"The “Love Laws" that lay down "who should be loved, and how. And how much.”

The Alphabet Review: A

Arundhati Roy 

• Born 24 November 1961
• Indian author and political activist
• Best known for the 1998 Man Booker Prize for Fiction winning novel ‘The God of Small Things’ (1997) and for her involvement in environmental and human rights causes. Roy’s novel became the biggest-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author.

"It didn't matter that the story had begun, because Kathakali discovered long ago that the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. They don't deceive you with thrills and trick endings."

I first read GoST when studying English Literature in my 1st year of college, the theme for our course was ‘The Struggle for Identity’ and right there and then I fell in love with Literature all over again. The topic: 'The Struggle for Identity' allowed me to read novels, poems and films by ethnic authors and playwrights; I was able to explore the worlds of a number of talented artists. I decided to read GoST after reading the quote "The 'Love Laws' that lay down 'who should be loved, and how. And how much." I felt as though it was such a strong statement, not to mention the chance to educate myself a little bit about the Indian culture, as there would be no point in simply limiting myself to the works of African-American authors when considering 'The Struggle for Identity'. 

Review

The story primarily takes place in a town named Ayemenem or Aymanam, part of Kottayam in Kerala state of India. The temporal setting shifts back and forth from 1969, when fraternal twins Rahel and Estha are seven years old, to 1993, when the twins are reunited at age 31. It is narrated in the third person, however, during a great part of the narrative, the reader sees everything through Rahel's eyes, giving them a very special insight into the happenings and characters within the novel. 

As GoST focuses on and their impressions of the world, Roy uses various techniques to represent the children's viewpoint and their innocence. For example, the capitalisation of particular words and phrases to give them significance. Similarly, the children recombine things that adults say and place emphasis on words and ideas in a different way to the adults, thereby creating a new way of viewing the world and echoing their perception of the it in comparison to the grown-ups that surround them. 

‘Ammu loved her children (of course), but their wide-eyed vulnerability, and their willingness to love people who didn’t really love them, exasperated her and sometimes made her want to hurt them – just as education, a protection.’

 GoST shifts around in time allowing expressions from an older perspective, like the extract seen above and the disjointed narrative structure that Roy employs echoes the process of the resurfacing of a repressed memory. There are various moments which cross each other throughout the book. For example: in 1969, when Rahel is a seven-year-old child, we see the events of the book through a her 'child eyes'. Whereas, twenty-three years later, when she is in search something she lost in her childhood, has become a woman and her eyes have become more critical, facts, objects and people are seen in a completely different light. 

Although Roy uses a young narrator throughout the majority of the book, this does not affect the way in which each detail is described. We still feel how ‘May in Ayemenem’ was ‘a hot brooding month’. The reader is able to relate  to each character, whether it be personally or empathetically. We are still drawn in to listen to their stories, despite the fact that they are told through the eyes of a seven-year-old; it is possible that Roy uses a child  narrator because children tend to see people's true colours and often pay closer attention to detail. 

With the novel being written by a woman from an ethnic minority, you might expect  the novel to take a feminist approach, especially since the protagonist is a female. However Roy has chosen, instead, to tackle the issues including: love, death, cultural identity, morality, racism, loss of innocence along with many others. Amongst flagging up some of these issues,  Roy gives us with a taste of Kerala life through the liberal use of Malayalam words and presents the reader with aspects of Kerala living such as: communism, the caste system, and the Keralite Syrian Christian way of life.

GoST is a patchwork of flashbacks and lengthy sidetracks that weave together to pull gently on your heartstrings whilst telling the story of the Ipe family. It was captivating from beginning to end and I would definitely recommend it to literature lover! It is a true roller-coaster; at times you smile, laugh and may even cry. It will have you glued to pages and reading ahead of any book club you may have started it with!

Sarah Akinsola
Publicity Secretary