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THE AUTHOR

ARUNDHATI ROY (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author and political activist who was best known for the award-winning novel The God of Small Things (1997) and for her involvement in environmental and human rights causes. Roys novel became the biggest-selling book by a no expatriate Indian author and won the 1998 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.EARLY LIFE AND BACKGROUNDArundhati Roy was born in Shillong, Meghalaya, India, to Ranjit Roy, a Bengali Hindu tea planter and Mary Roy, a Malayali Syrian Christian women's rights activist.

She spent her childhood in Ayemenem in Kerala, and went to school at Corpus Christi, Kottayam, followed by the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, where she met her first husband, architect Gerard da Cunha.

Roy met her second husband, filmmaker Pradip Krishen, in 1984, and played a village girl in his award-winning movie Massey Sahib. Until made financially secure by the success of her novel The God of Small Things, she worked various jobs, including running aerobics classes at five-star hotels in New Delhi. Roy is a cousin of prominent media personality Prannoy Roy, the head of the leading Indian TV media group NDTV. She lives in New Delhi.

W O R K S

A W A R D SBooker Prize The God of Small ThingsNational Film Award for Best Screenplay In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones ( screenplay)Special recognition as a Woman of Peace Sydney Peace PrizeSahitya Akademi Award - The Algebra of Infinite JusticeNorman Mailer PrizeTHE GOD OF SMALL THINGSA NOVEL

ARUNDHATI ROYVOCABULARY AyemenemAn actual town in the Southern Indian state of Kerala, spelled "Aymanam." Arundhati Roy spent her childhood there, and it is the main setting for The God of Small Things.Caste systemA social system that grades society based on castes, or classes. In India, the class system is hereditary and "stratified according to Hindu ritual purity." The highest caste are Brahmans and the lowest are Untouchables.CochinA major city in the South Indian state of Kerala, which hosts the region's major airport. It is where the family goes to greet Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma upon their arrival from England. History HouseThe abandoned house across the river, where Velutha lives with Vellya Paapen and Kuttappen. Estha and Rahel become obsessed with the History House and use the shadowy area surrounding it as their haven from the Ayemenem House.

KeralaOne of the four states comprising Southern India, located on the southwest tip of India, bordered to the west by the Arabian Sea and on the east by the Ghat Mountains. Save flashbacks, the entire story of The God of Small Things unfolds in Kerala.UntouchablesThose in the caste system who are at the bottom. They are considered unclean, especially by the more "pure" upper castes. PLOTSETTING

C H A R A C T E R S BABY KOCHAMMA- selfish, self-centered, snippy, and just downright mean- Pappachis sister

PAPPACHI

-is Estha and Rahel's grandfather, Ammu and Chackos father -once an Imperial Entomologist, which is a frou-frou way of saying that he studied bugs for the government. His biggest failure in life came from his biggest triumph: he discovered a rare breed of moth, but he didn't get credit or even naming rights for his discovery -beats his wife regularlyMAMMACHI- Chacko and Ammu's mother and Estha and Rahel's grandmother- nearly blind and plays a mean violin

AMMU- Pappachi amd Mammachis mother- Estha and Rahels mother

BABA

- Ammu's ex-husband - Estha and Rahel's dad- an alcoholic who tells a lot of lies for apparently no reason

RAHEL

- Esthas twin sister- who hides in the dirty airport curtains when she doesn't want to say hi to Sophie Mol.

ESTHA (Esthappen Yako)- Rahels twin brother- born eighteen minutes before his twin

CHACKO

- Ammu's brother, Mammachi's son, Rahel and Estha's uncle, and Sophie Mol's father- a young man, got all the family's love and attention

MARGARET KOCHAMMA

- Chacko's British ex-wife and Sophie Mol's mother

JOE

- Margaret Kochamma's second husband

- Sophie Mol regards as her true dad and favorite person in the world

SOPHIE MOL

- the daughter of Chacko and Margaret Kochama

. VELUTHA- Vellya Paapen's younger son- Estha and Rahel's best friendSYMBOLISM and IMAGERYThe History HousePappachis MothSex

GENREFamily Drama / Literary FictionTHEMELove Laws

QUOTES

Anything can happen to anyone, and its best to be prepared. - Esthawho should be loved, and how. And how much. Either way, change will come. It could be bloody, or it could be beautiful. It depends on us.