Aegis 2010
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Uncovering the Politics of Hierarchy in Arundhati Roy’s God of Small Things >>> Vicki Mullins (The essay that follows is an abbreviated version of the original work, which I shortened to meet the established length requirements.) Arundhati Roy’s first and only novel to date, The God of Small Things, was an international bestseller and the recipient of Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize in 1997, the year of its publication. Since the release of the novel, critics all over the world have written about its significance, message, historical (in)accuracy, and even about its author.1 Many regard the book as possibly one of the best novels to come out of India, while others dismiss it as inconsequential.2 Roy purposely incorporates many details of India’s political and social arenas, revealing a web of manipulation and oppression that has inhibited the progress of the country she loves. Each issue raised in Roy’s novel is intensely political, and she declares it no less political than any of her essays.3 The reality into which she invites the reader is one of forsaken citizens, the prevailing status of Untouchable, and the greed of political figures. Many critics argue Roy ministers to Western ideals because her novel is, as they claim, anti-communist.4 Others allege The God of Small Things is simply a story about love, caste, and sexuality in India.5 Such reductive analyses do not account for the importance of witnessing and trauma within the novel, as Roy illustrates how her characters are haunted by the opportunistic oppression that exists in India. The purpose many critics fail to recognize is Roy’s intent to uncover the pervasive and destructive nature of oppressive forces in India, to show how they function, and to expose the way they condemn Velutha to death. Velutha is not just a man, but the manifestation of a possible future India; Velutha is the God of Small Things. Perhaps the most important and fundamental theme in The God of Small Things is classification. Hierarchy, after all, creates and underscores preexisting separation and categorization as it seeks to oppress. Catherine Pesso-Miquel maintains that Roy focuses on the universality of human nature and the tendency humans have to classify everything (39). Navarro-Tejero places the oppressors within the novel into three categories: “Family, State, and Religion” (99). Although these groupings encompass each power structure in the novel, the partitions are not always clear; in reality, they overlap, blur, and co-conspire to extend their own authority. Navarro-Tejero also makes it clear that self-aggrandizing people have corrupted many of these forces, and she argues that hypocrisy within the systems is the major reason for their failings (99). The God of Small Things reveals many different layers within each manipulative political and social hierarchy. Roy uncovers how the duplicities of coercive hierarchies undercut India’s advancement and work against the welfare of its citizens through her plot, her representation of history, and her delineation of Velutha’s character. In essence, Roy
