Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things and Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses are two works that give their respective characters the choice between love and duty. Although these works differ radically in their historical context, the way in which love and duty develop throughout each novel is similar. In The God of Small Things, Roy creates the story of twins Estha and Rahel and alternates between the years 1969 and 1993 in a village in southwest India called Ayemenem. In All the Pretty Horses, McCarthy writes the story of John Grady Cole, a teenage cowboy who leaves his home in Texas for Mexico in the late 1940s. The works are set on opposite sides of the world, but the characters are linked by the historical makeup of each region, seemingly affecting how they react to the choice of love and duty and how other characters are affected by their choice between the two. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The God of Small Things is a work motivated by the power of love. A common theme in the novel is the idea of ​​the laws of love, which are "the laws that establish who should be loved and how." And how much” (Roy 33). Yet the main conflict of the work is that between love and duty, or in this case social obligation. For example, at the beginning of the novel, Roy mentions about a group of his characters that "they have all altered" (Roy 31) these laws of love, and how their alteration has affected them and others. others is proven throughout the work. Overall, Roy's characters decide to choose love over duty, which is the reason for most of their distress. The most significant case of this choice is that between Ammu, Estha and Rahel's mother, and Velutha, Ammu's untouchable lover. In this case, Ammu's social obligation is to avoid the Untouchables, since the caste system was still a significant part of Indian society. Yet, Ammu chooses her love for Velutha in the final chapter during a sexual encounter, as they are both unaware of the consequences their affair could have, especially when Velutha wonders, "What's the worst thing that could happen?" I could lose everything. My job. My family. My livelihood. Everything” (Roy 316). This is mainly true because in the Indian society of the time, the duty of the Untouchables was to remain invisible to the most distinguished people. In other words, they had to be extremely careful in their actions because they were supposed to remain untouchable to other citizens. However, by the time Velutha and Ammu actually have sex, Roy points out that "the cost of living has reached unaffordable heights." ” (Roy 318) at this point because, due to the unique structure of Roy's novel, the consequences of Velutha and Ammu's meeting are shown to the reader before the meeting itself. The reader becomes aware of the fact that Velutha is being brutally beaten by the police, and Roy openly describes this situation as "a walking the dog story" (Roy 271). In other words, Roy makes the reader understand that despite Velutha's love for Ammu, her social obligations, or her duty as an Untouchable, are still valid in an Indian society, which ends up being the cause of the passages to tobacco he receives from the police. . Ammu also feels the idea of ​​a social obligation invalidating love, since during Sophie Mol's funeral, after her family became aware of her relationship with Velutha, "they [Ammu, Estha and Rahel] were obliged to standstanding separately, and not with the rest of the others. family. Nobody looked at them” (Roy 7). Although Velutha and Ammu deliberately chose love over duty, their social obligations have always dominated their love as a whole, creating eternal, even fatal, consequences for both of them. On the other hand, most of the characters in McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses choose duty. about love. As previously mentioned, much of this novel takes place in Mexico and follows the story of John Grady Cole, a teenager who finds work on a ranch and eventually falls in love with the ranch leader's daughter, Alejandra Rocha y Villarreal. Since John Grady Cole is American, he is unaware of the traditional Mexican society he immerses himself in, which is first seen when Alfonsa, Alejandra's great aunt, warns him about his relationship with Alejandra telling him that she “wants [him] to be considerate of a young girl’s reputation” (McCarthy 136); John Grady Cole responds, “I never intended not to be” (McCarthy 136). In this same conversation, Alfonsa states: “It’s another country. Here, a woman's reputation is all she has” (McCarthy 136), presenting to the reader just how serious this relationship could be if revealed in public. As Alejandra is from a higher class, she must be more conscious of who she is in a relationship with, as her reputation as a woman is all she has in Mexican society at that time, a departure from The God of Small things, in which people from the lower classes are supposed to be aware of their place in society. Later in the book, when John Grady Cole and Alejandra meet again, the reader becomes aware of her choice of duty over her love for John. Alejandra confesses to him that Alfonsa told her that she “had to stop seeing you [him] or she would tell my father” (McCarthy 250) and eventually her father became aware of the relationship. However, Alejandra decides not to speak to John Grady Cole again after their last meeting, mainly because "I [Alejandra] broke my father's heart." I broke his heart” (McCarthy 251). Also, at the end, Alejandra tells John Grady Cole that she "can't do what you're asking." I love you. But I can’t” (McCarthy 255). Even though Alejandra truly loves John Grady Cole, she can't run away with him because of the social traditions she's always been accustomed to. Even though her own father “was going to kill” (McCarthy 251) the man she loved, her father's love, which is considered the most important in this society, invalidates anyone's love. In other words, once again, a character's social obligations trump the romantic love he is allowed to experience. The consequences of Alejandra's choice are temporarily visible in John Grady Cole's actions and thoughts after their last interaction. John Grady “felt something cold and soulless enter him like another being and he imagined it smiled mischievously and he had no reason to believe it would ever leave him” (McCarthy 254) . John Grady was heartbroken by her choice, but due to the society they lived in, Alejandra's loyalty to her family was what was necessary. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The controversial themes of love and duty persist throughout Roy's The God of Small Things and McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses, but they have different effects. In both works, what the characters were forced to do because of the societies they lived in.