2022 IB Diploma Extended Essays

How does Arundhati Roy explore the impacts of cultural values on the lives of individuals in ‘The God of Small Things’? Furthermore, Roy uses the motif of pollution to symbolise society’s views on the Untouchables during Kerala’s industrialisation. Near to the river where Ammu and Velutha have sex, “the view from the hotel [is] beautiful, but here too the water [is] thick and toxic” (125). A tourist staying at the hotel cannot see the toxic river, only the beautiful view, implying that pollution is hidden from tourists in Kerala. Specifically, the authorities “had built a tall wall to screen off the slum” (125), suggesting that society hopes to keep pollution outside of high-class society. This polluted imagery parallels when Mammachi reminisces about how Paravans had “to divert their polluted breath away from those whom they addressed” (74). Therefore, much like the polluted river, Paravans are hidden from society, allowing Roy to demonstrate why they are considered to be outside the traditional caste system, because other members of society should not interact with them. This suggests that, as society continues to innovate, with the prevalence of tourism increasing, members of the Untouchable populations become more separated from, and therefore forgotten by, society. According to Jane Poyner, “what we see at work in the Keralan tourist industry is environmental racism: the “treat[ment of] certain communities as more expandable than others””. As such, while the environment is used a motif to symbolise how society continues to ignore the Untouchables, it also literally indicates “why the world’s poorest will be worst affected by the immediate and long-term effects of… environmental degradation.” There is merit to Poyner’s literal interpretation of the polluted imagery, as Roy, outside of the novel, “expresses concern for the effects of dam-building and transnational capital on the poorest communities”. Therefore, Roy uses the motif of pollution to demonstrate how, as Keralan society continues to innovate, the Untouchables are ignored under traditional caste values.

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