Video Summary, Group Discussions, and Quotations
Discussion #1
Discussion leader: Matt Haskins
Recorder: Michelle Lawrence
Quotations: Helen Storms
Creative connector: All members participated equally
Word Smith: Joe Beaty
Discussion Questions
· What do you think the flashback and the flash-forward is told and do you like it?
o “No I didn’t like it. The reason they did that is so you cold get all parts of the story but that way you could understand it”
o “Rather it be in chronological order, you don’t know how old the different characters are à thought at one part it was a baby but actually old”
o Rahel was a little kid but still thought she was a child in the part
o Estha and rahel when younger they were super close but when they are older they grow apart and their interactions change
o Entire family was put in shame à they split the boy and the girl up to loosen the shame
o Estha is 31 when he goes on the walks
· The point of view of the novel is not told from anyone in the story but shows many different peoples perspective. Do you find it confusing?
o I find it confusing because since it started out telling the story in Rahel’s point of view I kept thinking she was telling the rest of the story when it was really a new narrator and I think its difficult to keep track of who is narrating.
· What do you think is one of the most common motifs or themes in the story?
o Society and class
o Guilt and blame
§ Amu yells at her kids after her family found out about the untouchable guy
§ Baba beats Amu because he wont keep her job
§ Baby Kochama got police involved to murder Velutha and splits Estha and Amu.
§ Entire novel is turning on each other
o Loss of innocence
§ Stuff when you are little affects
§ Molestation and the murder affects Estha
§ Acts towards them Sophie’s death and her death in general à know she drowned
§ Saw Velutha get beaten
§ Funeral she imagines someone falling and the blood dripping from his head
Vocab
- Latent Necrophilia: Page 6 near bottom, hidden attraction toward corpses
- Bequeathed: page 41 near bottom, properly left to another
- Incursion: page 41, attack/ invasion
- Rivulets: Page 86, small stream
- Mundu: Page 93, a garment worn around the waist
- Sequined: Page 118 near the bottom, a small shiny disk sewn as one of many onto clothing for decoration
- Bandh: Page 122 near top, a general strike
- Gossamer: Page 141 near middle, a fine, filmy substance consisting of cobwebs spun by small spiders
- Effrontery: Page 171 near middle, insolent or impertinent behavior
Quotes
1.) “Only Rahel noticed Sophie Mol’s secret cartwheel in her coffin.” (page 44)
a. imagination vs reality
2.) “Now, all these years later, Rahel has a memory of waking up one night giggling at Estha’s funny dream.” (page 10)
a. shows the close relationship between Rahel and Estha and that they are almost like the same person.
3.) “It is curious how sometimes the memory of death lives on for so much longer than the memory of life that is purloined. Over the years, as the memory of Sophie Mol slowly faded, the Loss of Sophie Mol grew robust and alive. (page 98)
a. shows that the memory of Sophie Mol’s death is stronger than the memory of her life.
It connects to todays world with the themes because you can see the loss of innocence in children
4.) When they lowered Sophie Mol's coffin into the ground in the little cemetery behind the church, Rahel knew that she still wasn't dead. She heard (on Sophie Mol's behalf) the soft sounds of the red mud and the hard sounds of the orange laterite that spoiled the shining coffin polish. (1.46)
5.) Something’s comes with their own punishments”
a. That relates to how Amu’s punishment
6.) it is curious how the memory of the death lives on for so much longer than the memory of the life that it purloined
Discussion #2
Discussion Leader: Helen Storms
Recorder: Matt Haskins
Quotations: Joe Beaty
Creative Connector: Again all took this role on equally
Word Smith: Michelle Lawrence
Discussion Questions
1.) The point of view of the novel is not told from anyone in the story but shows many different peoples perspective. Do you find it confusing?
a. I find it confusing because since it started out telling the story in Rahel’s point of view I kept thinking she was telling the rest of the story when it was really a new narrator and I think its difficult to keep track of who is narrating.
2.) Do you think race, social class, and religion play a big part in the story?
a. Social class definitely took on a large role in the novel because we see Ammu and Veltutha not being able to be with eachother in the novel because of Velutha’s social class standing of an Unouchale in the Caste System.
3.) What do you think about the way women are portrayed in the story? Do you think they are portrayed as being weak?
a. I think that women are betrayed as being weak in the story because Mammachi is beaten even though she is an accomplished and successful woman. Ammu is also considered to be weak because her parents accuse Velutha of raping her and this sows that her parents do not like her choice in men and that she is incapable of choosing a man to be with.
4.) What do you think is one of the most common motifs or themes in the story?
a. Society and class
b. Guilt and blame
c. Family ties
Quotes:
1.) “Childhood tiptoed out. Silence slid in like a bolt” (Chapter 19)
When Estha lies and identifies Velutha.
2.) “The God of Loss. The God of Small Things. Naked but for his nail varnish.” (Chapter 15) Velutha is revealed as the God of Small Things.
3.) “On Rahel’s heart Papachi’s moth snapped open its somber wings” (Pg 277) describes recurring theme of moth
4.) “At Pappachi’s funeral Mammachi cried and her contact lenses slide around in her eyes. Ammu told the twins that Mammachi was crying more because she was used to him than because she loved him”
(Shows how twins are introduced to the wrong idea of love”
5.) “Think of all the poor people who have nothing to eat or drink. You’re a lucky rich boy, with poorketmunny and a grandmother’s factory to inherit. You should Thank God that you have no worries.” (Page 100) Shows irony because the man is telling him he’s lucky when really he is not because he’s being molested.
6.) “He left behind a Hole in the Universe through which darkness poured like liquid tar. Through which their mother followed without even turning to wave good-bye. She left them behind, spinning in the dark, with no moorings, in a place with no foundation.” Page 182
7.) Pg 49 “At Pappachi’s funeral, Mammachi cried and her contact lenses slid around in her eyes. Ammu told the twins that Mammachi was crying more because she was used to him than because she loved him.”
Discussion leader: Matt Haskins
Recorder: Michelle Lawrence
Quotations: Helen Storms
Creative connector: All members participated equally
Word Smith: Joe Beaty
Discussion Questions
· What do you think the flashback and the flash-forward is told and do you like it?
o “No I didn’t like it. The reason they did that is so you cold get all parts of the story but that way you could understand it”
o “Rather it be in chronological order, you don’t know how old the different characters are à thought at one part it was a baby but actually old”
o Rahel was a little kid but still thought she was a child in the part
o Estha and rahel when younger they were super close but when they are older they grow apart and their interactions change
o Entire family was put in shame à they split the boy and the girl up to loosen the shame
o Estha is 31 when he goes on the walks
· The point of view of the novel is not told from anyone in the story but shows many different peoples perspective. Do you find it confusing?
o I find it confusing because since it started out telling the story in Rahel’s point of view I kept thinking she was telling the rest of the story when it was really a new narrator and I think its difficult to keep track of who is narrating.
· What do you think is one of the most common motifs or themes in the story?
o Society and class
o Guilt and blame
§ Amu yells at her kids after her family found out about the untouchable guy
§ Baba beats Amu because he wont keep her job
§ Baby Kochama got police involved to murder Velutha and splits Estha and Amu.
§ Entire novel is turning on each other
o Loss of innocence
§ Stuff when you are little affects
§ Molestation and the murder affects Estha
§ Acts towards them Sophie’s death and her death in general à know she drowned
§ Saw Velutha get beaten
§ Funeral she imagines someone falling and the blood dripping from his head
Vocab
- Latent Necrophilia: Page 6 near bottom, hidden attraction toward corpses
- Bequeathed: page 41 near bottom, properly left to another
- Incursion: page 41, attack/ invasion
- Rivulets: Page 86, small stream
- Mundu: Page 93, a garment worn around the waist
- Sequined: Page 118 near the bottom, a small shiny disk sewn as one of many onto clothing for decoration
- Bandh: Page 122 near top, a general strike
- Gossamer: Page 141 near middle, a fine, filmy substance consisting of cobwebs spun by small spiders
- Effrontery: Page 171 near middle, insolent or impertinent behavior
Quotes
1.) “Only Rahel noticed Sophie Mol’s secret cartwheel in her coffin.” (page 44)
a. imagination vs reality
2.) “Now, all these years later, Rahel has a memory of waking up one night giggling at Estha’s funny dream.” (page 10)
a. shows the close relationship between Rahel and Estha and that they are almost like the same person.
3.) “It is curious how sometimes the memory of death lives on for so much longer than the memory of life that is purloined. Over the years, as the memory of Sophie Mol slowly faded, the Loss of Sophie Mol grew robust and alive. (page 98)
a. shows that the memory of Sophie Mol’s death is stronger than the memory of her life.
It connects to todays world with the themes because you can see the loss of innocence in children
4.) When they lowered Sophie Mol's coffin into the ground in the little cemetery behind the church, Rahel knew that she still wasn't dead. She heard (on Sophie Mol's behalf) the soft sounds of the red mud and the hard sounds of the orange laterite that spoiled the shining coffin polish. (1.46)
5.) Something’s comes with their own punishments”
a. That relates to how Amu’s punishment
6.) it is curious how the memory of the death lives on for so much longer than the memory of the life that it purloined
Discussion #2
Discussion Leader: Helen Storms
Recorder: Matt Haskins
Quotations: Joe Beaty
Creative Connector: Again all took this role on equally
Word Smith: Michelle Lawrence
Discussion Questions
1.) The point of view of the novel is not told from anyone in the story but shows many different peoples perspective. Do you find it confusing?
a. I find it confusing because since it started out telling the story in Rahel’s point of view I kept thinking she was telling the rest of the story when it was really a new narrator and I think its difficult to keep track of who is narrating.
2.) Do you think race, social class, and religion play a big part in the story?
a. Social class definitely took on a large role in the novel because we see Ammu and Veltutha not being able to be with eachother in the novel because of Velutha’s social class standing of an Unouchale in the Caste System.
3.) What do you think about the way women are portrayed in the story? Do you think they are portrayed as being weak?
a. I think that women are betrayed as being weak in the story because Mammachi is beaten even though she is an accomplished and successful woman. Ammu is also considered to be weak because her parents accuse Velutha of raping her and this sows that her parents do not like her choice in men and that she is incapable of choosing a man to be with.
4.) What do you think is one of the most common motifs or themes in the story?
a. Society and class
b. Guilt and blame
c. Family ties
Quotes:
1.) “Childhood tiptoed out. Silence slid in like a bolt” (Chapter 19)
When Estha lies and identifies Velutha.
2.) “The God of Loss. The God of Small Things. Naked but for his nail varnish.” (Chapter 15) Velutha is revealed as the God of Small Things.
3.) “On Rahel’s heart Papachi’s moth snapped open its somber wings” (Pg 277) describes recurring theme of moth
4.) “At Pappachi’s funeral Mammachi cried and her contact lenses slide around in her eyes. Ammu told the twins that Mammachi was crying more because she was used to him than because she loved him”
(Shows how twins are introduced to the wrong idea of love”
5.) “Think of all the poor people who have nothing to eat or drink. You’re a lucky rich boy, with poorketmunny and a grandmother’s factory to inherit. You should Thank God that you have no worries.” (Page 100) Shows irony because the man is telling him he’s lucky when really he is not because he’s being molested.
6.) “He left behind a Hole in the Universe through which darkness poured like liquid tar. Through which their mother followed without even turning to wave good-bye. She left them behind, spinning in the dark, with no moorings, in a place with no foundation.” Page 182
7.) Pg 49 “At Pappachi’s funeral, Mammachi cried and her contact lenses slid around in her eyes. Ammu told the twins that Mammachi was crying more because she was used to him than because she loved him.”