God of small things
GOD OF SMALL THINGS ESSAY
–ARYAMIKA BHATIA
The passage chosen for analysis is situated after the description of Ammu’s dream about Velutha, in chapter 11. It sheds light on Ammu’s struggle to amalgamate her motherly affection with her strong-willed personality and Estha and Rahel’s bond with their mother.
‘The afternoon silence’, in the first line, depicts her monotonous, oppressed life while ‘the edges of light’ represents her desires and dreams, similar to the one she just had. Hence, ‘In the afternoon silence, (laced with edges of light)’ proves that her life was lackluster to such a great extent that glimpses of her dream world were the only source of hope she held onto. The sibilance in ‘silence’ amplifies the never ending, dreary effect. ‘Laced’ symbolizes the fragility and meagerness of her dreams or source of hope. The fact that ‘her children curled into the warmth of her’ during this time period and woke her up from her dream, portrays that they were the link between her dreary reality and desired fantasy.
The intimacy and motherly bond that Ammu possesses with her children is portrayed through Estha and Rahel’s actions, even though Ammu doesn’t reciprocate to them. ‘The smell of her’ buttresses the familiarity and ease that even the slightest aspect of Ammu gave them. ‘They sensed somehow that in her sleep she had travelled away from them’ is a powerful sentence that depicts the above as the mysteriousness and heightened connection lie in the words somehow and ‘travelled’. ‘Travelled’ depicts the intense connection, as she hadn’t physically travelled; yet her thoughts were so strongly captured by their senses. ‘They summoned her back’ bolsters the spiritual bond.
The tactical imagery, ‘Their small hands laid flat against the bare skin of her midriff.’ contributes to the reader’s belief of their bond being raw and unharmed. ‘Between her petticoat and her blouse’ could be a metaphor for the absence of impediments when it is just the three
–ARYAMIKA BHATIA
The passage chosen for analysis is situated after the description of Ammu’s dream about Velutha, in chapter 11. It sheds light on Ammu’s struggle to amalgamate her motherly affection with her strong-willed personality and Estha and Rahel’s bond with their mother.
‘The afternoon silence’, in the first line, depicts her monotonous, oppressed life while ‘the edges of light’ represents her desires and dreams, similar to the one she just had. Hence, ‘In the afternoon silence, (laced with edges of light)’ proves that her life was lackluster to such a great extent that glimpses of her dream world were the only source of hope she held onto. The sibilance in ‘silence’ amplifies the never ending, dreary effect. ‘Laced’ symbolizes the fragility and meagerness of her dreams or source of hope. The fact that ‘her children curled into the warmth of her’ during this time period and woke her up from her dream, portrays that they were the link between her dreary reality and desired fantasy.
The intimacy and motherly bond that Ammu possesses with her children is portrayed through Estha and Rahel’s actions, even though Ammu doesn’t reciprocate to them. ‘The smell of her’ buttresses the familiarity and ease that even the slightest aspect of Ammu gave them. ‘They sensed somehow that in her sleep she had travelled away from them’ is a powerful sentence that depicts the above as the mysteriousness and heightened connection lie in the words somehow and ‘travelled’. ‘Travelled’ depicts the intense connection, as she hadn’t physically travelled; yet her thoughts were so strongly captured by their senses. ‘They summoned her back’ bolsters the spiritual bond.
The tactical imagery, ‘Their small hands laid flat against the bare skin of her midriff.’ contributes to the reader’s belief of their bond being raw and unharmed. ‘Between her petticoat and her blouse’ could be a metaphor for the absence of impediments when it is just the three