The God of Small Things - Issues, Conflicts, and Plot

Notes from 11-20

Caste System
- born into it
- can't change
- limited interaction with people from other levels
- Hindu faith

Older vs. Younger generation
- sense of guilt
- meodernity
- change of laws in 1955 making discrimination illegal

Plot points
- Sophie's death
- Esthat's issues: returned, sexual abuse
- Velutha (& Ammu)
- Ammu's death and divorce
- Rahel and Estha's experiences (funerals they go to / don't)

Conflicts
- older vs. younger generation
- tradition vs. modernity
- religion vs. law
- past vs. present
- British vs. Indian
- Parents vs. children (generational conflict)
- Marriage / Love Laws

The God of Small Things - Images

Elvis Puff:

 

The God of Small Things - Resources

As we start our next text, Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, I've collected a number of resources to help you with your reading.  You will find them under the "Helpful Links" tab at the top of the page, as well as within this post.

The God of Small Things study guide and glossary

First Quarter Reflective Work

To conclulde our work for the quarter, please complete the reflective assignment below:

Reflective Essay

Participation Rubric

Antigone - Key Questions

Here are two of the main questions we've been disussing during our exploration of Antigone:

1. How does a person decide between two competing value systems?

2. What does it take for a person to change his/her beliefs?

Oedipus - Predictions

Today we discussed the notion of predicting the future - who does it?  When and why might we be interested in it?  Do we believe it can be done?

Our examples went from sports reporters predicting which teams will win championships to weathermen predicting the upcoming weather to stock brokers suggesting buys and sells.  We also talked about how this relates to applying to college - the schools are trying to predict which students will be best for them to accept, and yet they miss out on many they reject.  Students also take the ACT which is meant to predict how well a student will do in college, but it isn't always so accurate.

So do we believe it can be done?  Ever?  Oedipus, Creon, and the people of Thebes think so.  THey find out from the Oracle at Delphi they need to find out who murdered their previous king, Laius.  Oedipus promises he'll do just that, especially since his own life at king might also be at risk.  What happens next depends on this belief in the ability to predict the future, as well as believing in the truth of what one is told.