God of Small Things
An Unsentimental Bildungsroman
When one thinks of childhood, death and sadness are not usually the first words that come to mind. Bildungsroman is defined as a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character. It typically ends on a positive note, with the hero’s foolish mistakes and painful disappointments behind him and life of usefulness ahead (Wikipedia contributors). In this essay, I will argue that The God of Small Things written by Arundhati Roy is in fact an unsentimental bildungsroman that closely depicts the tragic lives of Rahel and Estha and gives the naïve readers who believe childhood consists of laughter and happiness a better understanding of the horrifying experiences that one’s childhood could entail.
To understand the significance of Estha and Rahel, the “two egg twins” in the novel, it is important to know their relationship is that of “one”. At the beginning of the story the author makes this very clear. “Esthappen and Rahel thought of themselves together as Me, and separately, individually, as We or Us. As though they were a rare breed of Siamese twins, physically separate, but with joint identities” (4). This statement not only indicates the inescapable linkage these characters have, but also introduces the theme of the novel. Even as adults, there was never a time when they were not communicating, although they were thousands of miles apart. The twins were linked together in a way that no one would ever understand, not even Rahel’s husband. “What Larry McCaslin saw in Rahel’s eyes was not despair at all, but a sort of enforced optimism. And a hollow where Estha’s words had been. He couldn’t be expected to understand that. That the emptiness in one twin was only a version of the quietness in the other. That the two things fitted together. Like stacked spoons. Like familiar lovers’ bodies” (21). The twins’ relationship is so intimately intertwined that they feel each other’s emptiness, sense each other’s desires.
When one thinks of childhood, death and sadness are not usually the first words that come to mind. Bildungsroman is defined as a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character. It typically ends on a positive note, with the hero’s foolish mistakes and painful disappointments behind him and life of usefulness ahead (Wikipedia contributors). In this essay, I will argue that The God of Small Things written by Arundhati Roy is in fact an unsentimental bildungsroman that closely depicts the tragic lives of Rahel and Estha and gives the naïve readers who believe childhood consists of laughter and happiness a better understanding of the horrifying experiences that one’s childhood could entail.
To understand the significance of Estha and Rahel, the “two egg twins” in the novel, it is important to know their relationship is that of “one”. At the beginning of the story the author makes this very clear. “Esthappen and Rahel thought of themselves together as Me, and separately, individually, as We or Us. As though they were a rare breed of Siamese twins, physically separate, but with joint identities” (4). This statement not only indicates the inescapable linkage these characters have, but also introduces the theme of the novel. Even as adults, there was never a time when they were not communicating, although they were thousands of miles apart. The twins were linked together in a way that no one would ever understand, not even Rahel’s husband. “What Larry McCaslin saw in Rahel’s eyes was not despair at all, but a sort of enforced optimism. And a hollow where Estha’s words had been. He couldn’t be expected to understand that. That the emptiness in one twin was only a version of the quietness in the other. That the two things fitted together. Like stacked spoons. Like familiar lovers’ bodies” (21). The twins’ relationship is so intimately intertwined that they feel each other’s emptiness, sense each other’s desires.
Cited: Wikipedia contributors. "bildungsroman." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildungsroman>.