In my first attempt at reading this remarkable book, I failed to capture the essence of the story. Perhaps this is because there are so many calamities, and they assail the reader relentlessly until the end. But once the reader understands how to read the book, they are held in thrall by its beauty, with every word a pearl, as it soars beyond the sublime.
The story begins with the return of 31-year old Rahel Kochamma to her home, Ayemenem House, in Kerala. The house seemed deserted and was in total disrepair. The only signs of life besides her great-aunt Baby Kochamma, who was contentedly ensconced in front of a new television set, were the bullfrogs and a rattle-snake.
Rahel came back to Ayemenem to see her twin brother, Estha. The two were once inseparable but had been torn apart for almost 25 years ever since the tragedy of 1969, when their cousin Sophie Mol drowned in the river. The death of Sophie Mol is the 'major thing': the major thing among many smaller things that finally lead to the family's ruin.
The twins were raised in Ayemenem House: once a beautiful home and the property of their grandfather papachi, and their grandmother, mamachi. Ammu, their mother, was papachi and mamachi's only daughter. Mamachi's head is scarred and dented because of her husband's beatings. Ammu's brother, Chako, who was Sophie Mol's father, studied in London where he met and married an English woman, Margaret: the mother of Sophie Mol.
When Margaret divorced Chako he returned home, and for a while he ran the family's Pickle Factory. As he flirted with women and communism, the family business slowly plummeted to the ground. When Margeret's second husband, Joe, dies in a car accident, Chako invites her and Sophie to visit Ayemenem House. The other character, who contributes to the foul air in the family and the bleakness of the story, is Baby Kochamma, papachi' s spiteful and lying younger sister.
Ammu, sick of her father's violent temper, left home for Calcutta where she met and married, Babu: an alcoholic, and like papachi, physically abusive. When the abuse affected her children, Ammu divorced him and went back to Ayemenem house. Consequently, Ammu's status with her own family is uncertain because of her marital disgrace. Even her children, the twins, feel unloved by their grandparents.
The other major character in the story is Velutha, 'which means White in Malayalam-because he is black'. He is of low caste. In Ayemenem House, his kind was not allowed to touch anything 'Touchables' touched. Mammachi knew a time when Velutha's kind 'were expected to crawl backwards with a broom, sweeping away their footprints so that' others would not defile themselves by accidentally stepping into their footprints.
This is the man that Mammachi's daughter, Ammu, falls in love with. Velutha gave Ammu the affection she never enjoyed, and was to the twins the father they never had. Ammu's affair with a low caste Hindu was the spark that finally ignited the tragic events in the story: the death of Sophie Mol when the twins were 7 years old.
We finally hear, somewhere in the middle of the story, about the events that led of Sophie Mol's death. First, Velutha's father comes to Mammachi's door and offers to kill his son with his bare hands for having an affair with Ammu. Malachi responded to this with rage as she imagined Velutha's 'coarse black hand' on her daughter's body, and 'his mouth on hers'. Velutha is fired from Ayemenem House, and banished from the property on pain of death.
The narration of Sophie Mol's actual death is short. She is now visiting Kerala, and staying at Ayemenem House with her mother, Margaret. She joined the twins as they ran away after Ammu had insulted them. After their boat capsized in the river, Sophie Mol drowned, and the twins, 'who could swim like seals', survived.
Police arrests man trying to marry his step... by arynews
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8089066
The story begins with the return of 31-year old Rahel Kochamma to her home, Ayemenem House, in Kerala. The house seemed deserted and was in total disrepair. The only signs of life besides her great-aunt Baby Kochamma, who was contentedly ensconced in front of a new television set, were the bullfrogs and a rattle-snake.
Rahel came back to Ayemenem to see her twin brother, Estha. The two were once inseparable but had been torn apart for almost 25 years ever since the tragedy of 1969, when their cousin Sophie Mol drowned in the river. The death of Sophie Mol is the 'major thing': the major thing among many smaller things that finally lead to the family's ruin.
The twins were raised in Ayemenem House: once a beautiful home and the property of their grandfather papachi, and their grandmother, mamachi. Ammu, their mother, was papachi and mamachi's only daughter. Mamachi's head is scarred and dented because of her husband's beatings. Ammu's brother, Chako, who was Sophie Mol's father, studied in London where he met and married an English woman, Margaret: the mother of Sophie Mol.
When Margaret divorced Chako he returned home, and for a while he ran the family's Pickle Factory. As he flirted with women and communism, the family business slowly plummeted to the ground. When Margeret's second husband, Joe, dies in a car accident, Chako invites her and Sophie to visit Ayemenem House. The other character, who contributes to the foul air in the family and the bleakness of the story, is Baby Kochamma, papachi' s spiteful and lying younger sister.
Ammu, sick of her father's violent temper, left home for Calcutta where she met and married, Babu: an alcoholic, and like papachi, physically abusive. When the abuse affected her children, Ammu divorced him and went back to Ayemenem house. Consequently, Ammu's status with her own family is uncertain because of her marital disgrace. Even her children, the twins, feel unloved by their grandparents.
The other major character in the story is Velutha, 'which means White in Malayalam-because he is black'. He is of low caste. In Ayemenem House, his kind was not allowed to touch anything 'Touchables' touched. Mammachi knew a time when Velutha's kind 'were expected to crawl backwards with a broom, sweeping away their footprints so that' others would not defile themselves by accidentally stepping into their footprints.
This is the man that Mammachi's daughter, Ammu, falls in love with. Velutha gave Ammu the affection she never enjoyed, and was to the twins the father they never had. Ammu's affair with a low caste Hindu was the spark that finally ignited the tragic events in the story: the death of Sophie Mol when the twins were 7 years old.
We finally hear, somewhere in the middle of the story, about the events that led of Sophie Mol's death. First, Velutha's father comes to Mammachi's door and offers to kill his son with his bare hands for having an affair with Ammu. Malachi responded to this with rage as she imagined Velutha's 'coarse black hand' on her daughter's body, and 'his mouth on hers'. Velutha is fired from Ayemenem House, and banished from the property on pain of death.
The narration of Sophie Mol's actual death is short. She is now visiting Kerala, and staying at Ayemenem House with her mother, Margaret. She joined the twins as they ran away after Ammu had insulted them. After their boat capsized in the river, Sophie Mol drowned, and the twins, 'who could swim like seals', survived.
Police arrests man trying to marry his step... by arynews
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8089066
