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Note the differences in children perspectives vs adult perspectives

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"It is curious how sometimes the memory of death lives on for so much longer than the memory of the life it purloined" (17). What do you find interesting about this quote and in particular the context of which it's said?

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The novel begins with a detailed description of the weather, and the weather is often mentioned when important events transpire. What is the purpose of these descriptions?

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Why was Sophie Mol depicted as being buried alive? What does this moment contribute to the text and what does it tell us about Rahel?

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Significance of events being mentioned or referenced before they are actually described.

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in what ways is numbness displayed throughout the first two chapters?

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Rahel says that "they all broke the rules. They all crossed into forbidden territory. They all tampered with the laws that lay down who should be loved and how. And how much." What is the significance of this observation, and to what extent do all of the characters break some sort of societal rule/norm?

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Would the book be better or worse if it was told in chronological order

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How are women depicted in the novel vs men? In what ways do they defy the gender norms at their time?

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How does the setting of the book influence certain aspects of characters and their relationships? What would the book lose/lack if it was set in the europe or america

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Does it seem as though Sophie Mol's death causes Rahel's disruptive behavior or are Rahel's actions just normal childhood misbehavior?

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Why do you believe Roy utilizes the function of going back and forth in time? How does this further meaning of the story and connect to the title "The God of Small Things"?

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Is there a pattern in which words Roy begins with a capital letter? Why do you think Roy manipulates language in this way?

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Consider the quote "she's living her life backwards" (23). Does this quote apply to any of the other characters in the novel? How does it connect to Ammu's life?

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What does the scene of the twins reading words backwards symbolize?

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Why is it significant that Inspector Mathew calls Ammu an "veshya" and calls her children "illegitimate" (9)? What is the significance of him tapping her breasts with his baton as "though he was picking mangoes from a basket" (9)? What does this description reveal about how Ammu is seen?

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Why do you think Arundhati Roy started the novel off in the way she did? Why do you think the first paragraphs are dedicated to vivid details of local nature?

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What is the significance of the Grandmother owning a pickle shop and also the fact that the pickle business died under the hands of Chacko?

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In what ways has Baby Kochamma "lived her life backwards" (23)?

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Roy writes, "Moments like these the twins treasured like precious beads, on a (somewhat scanty) necklace" (60). What effect do Roy's metaphors, especially as a means of capturing memories, have?

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What is the significance of Rahel's belief that Sophie Mol was buried alive?  How/why does it matter?

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Why did Roy choose to capitalize certain adjectives and nouns? Examples: "Grief and Trouble" (75), "June Rain" (11)

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Why did Estha and Rahel sit separately from the rest of the family during the funeral of Sophie Mol?

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Bearing in mind Estha's silence and quiet demeanor, how does silence play a role in the lives of our characters
? What power is there in words unspoken?

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What is the significance of "The Sound of Music?" Why does Roy reference it so often? What meaning does it add to the novel? "Chacko said that going to see The Sound of Music was an extended exercise in Anglophilia" (54).

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What do Rahel's "red sunglasses" (37, 71) symbolize? Does their meaning change/evolve?

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Why is Velutha's relationship to Ammu so important in shaping his social status?

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What is it that started the unraveling of this family? Sophie Mol's death? Unhappy marriages?

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the Returning (capital R!!) of Estha

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Do you agree with Chacko's insights about adoring one's conquerors and Anglophilia? How does that relate to Estha and Rahel's love for "The Sound of Music"?

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During Ammu's encounter with Inspector Thomas Mathew in Chapter 1, the officer made it clear that he, and the rest of his colleagues, would not "take statements from veshyas or their illegitimate children"(9). Is "illegitimate" the equivalent of untouchable? Where do you think police fall in the caste system?

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Why does Baby dislike the twins so much? Do they represent something painful for her?

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The Indian Bee goddess Bhramari Devi derives her name from the word Bramari, meaning ‘Bees’ in Hindi. In Indian mythology, goddesses frequently turned into Bees to ward off demons and purify the land. At Sophie Mol's funeral, "a bee died in a coffin flower". Do you think that this was in reference to something else dying simultaneously? Peace? Innocence? Hope?

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What is the significance of Sophie Mol's funeral? Why is it significant that Rahel believed Sophie was still alive? (Adult's reality vs children's reality)

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What is the significance of Ammu's dual nature?
("It was what she had battling inside her. An unmixable mix. The infinite tenderness of motherhood and the reckless rage of a suicide bomber." (44))

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how does the change in estha's and rahel's relationship affect the two, and how might this relationship be significant for the future?

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What is the story of Sophie Mol? Why is her death so significant?

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Our narrator makes the observation that the church, in which Sophie Mol had her funeral, was an "old church with new paint" (6). Why do you think this distinction was made?

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