Sunday, April 25, 2010
We can tell from Arundhati Roy's description of Ayemenem that it is not especially well off. Though the Ipe family is more fortunate than the other residents, they are an exception. When Rahel and Estha go looking for Velutha, they encounter Kuthappen who is paralyzed and thus bound to a small shack-like residence away from any human connection besides Velutha and Vellya Paapen, ostracized from society. Even worse, however, was Velutha's "Untouchability" I find. This was a man extremely close to the Ayemenem house, and idolized by Rahel and Estha and yet, he was unable to shake off his rank as an untouchable. "The God of Small Things" paints a nasty picture of India's archaic, antiquated, obsolete caste system.
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Kuthappen just sitting on his death bed in a little shack waiting to die, but is still unable to leave this world. Rahel and Estha encounter him, suffering, on a beautiful day when they are trying to find Velutha. They acknowledge his presence and how sick he is. Socking in his surroundings and his living conditions. This is what they didn't want for themselves, they felt truly remorse.
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