Nindy Naditha

1209617030 (17SasB)

World Literature (FINAL EXAM)

The Portrayal of Women in Male Dominated Society in “The God of Small Things” by
Arudhanti Roy

I. INTRODUCTION
Arudhanti Roy is one of Indian best writer than won the Booker Prize for her
novel in the 1997, which is The God of Small Things. Most of her stories are
considering about the plight of women and also the social injustice that they have
to deal with. She also portrayed this matter in her first debut novel, the one we are
going to discuss right now. The God of Small Things is a story about a family in
India after the Declaration of Independence. The main characters are Rahel, who
just went back to her hometown Ayamenem and reunited with her twin Estha.
They lived in Ayamenem with their grandaunt, Baby Kochama.

The story line is not told in chronological order, as it started from their cousin
funeral, Sophie Mol. Later in the story, we know that their family was waiting for
Sophie Mol and her mother, Margareth, arrival in Ayemenem, Chako’s (their
uncle) ex-wife. Chako invited them over for Christmas in order to make her get
over the loss of her second husband death. They can’t avoid the ill-fated fortune
that came that night when Sophie Mol died after drowning inside a lake. We will
also find another problem where Ammu cheated with another guy called Velutha,
that latter on will be accused as the one who murder Sophie and kidnapped Rahel
and Estha. This story is revealing the price that people should pay from breaking
the Love Laws.

In her story, Roy tried to make the reader understand about the Indian society. As
a woman, their society is all bent upon to abuse a woman as an immoral and is
considered as something normal and there is only slight divergence from the
 accepted ways of behavior that a woman should do. The novel shows us what kind
of impact that people from a lower class will achieve from doing something out
from the cultural norms. She made a candid portrayal of how women are
struggling in the society in order to be considered as a human being, or even with
men. There are some events inside the story that show us the abusive behavior of
male character on the female character, and Roy made a clear living image of their
sufferings and the injustice that they can only swallow down.

II. DISCUSSION
India is one of many Southern Asian countries that has a patriarchal rule rooted
deeply in their culture, supported by the old custom of tradition and also religion.
Women’s life is filled with many struggles, from how they should accept the fact
that the old traditional rules tied them to be bounded with their home as the one
who take care of the family, giving off spring and being a secondary role for men.
This novel portrayed how Ammu, mother of Estha and Rahel, already facing a lot
kind of social injustice since she was still a kid. Roy portrayed her as a figure of
woman who struggle from so much injustice coming firstly from her own family.

Her treasured memories are filled with the bickering of desperation, beating and
also a lot of humiliation. Her own mother is living the life of a wife inside a
patriarchal family where her father only viewed their marriage as something to
gain power and his domination over his wife and kids. Ammu and her family lived
in a small city called Ayamenem and her father stated that he won’t send her for
education because its unnecessary for her as a girl.

In India, if an average household birthed a girl child it would not get considered as
a good event. Inside a Hindu family, the case of first-born daughter will make
their parents and relatives often console themselves by calling the little child as a
goddess of wealth. But the subsequent birth of female child will put the family in
gloom, and the mother will be harassed by built from adding more burden to the
household, and this situation will lead to feeling unwanted and disliked. The girls
are often conveyed with the mindset that the society didn’t need them. The
constant reminder that they are members of family that they are married and not
born to.
At the same time, if a family birthed a boy then it will be considered as luck and
investment for the parents. This custodial property concept is the thing that will
restrict their mobility and also forced them to behave according to the patriarchal
requirements. This extend to the point that girls should watch the way they laugh,
walk, eating and so on. Mothers will train their daughter to be an ideal wife,
daughter in law and many things related to it. In the contemporary Indian society,
among certain classes girls are promoted to take up jobs outside their home but the
society will remind them constantly that their primary concern should be only
bout their family and that their role as a housewife and other responsibilities
should be considered as a secondary concern.

“No proposal came Ammu’s way. All day she dreamed of escaping from
Ayemenem and the clutches of her ill-tempered father and bitter, long suffering
mother” (The God of Small Things, pages 38)

We can see this from how Ammu is treated badly from her own parents,
meanwhile her brother gets a fine education in Oxford for an advanced diploma
course because he can bring some investment for their family in the future. If
Ammu didn’t get married, her family will see her as a burden. The only way for
her to escape this was to marry her husband, Calcutta, who worked as an estate
agent. Marriage is her only way to escape from her parent’s house, but this doesn’t
guarantee her freedom as a human being as well. The gender oppression in India
is supported by the superiors who doesn’t allow the lower class to has freedom in
the society by creating a structure that will always allow them to be on the top of
ruling class. Her father is a symbol of how a male dominated society looks like in
the 1997. He beat his own wife because he has the power over them if they go
against their words.

Ammu divorced with his husband after having two kids because she refused to
live with her husband boss, decided to return to Ayamenem instead and live with
her parents along with her twins but because of the strong believe that marriage is
above everything in India, her status is considered as a bad luck in their family
and that she can’t fulfill her role as a good wife and nurturing mother. The reason
behind this is that in India, women are generally engaged in homemaking. Their
work only revolves around taking care of the family and give an offspring. The
society mostly never recognize their role unless they can do something for the
economic growth for their family. Their role always gets considered as the
subordinate for men and that in certain cultural rules, they can’t even voice out
their concern loudly unless it’s coming from their husband mouth or any other
male role in their family.

This is the reason why later in the story it shows that Ammu and her twins are
almost invisible in their village, socially isolated because the Christians hated her
because of the patriarchal and religion beliefs that they have. Her family is very
unwelcoming and she has to stay there while swallowing her own struggle. Two
of the main characters, Mamachi and Baby Kochama, played a big role on
oppressing their ideology and victimizes Ammu. But Mamachi was also the
victim of male dominated and patriarchal rule, after his own husband found out
about the fact that she is way more talented than her husband. This unfortunate
event led her to release all of the pent up struggle and stress onto her own
daughter and also grandchildren.

Those series of discrimination from the society and also her own family made
Ammu realizes that social institution will always block her way from freedom.
Her meeting with Velutha is where she finally can see the chance to chase for her
own desire. Velutha is an Untouchable or someone with social status at the bottom
of the social totem pole. This is where they broke the Law of Love, where Ammu
as an Indian woman with already low status choose to be with someone with
almost nothing. This thing unfortunately sent them into down fall. Mamachi and
Baby Kochama managed to made up a scheme to frame Velutha as someone who
killed Sophie Mol in the pond, while the truth is far from it. Baby Kochama also
managed to make sure that the twins will only say the things that she wanted by
threatening them that lying is the only way to save their mother.

Velutha died after getting beaten up, and Roy stated in her novel that he doesn’t
deserve those beatings shows us her way to make the world know that things like
 high status and tight patriarchal rule won’t bring anyone other than the higher
class a good chance to live their life peacefully. Four years after this, Ammu also
died in miserable way. She died from lung disease while preparing for a job
interview after she decided that she will work and lives with her kids. She was
buried with an ugly bedsheet, showing us that until the last of her breath, the
society still doesn’t treat her well because of the things that the society shaped for
their life.

“It was what she had battling inside her- an unmixable mix, the infinite
tenderness of motherhood and the reckless rage of a suicide bomber. It was this
that grew inside her, and eventually led her to love by night the man her children
loved by day.” (The God of Small Things, pages 44)

Roy showed the world the realistic images of how women and man like Velutha
who doesn’t have a status in India should face. The patriarchal and male
dominated society shaped people mindset into believing that woman should be a
subordinate for man. Ammu should pay the price of life that she doesn’t choose
nor having a voice over but instead the society disowned her and separated her
from the twins until she faced her death. Indian women in this era should bear the
forces of male dominated society, and also make the sight of male beating up
women seemed normal.

The God of Small things gave us a realistic image of how much suffering that
women should face under the force of power and cultural rules. Roy portrayed the
characters based on the issues that widely spread in India and make people
realized that such inequality should never existed in the first place.

REFERENCE

1. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

2. International Convention and Constitutional Mandates for Gender Equality. Women,

Identity and Gender Construction; Women in India, Paradoxical Identities.