"The God of Small Things" 10-14 questions and word

Questions:
1. Is there any significance to the story that was told while Estha and Rahel are watching the actors? The story is about Karna and his siblings and his strained relationship with his mother.
2. Why is Ammu so upset and worried about her future? What effect does Ammu's mental state have on her children? What brings her to return Estha?
3. What is the significance of the water and the river? Estha says water always helps, but it did not help Sophie Mol in the end. Is water supposed to be good or bad in the story?

Word: crumbling

"The God of Small Things" family relationships chapters 4-9

In this section of the story, the family's relationships are explored further, especially the family's relationship with Sophie Mol. Love is referenced many times in this part of the book beginning with Ammu's love toward her children. They are afraid of offending her because she will "love them a little less." Rahel questions Chacko whether he loves his daughter most in the world or if it's possible that parents don't love their children most. Ammu and Chacko are not the most loving people to Estha and Rahel. The older generation is not very kind either. Mammachi and Baby Kochamma are not loving to Estha and Rahel either. When Pappachi was in the story, he beat Mammachi and the rest of his family which shows that the family does not have the best relationships. The only person who shows kindess to the twins is Velutha who also showed Ammu kindness when he made her little gifts when they were young. The whole family shows Sophie Mol love though. They idolize her because she is a foreigner from London. Mammachi offers to give Sophie Mol the important job of braiding her hair and counting her moles and take the job away from Estha and Rahel. Ammu and Chakco are overly polite to Margaret Kochamma and Sophie Mol leading to a very fake seeming family reunion. At the end though, the twins begin to accept Sophie Mol and she becomes their friend after she rejects the family and Baby Kochamma's fake attempts to win their favor.

"The God of Small Things" Chapter 3 Question and Word

Question: Why is Estha so quiet and unfriendly to Rahel and Baby Kochamma? Since Baby Kochamma expects this to happen, is it possible she knows something the readers don't? Is his behavior foreshadowing at all?


Word: ghosts

Classes in “The God of Small Things”

            In the first two chapters of “The God of Small Things,” class plays a major role. The main characters Estha and Rahel face people looking down on them because of their class. At Sophie Mol’s funeral, Estha Rahel and Ammu are standing apart from everyone else and are ignored by the rest of the family. Estha and Rahel are children of Ammu and her divorced husband Baba. Since divorce is not accepted in their culture, this causes Ammu, the divorced woman and the children of the divorced parents to be thought of and treated differently. The family is a family of well off Syrian Christians. They own a pickle factory and a car which demonstrates that they are fairly well off, but Ammu, Estha, and Rahel are still treated differently. When Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma come to Ayemenem, their arrival is a big event and their opinions are valued. The family tries to force Estha and Rahel to only speak in English when these two come so that they can be seen in a more favorable light than they would be. Later, Miss Mitten comes and tries to get them to read and write forwards because thats how its done in English. Baby Kochamma also treats them differently because they are the children of divorced parents. Baby Kochamma also treats Velutha and Paravans differently because of her experience on the way to The Sound of Music. The distinction of the main characters’ class sets up conflict for the rest of the story. The class conflict between Estha and Rahel is set up to occur in society as against the Marxists, in their culture because they are children of divorced parents, and in their own family against Baby Kochamma.

"Untouchable" Questions Response

Response to Kelsey’s questions about religion:

In the story “Untouchable” by Mulk Raj Anand, religion is used to convey the themes. Religion is the reason for much of the conflict in the story as the caste system is a creation of the Hindu religion. Within the Hindu’s there are the different castes, but the people within the caste don't want anything to do with the out castes or the untouchables. They are not supposed to touch them and this creates a visible divide within the same religion. There are two other religions referred to in the story, Christianity and Islam. The clothes of the people of the different religions are different in the story suggesting that they are even more divided. The Christian missionary is sympathetic to Bakha as he suggests that the people who think he is untouchable are wrong. The Muslim is also kinder to Bakha than the priests and people from his own religion. Overall, religion connects the characters throughout the story and is a way for the author to show the divided nature of the country of India. Because people of different religions are kind to Bakha, the author shows that different religions do not have to be as dividing as they seem.

"Untouchable" Question - 3

Discussion Question

The story “Untouchable” ends with Bakha running home to tell his father about the new invention that the poet told him about. He considers the fact that this invention that disposes of waste may end the need for sweepers and thus end untouchability. Do you think this is an ending of hope or merely the author’s statement about the futility of Bakha’s efforts to escape his class? Why?