History Literature / TheGodOfSmallThings

* IronicEcho: On the way to Cochin to see ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'', the twins see Velutha marching in a Communist Party demonstration. He playfully denies it and jokes that it was his twin brother. [[spoiler:Later, when the twins see Velutha beaten up to the point of dying at the police station, they attempt to deny the fact—by imagining it was his twin brother.]]

* NonlinearNarrative: Chapters flash back and forth between the twins' childhood in TheSixties and their adulthood early in TheNineties, not to mention occasional long passages to even earlier times like in Ammu's own childhood.

* NonLinearNarrative: Chapters flash back and forth between the twins' childhood in TheSixties and their adulthood early in TheNineties, not to mention occasional long passages to even earlier times like in Ammu's own childhood.

* BuriedAlive: The opening scene of Sophie Mol's funeral, told from Rahel's point of view, indicates that this was Sophie's fate. However, Rahel's perception is suspect from the get-go (she believes she sees Sophie ''doing somersaults'' in her coffin), and later scenes further confirm that Sophie was in fact dead when she was buried.

* BuriedAlive: An early scene, told from Rahel's point of view, suggests this was Sophie's fate. However, Rahel's perception is suspect from the get-go (she believes she sees Sophie ''doing somersaults'' in her coffin), and later scenes further indicate that Sophie was very clearly dead when she was buried.

* DomesticAbuser: Pappachi, and Ammu's husband.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Ipes. Pappachi is abusive and tyrannical, Mammachi is domineering and distrustful of Untouchables, Baby Kochamma is a spiteful ManipulativeBitch, Ammu is something of a social climber, Chacko is a has-been with broken dreams, depression and DelusionsOfGrandeur, and the twins—who bear the brunt of it all—eventually take it by shutting down, withdrawing from the world, [[spoiler: and seeking solace only in each other—[[{{Twincest}} romantically]]]]. One could be forgiven for sensing a [[Series/GameOfThrones Lannister]] vibe in this family.

''The God of Small Things'' is Arundhati Roy's bitter, funny, and heart-wrenching novel about the ruin of an Indian family through a mesh of tradition, prejudice, politics, and the meddling of a jealous, obese, virgin great-aunt. It is told out of sequence, spanning several generations, with the bulk of the story centered around the childhood of Rahel and Estha, fraternal twins who are separated at the age of seven after the death of their cousin, Sophie Mol.

* EmotionlessGirl: After Estha is separated from her, Rahel turns into this. Her husband thought she was a {{Kuudere}}. He was wrong.

-->"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."

* OneBookAuthor

Luckily for her, the disappearance of Sophie Mol in a heavy storm gives her a pretext on which she can have Velutha the Untouchable carted off to prison and out of their lives, but what she does not account for is that Velutha's political party makes him a very dangerous target. Forced to either provide corroboration or admit her lie and be legally responsible for a false accusation, Baby Kochamma coerces the twins into testifying against Velutha by telling them that their mother's freedom depended on their account. [[spoiler:Estha agrees to testify and does so, only to realize that Velutha is present in the room - unrecognizably beaten, irreparably broken, and dying.]]

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Ipes. Pappachi is abusive and tyrannical, Mammachi is domineering and distrustful of Untouchables, Baby Kochamma is a spiteful ManipulativeBitch, Ammu is something of a social climber, Chacko is a has-been with broken dreams, depression and DelusionsOfGrandeur, and the twins—who bear the brunt of it all—eventually take it by shutting down, withdrawing from the world, [[spoiler: and seeking solace only in each other—[[{{Twincest}} as lovers]]]]. One could be forgiven for sensing a [[Series/GameOfThrones Lannister]] vibe in this family.

* ArcWords: Take your pick. "A [fill-in-the-blank]-shaped Hole in the Universe," and "''seye rieht ni nataS''" are common. Plus, for some unfathomable reason, everything associated with ''TheSoundOfMusic'' is described as peppermint. No exceptions.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Ipes. Pappachi is abusive and tyrannical, Baby Kochamma is a spiteful ManipulativeBitch, Ammu is something of a social climber, Chacko is a has-been with broken dreams, depression and DelusionsOfGrandeur, and the twins—who bear the brunt of it all—eventually take it by shutting down, withdrawing from the world, [[spoiler: and seeking solace only in each other—[[{{Twincest}} as lovers]]]]. One could be forgiven for sensing a [[Series/GameOfThrones Lannister]] vibe in this family.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Ipes. Pappachi is abusive and tyrannical, Baby Kochamma is a spiteful ManipulativeBitch, Ammu is something of a social climber, Chacko is a has-been with broken dreams, depression and DelusionsOfGrandeur, and the twins—who bear the brunt of it all—eventually take it by shutting down, withdrawing from the world, [[spoiler: and seeking solace only in each other—[[spoiler: [[{{Twincest}}as lovers]]]]. One could be forgiven for sensing a [[Series/GameOfThrones Lannister]] vibe in this family.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Ipes. Pappachi is abusive and tyrannical, Baby Kochamma is a spiteful ManipulativeBitch, Ammu is something of a social climber, Chacko is a has-been with broken dreams, depression and DelusionsOfGrandeur, and the twins—who bear the brunt of it all—eventually take it by shutting down, withdrawing from the world, [[spoiler: and seeking solace only in each other—[[{{Twincest}}as lovers]]. One could be forgiven for sensing a [[Series/GameOfThrones Lannister]] vibe in this family.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Ipes. Pappachi is abusive and tyrannical, Baby Kochamma is a spiteful ManipulativeBitch, Ammu is something of a social climber, Chacko is a has-been with broken dreams, depression and DelusionsOfGrandeur, and the twins—who bear the brunt of it all—eventually take it by shutting down, withdrawing from the world, [[spoiler: and seeking solace only in each other—[[{{Twincest}}as lovers]]. One could be forgiven for sensing a ''[[Series/GameOfThrones Lannister]]'' vibe in this family.

* KarmaHoudini: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] with [[spoiler:Baby Kochamma. True, she gets away with the multiple layers of manipulation towards her family, particularly in how she manipulates Estha and Rahel into testifying that Velutha kidnapped them and killed Sophie Mol just to save her sorry skin. But by the time we see her in 1993 Ayemenem, she's living a hollow life where her plants have all died, she's basically a prisoner in the old family home due to her television addiction and failing health, and she's hopelessly trying to preserve her love for Father Mulligan with her diary.]]
** Played straight with [[spoiler:the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man that forces Estha to give him a handjob]]

TheGodOfSmallThings is Arundhati Roy's bitter, funny, and heart-wrenching novel about the ruin of an Indian family through a mesh of tradition, prejudice, politics, and the meddling of a jealous, obese, virgin great-aunt. It is told out of sequence, spanning several generations, with the bulk of the story centered around the childhood of Rahel and Estha, fraternal twins who are separated at the age of seven after the death of their cousin, Sophie Mol.