24th Annual Student Research Conference
The Evasion of Dreams in The God of Small Things
Kurtis B. Milberg
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
While various themes are present in Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things , the one I will examine is when a person's dreams continues to remain just out of reach for them. Roy presents this theme in an abstract manner, one reminiscent of her degree in Architecture. Starting with the "finished" product, Roy slowly peels away the layers, showing the reader how the characters developed into the shells at the start. For Ammu, it was her escape from home through marriage and subsequent imprisonment by the birth of her children. For Baby Kochamma, it was the love and loss of the priest, a happening that drove her to become the enforcer of love laws and social norms. The loss of each character's dreams drives them into a stasis of stagnation and regret, and through deconstruction I will show how each character is defined by this evasion of their dreams.
Keywords: dreams, The God of Small things , Arundhati Roy, deconstruction
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 38-4
Location: VH 1236
Time: 3:30