In The God of Small Things, Roy's main characters, Estha and Rahel Eapen, face many tragedies over the course of their youth. The non-linear plot of Roy's novel leads readers to piece together the story once they reach the end. At several points throughout the novel, Roy offers recurring images and smells that foreshadow the tragedy to come. Specifically, she mentions “the sweet, nauseating smell of old roses carried on a breeze” (p. 145). At the book's climax, when the twins watch Velutha, their mother's forbidden lover and dear friend, being beaten to death, they ironically smell the old roses for the first time. It is Roy who exposes the association between old roses, pain and loss. She explains that this is the “smell of history”, the sweet-sour or bittersweet smell that history gives off. This may be the first time the twins encounter this smell, but it is certainly not the last as it reminds them of the impact of history on their lives. Roses, known to be a well-known symbol of love, are transformed into an unpleasant smell of pain and loss that the twins face, starting with Velutha but not stopping there. Estha and Rahel constantly feel the effects of History, and Roy uses "the sweet smell of old roses in a breeze" to present the lasting effects of pain and loss that accompany History. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay While Roy primarily develops the smell of old roses as a metaphorical symbol, literal roses appear very early on and play an important role in creating terror. come. The twins' cousin, Sophie Mol, is one of the most admired characters in the Eapen family novel. They call her arrival the “What Will Sophie Mol Think” week (p. 65). With all the characters rehearsed and ready to be on their best behavior, they go to the airport with Chacko, Sophie Mol's father, to greet her. Ironically, to give Sophie Mol a gift, “Chacko, the florist from Sea Queen, had bought two red roses” (p. 66). This brings readers back to the Terror as the twins smell the old roses following the loss of someone who we later discover is Velutha, and now connecting this moment to Sophie Mol. As the central character, and the reason the twins are on the other side of the river when Velutha is beaten, it's fair to assume that Roy presents this connection as a way to foreshadow Sophie Mol's role in the tragedy that haunts the twins. well beyond their youth. The second rose that Chacko has, he gives to Margaret Kochamma. This is another way of foreshadowing Roy because what is soon to happen is the loss of her only child directly after the loss of her husband. Two roses, both given to people who will soon cause pain and suffer great loss. There are roses that age and cause a sickly sweet smell. This is the beginning of how history shows its truly evil effect on this family, and unfortunately, they don't even know it yet. Roy also begins to symbolically expand the roses to represent the pain inside Ammu caused by her forbidden love with Velutha. While the twins ran to see Velutha, Ammu was at home taking a nap. During this nap, Ammu describes her dream in which she sees Velutha and desperately longs for him to be with her. She dreams of them together “skin to skin» and desperately wishes she could be with him. Towards the end of her dream, Ammu, “...pressed roses on her blue cross-stitch blanket on her cheek” (p. 104). The dream she has makes her extremely happy but the roses are a way to emphasize this happiness and bring her back to the sad reality of her situation. The roses pressed against her skin just before she feels her children near represent how, although she can dream of being with Velutha, because of the way history has created the laws of love, she will not be able to never fulfill his fantasies, causing him to suffer great pain. The roses pressed against her skin are not real, real roses wither and eventually rot, further representing how the love in this novel does not last. When she wakes up, her children are distressed, scared by the fact that their mother just had an "afternoon mare" and she looks a mess. Estha proclaims that her mother "looked so sad", but Ammu tries to assure her that she was happy. While Velutha brings a lot of pain to avoid, he also brings Ammu a great amount of joy, making it even harder for her to part ways. At the end of this moment with Ammu and the children she is left with, "the blue darkness of cross-stitch interwoven with edges of light, with cross-stitch roses on her sleeping cheek", as they sing all on Mandarin radio. Ammu feels some satisfaction from having seen her lover in a dream, but also carries with her the lasting pain that History has caused. After Sophie Mol's funeral, the twins' separation is extremely traumatic for both of them and warrants the reappearance of Roy's symbol for pain and loss. Ammu decides, under pressure from Baby Kochamma, that it is best for Estha to return to spend time with her father, separating the twins from each other for the first time since birth. When describing Estha on her way to her father, Roy describes that there was "rain." Rushed water and ink. And a smell. Sick sweet. Like old roses carried by a breeze” (p. 16). That familiar smell of old roses as Estha feels the pain and loss of leaving his sister behind as he goes to live with people he's never met. He senses History at this moment because he begins to remember the Terror, with Roy describing that Estha now has, "...the memory of a young man with an old man's mouth" (p. 16). . Estha may be young but he understands that the moment he gave in by lying about baby Kochamma, he helped hurt Velutha. No young man should have to make this decision, but the fact that he did gives him an "old man's" perspective that he shouldn't have had to experience. Upon her return, Estha faces yet another tragedy. He visits his old school friend, Khubchand, who becomes extremely ill, and he decides to nurse him during the last weeks of his life. In some of Khubchand's final moments, Estha senses the pain of her dear friend about to slip away and begins to smell "...the scent of old roses, bloody memories of a broken man" (p. 7). Khubchand is the broken man, but Estha is also broken by the many losses he has faced in such a short time. Estha must deal with the loss of these people he cared about so deeply and, in turn, falls into the silence he still struggles with as an adult, showing how history follows them throughout of their lives. Roy introduces roses throughout the book. but waits until the very end to reveal the initial tragedy that changes the smell of roses for the twins for the rest of their lives. The Terror that forever changes the path of their.