Death of Social Consciousness: A Study of Ammu and Velutha’s Character in The God of Small Things

Pages:188-190
Vivek Malik (Department of English and Foreign Languages, M.D.U., Rohtak, Haryana)

There are certain patterns of domination in the world, be it the case of man woman relationship, religion, caste, creed, language etc. Most of them are so laid out by the dominating class that such practices as suppression of women, caste system, and apartheid appear to be natural. A woman is not taught to be inferior or submissive to man but it is her very upbringing in the patriarchal society that gradually develops her into such a being. Similarly, the untouchables or people from lower castes are not treated at par with the upper caste people irrespective of their talent and skills merely because of their birth in a certain caste, something which they can’t even choose. These social and cultural norms are meant to be adhered to and those who try to liberate themselves or others by defying these norms are not usually welcomed by the society and become outcasts. This paper dwells on the above theme through the characters of Ammu and Velutha. Ammu and Velutha represent the suppressed class women in patriarchy and the untouchables in a caste rigid society. They enter into a relationship defying the established norms of the society for which they pay a huge price. One is brutally killed and the other is left utterly lonely. Arundhati Roy’s Booker winning novel, The God of Small Things is a powerful portrayal of the plight of women in a patriarchal society and their struggle to be recognised as human beings equal to men in all respects. Roy highlights the discrimination meted out to women through the character of Ammu. The male dominated society renders woman into a dependent and deprived being. It makes her the most vulnerable section of our society. Society not only has a biased attitude towards women, but also through man-made institutions it tries to legitimatize their inferior and submissive status in the society. She is assigned relative positions through the process of continuous social and cultural conditioning. This inferior and biased treatment of women starts right from her birth and it affects her whole being. As Simone de Beauvoir says in her path breaking feminist work The Second Sex (1949):