Summary of Chapter Two of The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Essa

Summary of Chapter Two of The God of Small Things by Arundhati RoyThe system of class in India is a bond of union, but splits up thesociety into sections. It revolves around the societys idea of whatsclean and pure. It exists not only in the form of Touchability andUntouchability but also gender difference and marital status. InKerala, the setting for The God of Small Things, the caste system isdeep-rooted it has been made rigid by time and proliferated by thecolonial rule. As a result, inevitably, the caste system greatlyimpacts the lives of the leading characters in the novel Estha andRahel, Ammu and Velutha. In my essay, I am going to explore the natureof the caste system and whom it affects.The revulsion of Untouchability is so inherent in the post-colonialsociety that even with the coming of the British, the untouchables ingeneral were not only unable to escape the scourge Untouchability.As Christians, They were made to wealthy person separate churches, withseparate services, a nd separate priests and it was considered aspecial favour (that) they were given their own separate PariahBishop. Further more, After Independence they found they were notenititled to any Government benefits like job reservations or bankloans at low interest rates, because officially, on paper, there were(only) Christians, and therefore casteless.The life of Velutha, an untouchable, is greatly wedge not only inthe way the other untouchables were. Since he was young, he had toconform to acts of inferiority. He had to enter by the back entranceof the Ayemenem House to concede the coconuts they Velutha and hisdad had plucked from the trees in the compound and was not allowedinto the ho... ...een traditions and are afforded no real recognition as said inwhat the novel calls Locusts Stand I or legal standing. BabyKochama, once again hated them for that. She called them Half-HindhuHybrids whom no self-respecting Syrian Christian would ever marry. Asa result, further on the novel, thei r lives were greatly affected byher.The caste system on the whole traumatizes and affects Roysprotagonists life in an unhealthy way. It took away the twins needto belong to someone and their identity and, afterwards on the novel, theirchildhood. It cost Ammu her love and her freedom. It deprived Veluthaof a bright future and somehow caused his death. This way, Roy is ableto let the reader see the atrocities of the caste system in India andbe more aware about the stereotypes the society made to differentpeople. Two thumbs and two toes up for Roy