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  • Essay / The impact of cruelty on the characters of "The God of Small Things"

    Through the many relationships in Arundhati Roy's novel The God of Small Things, love, both familial and romantic, is presented as a beautiful, cruel and unfair relationship. and the empowering aspect of life. The story, told through the eyes of young twins Rahel and Estha, takes place in postcolonial India where conflicts between classes, religions, races and political ideologies are rife. As a result of this conflict, society established what are called "laws of love" which are put to the test in the novel. Non-chronologically, the twins demonstrate intense pain as their lives are repeatedly upended due to conflicting boundaries and the power of love. The cruelty in The God of Small Things, resulting from cultural restrictions on love, reveals the vulnerability of young children, transforming them into indirect, emotional victims of society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The “laws of love,” so important in the novel, serve as consequential catalysts for the fate of relationships. Breaking them inflicts pain and suffering, while following them creates tension and constrictions for the characters involved. For example, the relationship between Pappachi and Mammachi strictly follows the laws of love since they are the result of a traditional marriage that was not necessarily based on love. They live a life of imposed gender roles, and Pappachi is not afraid to show his greater authority over Mammachi. He ends up beating her frequently, and by the end of his life they have virtually lost all feeling for each other. Mammachi cries at his funeral because she is used to his presence, not because she loves him, showing that Mammachi values ​​familiarity and consistency, two main components of the "laws of love". Unlike Mammachi, Ammu ignores the "laws of love" to pursue her feelings towards Velutha. Ammu, from a prosperous and powerful family, crosses the line when she begins an affair with Velutha, an "untouchable", meaning he is a member of a very low caste. Their relationship challenges society since they come from very different backgrounds and situations. According to the "laws of love", it is not the norm to marry outside one's caste, and it is even considered disrespectful to both parties. The relationship is discovered after Velutha's father betrays him, leading to Velutha's arrest and death. Ammu is left in ruins and never fully recovers from her grief. In both relationships, the one that follows the “laws of love” and the one that contradicts them, there are victims hurt by the cruelty of society and the expectations of love. Ultimately, the "laws of love" are extreme measures that tend to prohibit happiness whether followed or not, demonstrating that society should not judge people's romantic actions because they lead to restrictive agony. in which the novel participates, Estha and Rahel are seriously affected and ultimately become the real victims of the cruelty inflicted on their family. Even though the situation with Velutha and Ammu ends tragically for both of them, Estha and Rahel feel the greatest emotional pain and guilt over the horrible events that unfolded. Velutha might have been killed in a brutal and unjust manner, but his death was more of a sacrifice. He died a martyr's death for the sake of his family and those he loved. By entering into a relationship with Ammu, he took a huge risk which led him to choose love over marriage..