to the present, "Tomorrow."
where Rahel is still in Estha's room, on his bed. She pulls him
down to lay with her, and they break the Love Laws by having
sex together. And the moment so many years before when Analysis
Ammu felt the longing for Velutha that could not be denied is
described. She will choose him over the family that she has The sweetness of this final chapter reminds readers that this
come to despise, although she never would have made that novel is a love story at its core. The terrible sadness is that the
choice had she known she would lose her children. love could not last even though no one could ever be harmed

The God of Small Things Study Guide Quotes 30
by such happiness. It was simply forbidden, and in the world Kochamma at the airport, a series of events begins that will
Ammu and Velutha live in that is all that matters. reveal their hidden secrets and moral deficits.
g Quotes "She hadn't learned to control her

hopes yet. Estha said that was a
"To Rahel it seemed as though this Bad Sign."
difficulty that their family had with
— Narrator, Chapter 2
classification ran much deeper."
With their intuitive abilities and ability to communicate silently,
the twins believe in the mystical aspects of the universe. What
Rahel has been doing is hoping that they will be on time for
The reference here is to a banana jam that the factory was The Sound of Music, and so fate intervenes to ruin her hopes.
forced to discontinue because it did not fit properly into the
classifications. On a much bigger level, the family has trouble
letting go of the classifications of the caste system, and this "When you hurt people, they begin
leads to the family tragedy.
to love you less. That's what
careless words do."
"It was a time when the
unthinkable became thinkable and — Ammu, Chapter 4
the impossible really happened."

Ammu says these words in response to Rahel's sarcastic
comment about Ammu's belief that the Orangedrink
Lemondrink Man is a good person who treated Estha well. It is
her typical style of emotional punishment, threatening to
What is unthinkable and impossible is that Ammu and Velutha withdraw her love from the children.
would have an affair, Sophie Mol would drown, and the family
would be torn apart—all over the course of December 1969 in
Ayemenem. "Things can change in a day."
"Time in the life of a family when
something happens to nudge its This sentiment is expressed several times in the novel, and
certainly Rahel and Estha know that one's world can be turned
hidden morality from its resting
inside out in just 24 hours.
place."
— Narrator, Chapter 2 "She hoped that under his careful

cloak of cheerfulness he housed a
As the family travels to pick up Sophie Mol and Margaret
living, breathing anger against the

The God of Small Things Study Guide Quotes 31
smug, ordered world."
— Narrator, Chapter 7 Upon returning to Ayemenem Ammu feels that her life is over,
that she has no unexpected pleasures or joys still to
encounter.
Ammu is wishing that Velutha might share her rebellious
attitude toward the ridiculous social mores of their world. She
hopes this just before she realizes her physical attraction to
him.
"A friendship that never circled
around into a story ... Sophie Mol
became a Memory, while The Loss
"Where they really lived. Where the
of Sophie Mol grew robust and
Love Laws lay down who should
alive."
be loved. And how. And how
much." — Narrator, Chapter 14
— Narrator, Chapter 8 The death of Sophie Mol and the attendant tragic events will
haunt the family forever. The girl is forgotten, but her death
After the sudden, shocking realization that they are attracted lives on.
to each other, Ammu and Velutha come crashing back down to
reality, to the world in which a love affair between them is not
allowed. "The early morning heat was full of
the promise of worse to come."
"If he held her, he couldn't kiss her.
If he kissed her, he couldn't see
her. If he saw her, he couldn't feel As the Kottayam police march toward Velutha at the History
House, the world seems to know that things will never be the
her." same.
"There was nothing accidental

As she naps during the afternoon of Sophie Mol's arrival,
Ammu dreams of Velutha. The image fits his status as an
about what happened that
Untouchable. morning ... This was an era
imprinting itself on those who lived
"It wasn't what lay at the end of in it."
her road that frightened Ammu as
much as the nature of the road
itself." The vicious beating given to Velutha was directed at much

The God of Small Things Study Guide Symbols 32
bigger things than one man. It was rage at the disruption of the uncomfortable feelings in uncontrollable situations.
social order and fear for what might happen if it is not stopped.
For Rahel especially, Pappachi's moth is ever present in her
imagination. When she is afraid, she feels the moth on her
body. It might be in her mouth or tiptoeing across her heart.
"What came for them? Not Death.
She feels its cold feet tickling her organs, and these images
Just the end of living." always fill her with dread. She feels sure something horrible will
happen when she senses the moth, whether it is losing her
mother's love or seeing Velutha viciously beaten to death. It is
especially linked to cruelty, making itself more strongly felt
according to how cruel the things happening to and around
The narrator asks this question about Ammu, Rahel, and Estha Rahel are.
on the night that Death came for Velutha. The answer indicates
that life as the small family knew it has ended for them. None Readers realize it's sad that a small harmless animal comes to
of the three will recover from the tragedy enough to enjoy represent terror for Rahel. She truly loves the natural world of
living. Ayemenem, including its many creatures. It seems just one
more way that the small things are taken from her as a child.
"The cost of living climbed to

unaffordable heights." Paradise Pickles & Preserves
The family factory is much more than a building where
When Ammu and Velutha make love for the first time, they both products are made. It is a place where things are preserved,
feel truly alive for the first time. However, the costs will be put into a state that cannot be changed. Just like the family,
greater than either of them would have imagined or been which wishes to keep its standing and status unchanged, the
willing to pay for their pleasure. factory ensures that its products will remain stable for the
foreseeable future. As the family freezes at the time of Sophie
Mol's death, so the factory will stand unchanged for years and
years after closing, a kind of museum of the past.
l Symbols At the same time, the factory is the center of unrest among its
workers. They are interested in the promises of the Communist
Party. Yet the workers are also frozen in time when it comes to
Pappachi's Moth their acceptance of Velutha. They resent that an Untouchable
is given special recognition and privileges. Chacko tries to use
his modern education to smooth things over, but he also
remains interested in preserving the family in their leadership
Pappachi is a well-known entomologist who holds prestigious
position. The fact that the factory cannot survive the changes
positions within the government. He is also a cruel man who is
of the modern era is linked to the family's inability to move
prone to violent outbursts. Family members link his horrible
forward as well. For example, the banana jam that the factory
temperament to his bitterness over having discovered a new
discontinued because it could not be properly classified
species of moth and not receiving the proper credit for it. Even
compares with the family who is unable to give up the
though the discovery was an accident, he is very angry that the
classifications of the caste system.
moth was not named after him. So Pappachi's moth represents
his anger and the fear in others that accompanies his temper
tantrums. In a broader sense, the moth symbolizes any

The God of Small Things Study Guide Themes 33
car, but it still symbolizes status. Where people sit in the car
Rahel's Watch indicates their rank and roles in the family. Chacko even
mounts a Paradise Pickles & Preserves billboard on the roof as
a sign of the family's status as owners.
As a child, Rahel always wears a toy watch. It is part of the look
When the communist protest marchers surround the car as the
she loves to sport that also includes a Love-in-Tokyo band that
family travels to pick up Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma
holds her hair up on top of her head like a fountain and yellow-
at the airport, they react angrily against it as a status symbol.
rimmed red plastic sunglasses. The watch has hands painted
To them the Plymouth represents everything they resent about
on so that it always says the same time: 10 minutes to two.
the bourgeoisie. That is why they literally invade the car to
Although she longs for a real watch "on which she could
mock the family and create fear.
change the time whenever she wanted to (which according to
her was what Time was meant for in the first place)" she is Twenty-three years later when Rahel and Estha reunite at
content with the toy watch. Ayemenem, the car is still next to the house. Now it represents
the decay of the family and their possessions. It is being
Several times in the novel the time 10 to two is mentioned.
overtaken by the earth. Inside is a dead sparrow, trapped and
Sometimes it's just because Rahel looks at her watch, and
unable to get free, just as Rahel and Estha are trapped by the
that's what time it always shows. At other times, however, it is
events of their family.
the real time of a major happening. For example, at the end of
Chapter 4, on the night before the family finally meets Sophie
Mol at the airport, Arundhati Roy states the time: 10 to two.
m Themes
The twins are asleep together in Chacko's room, dreaming of
the river, as their uncle restlessly awaits the trip to the airport.
Things will never be the same after that night.
The watch is left behind by the police officers at the History

House on the night of Terror. It symbolizes how the events of
Obligations
that night will freeze Rahel and Estha there for the rest of their
lives, unable to move past what they witness. Like the two
hands on the watch, the twins cannot move forward. They In the world of Ayemenem, people are expected to follow the
cannot change the time, even though as a child Rahel knew rules, characterized in the novel as "the Love Laws." Some of
that is what "Time was meant for." Time was taken away from the rules are written down, but others are simply known and
them even as life as they had known it disappears. should not need to be spoken. Some of the rules are outdated
and can be very damaging on the individual, familial, and
societal levels, but people are far from ready to let them go.
Plymouth In the Ipe family, the main rule is that you must never
embarrass other family members by your behavior. If you
ignore this obligation, you will be punished. This rule holds true
whether you are a child or an adult. So when Estha and Rahel
Soon after Chacko threatens Pappachi that he must never hit
disrespect their mother in public, as they do on the trip to pick
Mammachi again, Pappachi buys a sky-blue Plymouth.
up Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma at the airport, they
Pappachi will not let anyone else drive it; he will not even let
know they will be punished. Ammu's punishment can be
anyone in the family ride in it. To him it represents his
emotional, with her threats of withdrawing love from her
importance and manhood, as he drives proudly around
children or sending them away, or the punishment might be
Ayemenem in the car, sure that people are admiring him in his
physical. Certainly physical punishment is something that
fine suits in such a fine car. It also represents his revenge for
occurs in the family at the slightest breach of the rules. For
having been disrespected and told what to do.
example, Pappachi beats his wife and children regularly when
he feels even slightly disrespected. When Chacko makes him
After Pappachi dies, the rest of the family can finally use the

The God of Small Things Study Guide Themes 34
stop, he turns to emotional punishment, never speaking to to even notice. Velutha can love.
Mammachi again.
As children Estha and Rahel still appreciate the small things,
If the embarrassment comes at the expense of the prized but that is taken from them when they experience the Terror.
social standing of the Ipe family, Baby Kochamma in particular When they reunite as adults, they try to reclaim the beauty and
will make sure that the person suffers. Ammu is banished from importance of the small things. It is not asking too much to be
the family, separated from her children, for daring to have the allowed to appreciate nature, to feel love, to find some
affair with Velutha. Baby does not care how much this happiness. If they can have the small things again, they might
damages Estha and Rahel; the rules must be followed or else finally begin to heal.
the family will lose its status.
Even an Untouchable family such as Velutha's follows the rules.

When Vellya Paapen betrays his own son and says he would Class Divisions
kill him himself, he is acting out of his obligation to the Ipe
family for what they have done for him and his son. He simply
cannot believe that Velutha will not follow the rules of society,
Even though the caste system was outlawed in India at the
and his own family honor requires that he take this action to
time the novel is set, it is far from gone in Ayemenem. The
prevent further damage from being done.
ancient acts of segregation, prejudice, and discrimination are
Administrative leaders like Inspector Thomas Mathew and still in plain view. The people at the top tiers of the system, like
Comrade Pillai also understand that the rules must be followed. the Ipes, have too much to lose if things become more equally
They feel the social obligation to keep their world from distributed. They fear for their status, their wealth, their
completely turning inside out, and they put this obligation business ownership. These fears are not unfounded, as the
before conscience, empathy, or justice. They do what it takes Communist Party swoops in to urge the disgruntled lower
to keep themselves in their positions of power. castes to rebel and demand change.
It is the breach of the divisions that brings about the tragedy of

the novel. Velutha and Ammu dare to engage in an illicit affair,
Small Things and everything is lost. The family is split apart; the factory will
not survive the revolt that follows. Even though the killing of
Velutha is a crime, that crime will never be acknowledged. The
powers that be simply do not want to disrupt the class
The small things of the novel's title are those things that make divisions any further.
up the fabric of day-to-day life. Love and other emotions, the
beauty of nature, the proper use of one's gifts and And 23 years later, things still haven't changed that much. The
talents—these are the small things that make life meaningful to Ipes are still in their family home. Comrade Pillai is still keeping
each person. This is in contrast to the big things—politics, his secrets. The History House presents artifacts of India long
cultural norms, status, money—which are sadly what many ago as if it were an ideal society. Arundhati Roy seems to be
people get caught up in and fixated on. Especially in the Ipe saying that this division between the "haves" and the "have
family, the big things are viewed as important, but it is the small nots" is part of the human condition, something that no amount
things that lead to tragedy. of tragedy can ever completely eliminate.
Velutha, on the other hand, is called the God of Small Things.

Because he is an Untouchable, he is mostly invisible. He does
not leave ripples or footprints in his wake. He can notice the Love
tiny things of beauty in the natural world, and he can take the
time to craft perfectly made tiny things. He can spend joyful
hours with children, being with them in their world, while the
Love is a powerful force in the novel, yet it is not easy to come
other adults in the novel stay too wrapped up in the big things

The God of Small Things Study Guide Suggested Reading 35
by. In the Ipe family, love is withheld as a means of getting

others to conform to your will, as is the case of Ammu's love
for her children. Or as revealed by Pappachi's personality, love
is warped and turned into something that produces only
violence and fear.
In contrast love is given freely to Sophie Mol, a fact that

confuses adults and children alike. What makes someone so
deserving of love? The "Love Laws," society's rules for who
can love who and how, don't explain it. Out of this confusion
arises Ammu's willingness to give in to her love for Velutha,
grabbing at her only chance to live fully. Yet the outcome is far
from life, and Rahel and Estha are condemned to an inability to
love. In losing any opportunity for love, they also lose the
chance to feel joy, pleasure, or hope. Only in rediscovering
their love for each other do they have the chance for
redemption.
e Suggested Reading
Barsamian, David. "Interview with Arundhati Roy."
Progressive.org, 16 July 2007.
Ganaie, Altaf Ahmad. "Social Realism in Arundhati Roy's Novel

'The God of Small Things.'" Indian Journal of Applied Research,
vol. 4, no. 7, Jan. 2011, pp. 284–85.
Roy, Amitabh. The God of Small Things: A Novel of Social

Commitment. Atlantic, 2005.
Sharan, Sunil. "Arundhati Roy, India's Conscience?" Huffington

Post, 3 June 2013.
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The God of Small

large percentage of the story is told as witnessed by one main

d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1 TENSE

e Suggested Reading .............................................................................. 35

more radical Marxist-Leninists, particularly a branch known as

Kerala is a very popular tourist destination, often described as

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death of the evil character occurring just before dawn. The

God of Small Things. The story featured is particularly relevant

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Rahel. flirtation. So she then converts to Catholicism and joins a

Ammu Ornamental Gardening in New York and returns to Ayenemen

Velutha tight circle that is Velutha, Estha, and Rahel.

Born a Paravan (an Untouchable), Velutha nevertheless

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Sophie Mol Ammu

Great-aunt Illicit lovers

Other Major Character

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Full Character List Baba is the absent father of Estha and

Rahel is the female protagonist of the

Baby Kochamma is the sister of Chacko is the only son of Mammachi

Aleyooty Ammachi is the wife of The conductor on the bus Ammu,

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Joe is Margaret Kochamma's second

Kalyani is the alluring wife of Comrade

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Inspector Thomas Mathew is a Vellya Paapen is Velutha's father and

The nurse at the pediatrician's office Punnachen, the accountant at the

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beginning of monsoon season, and returning to the muggy

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Molestation wrote lessons in so long ago. As she reads it aloud to Estha,

Again the novel shifts to the present, as Rahel muses about

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against her. The only way this situation is to be avoided is for

So Baby Kochamma bullies and tricks the children into making

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8. Sophie Mol and the twins try to cross the river.

1. Ammu moves back to Ayemenem with twins Rahel and

9. Sophie Mol drowns.

5. Ammu is locked in her room.

6. Velutha is told to leave forever. Resolution

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Pappachi retires and moves the family to Ayemenem.

Mammachi opens the pickle factory.

Sophie Mol is born, and Margaret Kochamma divorces

Rahel and Estha are born.

Ammu divorces Baba and moves to Ayemenem with the

Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma come to

The affair between Ammu and Velutha begins.

Two weeks later

Sophie Mol drowns.

The next day

Velutha is killed by police.

Ammu, Rahel, and Estha are split apart.

Rahel and Estha reunite at Ayemenem.