The God of Small Things

1. Postcolonial Aspects
in
The God of Small
Things
Presented By:
Saima Perveen

2. Post colonial
• Postcolonial theory attempts to focus on the
oppression of those who were ruled under
colonization.
• Factors include:
– Political oppression
– Economic
– Social/cultural oppression
– Psychological oppression

3. • The term 'postcolonial' meant framing new
policies for the economic, political and social
development of the nations.
• Newer cultures were developed and promoted
but the impact and influence of the European
colonial power could not be totally undermined.
• The Asian and African postcolonial states were
received by the world in accordance with the
new economic policies for the 'Third World

4. Helen (1989) quotes
• post colonial age describes all the effects on the
culture of the colonial process by British at past,
present and future.
• Post colonial age has more significance then the
colonial age because through post colonial
literature they highlight issues not only at the time
of colonies but also after the end of the colonial
period.
• After the end of colonial period, native people
faced many domestic problems like people
belonged to different religions, cultures, nations,
societies and political groups.

5. Mishra and Hodge (2005) quotes
• post colonial literature was not start after the
end of colonies which made by the British but
it was started after the certain movement of
the imperialism and also after colonial
occupation of British peoples.
• It is not only described the affects of
colonization but also something new like the
issues between natives which causes the
violence.

6. Postcolonial Aspects in The God of
Small Things

7. EnvironmentalColonization
• The God of Small Things is concerned withexploring the effects of
uneven development, resource extraction and environmental
pollution.
• The novel highlights the damaging effects of colonization onthe
Indian environment and draws attention to the ways in which
Indian authorities and businesses continue to exploit natural
resources.
• Examples:
• Pappachi’s Moth
• Baby Kochamma’sGarden

8. LoveRelationships&FamilyInfluence
• Private love relationships are socially and politically regulated, as
stated in Roy’s definition of “love laws” which “lay down who
should be loved, and how. And how much.”
• Examples:
• Romantic Love
• Ammu & Velutha
• Familial Love
• Baby Kochamma forces Estha & Rahel to lie
• Future Love
• Estha socially isolates himself / Rahel divorces

9. Political& SocialStructures
• The “personal” is “political.”
• Roy’s characters’public and private lives are mediated by intersecting
social, political, and religious structures that profoundly affect:
• Behavior within and outside the home
• Relationships toother people
• Jobs performed
• Perceptions of theworld
• The “big things” affect the “small things.”
• Communism, caste, or religion alone cannot explain how and why
Roy’s characters act. Over time, these structures and beliefs have
changed, overlapped, and reinforced one another.

10. Marxism
• Upper class’s characters
are
– Pappachi
– Mammachi
– Chacko
– BabyKochama
• lower class’s characters
are
– Ammu
– Velutha,
– rahel
– Estha
Roy gives the reader an impression of Marxism. The
social class can be identified by their economic
background, their way of life, their way of dressing,
and the standard of living.

11. Feminism
• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
novel present the society where females are
significantly of lesser value and oppressed by
male figures.
• Example:
– Mammachi
– Baby Kochamma
– Ammu

12. Hybridity
• Roy experimented with different types of hybridity.
• hybridity in form of language, race, religion and culture.
• For example:
– Culture
• done through Estha and Rahel, Sofia
– Religion
• done through Estha and Rahel
• Half-Hindu hybridity
– language
• done through Estha and Rahel
– Racial
• done through Estha and Rahel, Sofia

13. Identity Crisis
• Roy depicted identity crisis through the
characters of Ammu, Velutha and Estha & Rahel
• Example
– Ammu was the main character. She was force to
follow traditions and it was hard for her to do it.
She would struggle but at the end she stopped and
she let herself be who she wanted to be.
– Estha & Rahel were twins and they felt as they were
one individual. They felt incomplete without each
other. They suffer the crisis of identity since they
were little.

14. • Velutha was a paravan and he couldn't be touched
according to the indian culture. He wouldn't act the
way all paravans would act he was different and it
caused him to have an identity crisis. He also loved
Ammu and that caused him a lot of trouble.

15. Culture
• Roy presented the Ayamenem society who
follows the western culture with caste system
• Caste system is the indian culture but here
idea is borrowed from western culture
• Roy Presented two classes in her novel
– Inferior : Touchables
– High Class : Untouchables
• Example:
– Velutha and Ammu

16. Thank
You