This essay examines betrayal as the dominant thematic thread in Arundhati Roy's debut novel, The God of Small Things. Moving through multiple dimensions of betrayal — adults betraying children, society betraying individuals, caste structures betraying those who transgress them, children betraying parents, and modernity betraying tradition — the paper demonstrates how Roy weaves these strands across the novel's dual time settings of 1969 and 1993. Drawing on specific characters such as Velutha, Estha, Ammu, and the Kathakali Man, the analysis argues that small, seemingly insignificant acts accumulate into profound losses of innocence, love, and life.
In her debut novel, The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy shows a surprisingly profound understanding of human nature. Her complex novel intertwines past and present with the subtleties of Indian class and culture to create a rich tapestry of betrayal and spirituality. It is perhaps in her portrayal of the many facets of human betrayal that Roy is at her most proficient and convincing. Betrayal is a common theme throughout the novel, seen as adults betray children, society betrays individuals, classes betray castes, children betray parents, and history and tradition are betrayed.
The impact of betrayal is felt across the novel's different settings — both when the twins are seven years old in 1969 and when they have reached thirty-one in 1993. Betrayal involves most of the characters: Rahel, Baby Kochamma, Estha, Chacko, Ammu, Mammachi, Sophie Mol, Murlidharan, and Velutha. As such, betrayal stands as one of the most important themes within The God of Small Things.
One of the most disturbing forms of betrayal in the novel is that of adults betraying children. One example occurs with the orangedrink/lemondrink man. In the book, Estha is manipulated by the orangedrink/lemondrink man, who uses his position of influence and power to convince the boy to commit an act that goes against his feelings and beliefs — a clear betrayal of childhood innocence.
For the young twin Estha, this encounter marks the end of his innocent and happy childhood and the beginning of the sad years that follow. As an adult, Estha is haunted by memories of the encounter, often triggered by random phrases such as references to "well-whipped egg white," which evoke imagery connected to that traumatic event. Furthermore, the incest scene at the end of the novel clearly demonstrates the continued betrayal of children by adult figures and by a world that has failed to protect them.
Betrayal also takes the form of society betraying the individual. The case of Murlidharan accurately illustrates this kind of social failure. Murlidharan's profession is, by definition, a service to his larger society; nonetheless, he finds himself homeless. He finds comfort only in the small, everyday things, such as his keys and "cupboards, cluttered with secret pleasure" (p. 61).
The betrayal of individuals by the caste system is a powerful force in Roy's novel. Velutha is perhaps the most conspicuous example of such a betrayal. Roy describes him as a worthwhile individual — "an excellent carpenter with an engineer's mind" (p. 265). However, as an untouchable, Velutha is resented and inspires both fear and anger in his coworkers at the Paradise Pickles and Preserves Factory. In daring to work among the "touchables," Velutha transgresses the class structure, and his very presence is profoundly unsettling to others. His father observes: "Perhaps it was just a lack of hesitation. An unwarranted assurance. In the way he walked. The way he held his head. The quiet way he offered suggestions without being asked. Or the quiet way in which he disregarded suggestions without appearing to rebel" (p. 73).
The interaction between Ammu and Velutha also reveals a profound breaking of social norms. Their affair breaks an ancient taboo against relationships between the untouchable and the "touchable" classes. In defying these rules, Velutha has betrayed an ancient, implied code of behavior, incurring the wrath of the rest of society. Roy notes that Velutha's actions inspire retaliation born from "civilization's fear of nature, men's fear of women, power's fear of powerlessness" (p. 292). In breaking this code, Velutha becomes less than human to those around him. In the end, his transgressions against the caste system leave him as a man who "left no footprints in sand, no ripples in water, no images in mirrors" (p. 265).
"Ammu's ostracism for crossing caste lines"
"Estha and Rahel's lies; Pappachi's violence"
"Kathakali Man's decline under modernity"
Betrayal in the novel becomes especially poignant because most of the story is written from the viewpoint of a seven-year-old child. Seen through this childish innocence, the novel's betrayals take on a weightier emotional tone, as they often signify the loss of innocence.
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