Velutha and Amu’s relationship disregards societal rules for love but is the only authentic

couples love in the novel. Velutha belongs to the lowest caste of society hierarchy, the
untouchables. However, this does not discourage him from falling in love with Ammu who
is the member of the highest rank. According to the societal laws the “untouchables” were
not allowed to have physical contact, breath directly or talk to the touchable. Roy details
the Paravans' past in the novel and writes about Velutha’s father who lived during an era
known as “the Crawling Backwards days” (Roy: 76). This is a time when the untouchables
had to crawl backwards and wipe away their footsteps to avoid contaminating Brahmins
or Syrian Christians (touchables). Velutha and Amu’s relationship is considered a love
affair according to the society however it is the only authentic man and woman
relationship found in this novel. For instance, other relationships only satisfy the needs
and happiness of one individual, the other person is being beaten or not loved back. This
is evident when Papa chi physically abuses Mamachi consecutively “Every night he beat
her with a brass flower vase” (Roy:55). Unfortunately, Papa chi and Mamachi’s
relationship respects the boundaries of love laws, it satisfied societal norms at the expense
of compromising Mamachi’s happiness. On the other hand, Velutha and Ammu’s
relationship is about giving and receiving, although the lovers face challenges meeting
and expressing their love for one another, they understood what a relationship entails “He
saw too that he was not the only giver of gifts. That she had gifts to give him too” (Roy
176-177). The couple do not allow rules of how men and women should conduct
themselves dictate their connection nor do they let their different castes get in the way of
their love. The only thing significant to them is being with each other in every kind of way.
Roy ends the novel with a scene depicting the two having sexual intercourse “Velutha
watched his lover dress” (Roy:340). Roy uses this scene to depict the affection the couple
had for each other, how they both invested themselves to satisfy one another and ensured
the satisfaction is mutual. Also, Roy ended the novel with this scene to emphasize that
Ammu and Velutha are the only adults who experienced an authentic and intimate
relationship despite the odds. This is perfectly articulated by Nirmala C. Prakash in her
article Man-Woman Relationships in The God of Small Things, she mentions that the
couple's relationship is “the only one which germinates from the innermost core of two
human hearts which actually grows to... the perfect kind of man- woman relationship, and
the only one which is illustrated with scenes resonant with love, sex and feelings of mutual
fulfillment” (82).

Prakash, Nirmala C. ìMan-Woman Relationship in The God of Small Things.î Arundhati

Roy: The Novelist Extraordinary. Ed. R.K. Dhawan. London: Sangam Books, 1999. 77-83.
https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:16060/fulltext01