24th Annual Student Research Conference
Siblings and Love Laws in Arundhati Roys The God of Small Things and V. C. Andrews Flowers in the Attic
Guinevere A. Lawson
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
Arundhati Roys and V. C. Andrews novels, The God of Small Things (1997) and Flowers in the Attic (1979), respectively, depict incest between siblings in the context of unstable and dysfunctional families. The novels specifically focus on societal and cultural norms that lay down the love laws of incest and explore the bonds between children and their parental figures. Roys two main characters, the seven-year-old fraternal twins, Estha and Rahel, deal with the constant fear of rejection from their families, emphasized when their cousin, Sophie Mol, arrives from England and threatens to take away what love they do receive. Similarly, Andrews main characters, the two teenagers, Christopher and Cathy, and the five-year-old twins, Cory and Carrie, have their lives transformed once their father dies. Their grandmother locks them up in her attic for three years for the sins of their mother, who married her half-uncle. This paper will explore the ways in which both literary texts challenge the repercussions of the transgressions of love laws the children are subjected to.
Keywords: Arundhati Roy, V.C Andrews, Love Laws, Flowers in the Attic , The God of Small Things
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 3-5
Location: VH 1408
Time: 9:00