Quotations Section
"In those early amorphous years when memory had only just begun, when life was full of Beginnings and no Ends, and Everything was Forever, Esthappen and Rahel thought of themselves together as Me, and separately, individually, as We or Us. As though they were a rare breed of Siamese twins, physically separate, with joint identities." (Roy 4-5).
Roy paints the twins as supernaturally connected, and not just twins. The two of them share dreams, as shown when Rahel recalls laughing at a dream Estha was having. The quote has capitalized words to dignify the importance of those words to the Children, because children distinguish their world in black and white. Capitalization is used to emphasize what is important to the twins.
"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. The laws that made grandmothers grandmothers, uncles uncles, mothers mothers, cousins cousins, jam jam, and jelly jelly." (Roy 31).
People are associated with family and objects together. This can be an example of climax, but if so it shows that jam and jelly are imbued with more significance than people. This shows that in the caste system, it is safer to be an object than it is to be a human being. Objects have a well-known place, unlike humans. An object cannot “feel” or change its place.
"When the twins asked what cuff-links were for—"To link cuffs together," Ammu told them—they were thrilled by this morsel of logic in what had so far seemed an illogical language. Cuff+Link = cuff-link. This, to them, rivaled the precision and logic of mathematics. Cuff-links gave them an inordinate (if exaggerated) satisfaction, and a real affectation for the English language." (Roy 50).
This shows the innocence of children and displays the togetherness that Rahel and Estha share. They are both thrilled with the logic of the English language, and innocence is shown as they grasp the new idea in their minds simultaneously. Also, “cuff-link” is a compound word. It is composed of two separate words that make up one unified compound word. This is a symbolism for Estha and Rahel’s relationship. They are two individuals that make up one joint whole. The twins act as one person, not two.
"He watched the trains come and go. He counted his keys. He watched governments rise and fall. He counted his keys. He watched cloudy children at car windows with yearning marshmallow noses. The homeless, the helpless, the sick, the small and lost, all filed past his window. Still he counted his keys." (Roy 61).
This quote contrasts big events with small events, showing the small events to be more important. Like a nervous tick, Murlidharan sees problems, but avoids them by studying his keys. Governments arising and falling alludes to what is happening around him all the time. The sick and injured are always around him. These seemingly major elements of his life do not take precedence in his mind. He just focuses on the simple task of counting his keys.
"There were so many stains on the road. Squashed Miss Mitten–shaped stains in the Universe. Squashed frog–shaped stains in the Universe. Squashed crows that had tried to eat the squashed frog–shaped stains in the Universe. Squashed dogs that ate the squashed crow–shaped stains in the Universe. Feathers. Mangoes. Spit. All the way to Cochin." (Roy 79).
Things leave their marks where they are. Miss Mitten, frogs, crows, and dogs: these all symbolize the caste system, as classes rise higher and higher. Mangoes and spit are small things, and could symbolize stains of imperfection. These could also indicate objects left behind that indicate the existence of an individual. Someone left that mango there. Someone spat in that spot.
""Don't forget that you are ambassadors of India," Baby Kochamma told Rahel and Estha. "You're going to form their First Impression of your country." Two-egg Twin Ambassadors. Their Excellencies. Ambassador E(lvis). Pelvis, and Ambassador S(tick). Insect." (Roy 133).
First Impression is capitalized, showing that the twins are taking their task very seriously. However, they make a joke of it by putting their nicknames into their “Ambassador” names.This shows that Children don’t think the same way that adults do.
"Chacko said to Ammu in Malayalam, "Please. Later. Not now." And Ammu's angry eyes on Estha said All right. Later. And Later became a horrible menacing, goose-bumpy word. Lay. Ter. Like a deep-sounding bell in a mossy well. Shivery, and furred. Like moth's feet. The play had gone bad. Like pickle in the monsoon." (Roy 139).
The word “later" (Lay-ter) assumes a negative connotation for both Rahel and Ammu. It shows a negative connotation is placed on a word by the context with which the word is affiliated in its user’s (or listener’s) mind. This shows the “power of words” idea.
"Baby Kochamma resented Ammu, because she saw her quarreling with a fate that she, Baby Kochamma herself, felt she had graciously accepted. The fate of the wretched Man-less woman. The sad, Father Mulligan-less Baby Kochamma. She had managed to persuade herself over the years that her unconsummated love for Father Mulligan had been entirely due to her restraint and her determination to do the right thing" (Roy Ch. 2)
Baby Kochamma wants to believe that she chose not to receive Father Mulligan's love, which was the one thing she wanted more than anything
"When they left the police station Ammu was crying, so Estha and Rahel didn't ask her what veshya meant. Or, for that matter, illegitimate. It was the first time they'd seen their mother cry." (Roy Ch. 1)
Here we see a complete loss of innocence. Estha and Rahel don't know exactly what these hurtful words hurled at Ammu mean, which shows that they still live with some sense of innocence. When they saw their mom cry, it was a big deal to them and can change the way that they look at the world
"By then Esthappen and Rahel had learned that the world had other ways of breaking men. They were already familiar with the smell. Sicksweet. Like old roses on a breeze." (Roy Ch. 1)
The loss of innocence is one of the central plots of the novel, and we see a hint of it here. Ordinary children don't know anything about how the world "breaks men," but kids such as Rahel and Estha who have been through a major ordeal do.
(That whole week Baby Kochamma eavesdropped relentlessly on the twins' private conversations, and whenever she caught them speaking in Malayalam, she levied a small fine which was deducted at source. From their pocket money. She made them write lines – "impositions" she called them – I will always speak in English, I will always speak in English. A hundred times each." (Roy Ch. 2)
Baby Kochamma finds everything British to be superior. Here, she punishes the twins for speaking their own language instead of English. This can contribute to the twins' fear that Sophie Mol is somehow better than them because she is only half-Indian and lives in England.
"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 softsounds of the red mud and the hardsounds of the orange laterite that spoiled the shining coffin polish." (Roy Ch. 1)
This quote can confuse the reader into thinking if Sophie Mol really is still alive. An indication that this might just be Rahel's version of reality is the way she seems to experience the burial herself, by her hearing the mud covering the coffin as though she's inside it.
"Ammu said a grown-up's Hello to Margaret Kochamma and a children's Hell-oh to Sophie Mol. Rahel watched hawk-eyed to try and gauge how much Ammu loved Sophie Mol, but couldn't." (Roy Ch. 6)
In this quote, we see the twins experiencing different kinds of fear. Here, Rahel is scared that Ammu will be enchanted by Sophie Mol and because of this will begin to love her more than she loves Rahel.
"That night in the lodge, Ammu sat up in the strange bed in the strange room in the strange town. She didn't know where she was, she recognized nothing around her. Only her fear was familiar. The faraway man inside her began to shout. This time the steely fist never loosened its grip." (Roy Ch. 7)
In the moment of Ammu's death, she's paralyzed by fear. What makes this moment so terrbile is that everything is strange to her except the fear that she feels. This seems like a terrible way to go. Not knowing what is going on with you, all that you know is that you are completely terrified and there is nothing that you can do. This idea of fear is very prevalent in the later parts of the story
"The Loss of Sophie Mol stepped softly around the Ayemenem House like a quiet thing in socks. It hid in books and food. In Mammachi's violin case. In the scabs of sores on Chacko's shins that he constantly worried. In his slack, womanish legs." (Roy Ch. 1)
This quote shows the idea that everyone is being constantly reminded of Sophie Mol's death. How could someone so perfect and so high up in society leave them like that? Everyone is reminded of her in the smallest ways. Her death is not something the twins can go ahead and talk about as this is one of the first instances of death the children have experienced.
"In those early amorphous years when memory had only just begun, when life was full of Beginnings and no Ends, and Everything was Forever, Esthappen and Rahel thought of themselves together as Me, and separately, individually, as We or Us. As though they were a rare breed of Siamese twins, physically separate, with joint identities." (Roy 4-5).
Roy paints the twins as supernaturally connected, and not just twins. The two of them share dreams, as shown when Rahel recalls laughing at a dream Estha was having. The quote has capitalized words to dignify the importance of those words to the Children, because children distinguish their world in black and white. Capitalization is used to emphasize what is important to the twins.
"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. The laws that made grandmothers grandmothers, uncles uncles, mothers mothers, cousins cousins, jam jam, and jelly jelly." (Roy 31).
People are associated with family and objects together. This can be an example of climax, but if so it shows that jam and jelly are imbued with more significance than people. This shows that in the caste system, it is safer to be an object than it is to be a human being. Objects have a well-known place, unlike humans. An object cannot “feel” or change its place.
"When the twins asked what cuff-links were for—"To link cuffs together," Ammu told them—they were thrilled by this morsel of logic in what had so far seemed an illogical language. Cuff+Link = cuff-link. This, to them, rivaled the precision and logic of mathematics. Cuff-links gave them an inordinate (if exaggerated) satisfaction, and a real affectation for the English language." (Roy 50).
This shows the innocence of children and displays the togetherness that Rahel and Estha share. They are both thrilled with the logic of the English language, and innocence is shown as they grasp the new idea in their minds simultaneously. Also, “cuff-link” is a compound word. It is composed of two separate words that make up one unified compound word. This is a symbolism for Estha and Rahel’s relationship. They are two individuals that make up one joint whole. The twins act as one person, not two.
"He watched the trains come and go. He counted his keys. He watched governments rise and fall. He counted his keys. He watched cloudy children at car windows with yearning marshmallow noses. The homeless, the helpless, the sick, the small and lost, all filed past his window. Still he counted his keys." (Roy 61).
This quote contrasts big events with small events, showing the small events to be more important. Like a nervous tick, Murlidharan sees problems, but avoids them by studying his keys. Governments arising and falling alludes to what is happening around him all the time. The sick and injured are always around him. These seemingly major elements of his life do not take precedence in his mind. He just focuses on the simple task of counting his keys.
"There were so many stains on the road. Squashed Miss Mitten–shaped stains in the Universe. Squashed frog–shaped stains in the Universe. Squashed crows that had tried to eat the squashed frog–shaped stains in the Universe. Squashed dogs that ate the squashed crow–shaped stains in the Universe. Feathers. Mangoes. Spit. All the way to Cochin." (Roy 79).
Things leave their marks where they are. Miss Mitten, frogs, crows, and dogs: these all symbolize the caste system, as classes rise higher and higher. Mangoes and spit are small things, and could symbolize stains of imperfection. These could also indicate objects left behind that indicate the existence of an individual. Someone left that mango there. Someone spat in that spot.
""Don't forget that you are ambassadors of India," Baby Kochamma told Rahel and Estha. "You're going to form their First Impression of your country." Two-egg Twin Ambassadors. Their Excellencies. Ambassador E(lvis). Pelvis, and Ambassador S(tick). Insect." (Roy 133).
First Impression is capitalized, showing that the twins are taking their task very seriously. However, they make a joke of it by putting their nicknames into their “Ambassador” names.This shows that Children don’t think the same way that adults do.
"Chacko said to Ammu in Malayalam, "Please. Later. Not now." And Ammu's angry eyes on Estha said All right. Later. And Later became a horrible menacing, goose-bumpy word. Lay. Ter. Like a deep-sounding bell in a mossy well. Shivery, and furred. Like moth's feet. The play had gone bad. Like pickle in the monsoon." (Roy 139).
The word “later" (Lay-ter) assumes a negative connotation for both Rahel and Ammu. It shows a negative connotation is placed on a word by the context with which the word is affiliated in its user’s (or listener’s) mind. This shows the “power of words” idea.
"Baby Kochamma resented Ammu, because she saw her quarreling with a fate that she, Baby Kochamma herself, felt she had graciously accepted. The fate of the wretched Man-less woman. The sad, Father Mulligan-less Baby Kochamma. She had managed to persuade herself over the years that her unconsummated love for Father Mulligan had been entirely due to her restraint and her determination to do the right thing" (Roy Ch. 2)
Baby Kochamma wants to believe that she chose not to receive Father Mulligan's love, which was the one thing she wanted more than anything
"When they left the police station Ammu was crying, so Estha and Rahel didn't ask her what veshya meant. Or, for that matter, illegitimate. It was the first time they'd seen their mother cry." (Roy Ch. 1)
Here we see a complete loss of innocence. Estha and Rahel don't know exactly what these hurtful words hurled at Ammu mean, which shows that they still live with some sense of innocence. When they saw their mom cry, it was a big deal to them and can change the way that they look at the world
"By then Esthappen and Rahel had learned that the world had other ways of breaking men. They were already familiar with the smell. Sicksweet. Like old roses on a breeze." (Roy Ch. 1)
The loss of innocence is one of the central plots of the novel, and we see a hint of it here. Ordinary children don't know anything about how the world "breaks men," but kids such as Rahel and Estha who have been through a major ordeal do.
(That whole week Baby Kochamma eavesdropped relentlessly on the twins' private conversations, and whenever she caught them speaking in Malayalam, she levied a small fine which was deducted at source. From their pocket money. She made them write lines – "impositions" she called them – I will always speak in English, I will always speak in English. A hundred times each." (Roy Ch. 2)
Baby Kochamma finds everything British to be superior. Here, she punishes the twins for speaking their own language instead of English. This can contribute to the twins' fear that Sophie Mol is somehow better than them because she is only half-Indian and lives in England.
"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 softsounds of the red mud and the hardsounds of the orange laterite that spoiled the shining coffin polish." (Roy Ch. 1)
This quote can confuse the reader into thinking if Sophie Mol really is still alive. An indication that this might just be Rahel's version of reality is the way she seems to experience the burial herself, by her hearing the mud covering the coffin as though she's inside it.
"Ammu said a grown-up's Hello to Margaret Kochamma and a children's Hell-oh to Sophie Mol. Rahel watched hawk-eyed to try and gauge how much Ammu loved Sophie Mol, but couldn't." (Roy Ch. 6)
In this quote, we see the twins experiencing different kinds of fear. Here, Rahel is scared that Ammu will be enchanted by Sophie Mol and because of this will begin to love her more than she loves Rahel.
"That night in the lodge, Ammu sat up in the strange bed in the strange room in the strange town. She didn't know where she was, she recognized nothing around her. Only her fear was familiar. The faraway man inside her began to shout. This time the steely fist never loosened its grip." (Roy Ch. 7)
In the moment of Ammu's death, she's paralyzed by fear. What makes this moment so terrbile is that everything is strange to her except the fear that she feels. This seems like a terrible way to go. Not knowing what is going on with you, all that you know is that you are completely terrified and there is nothing that you can do. This idea of fear is very prevalent in the later parts of the story
"The Loss of Sophie Mol stepped softly around the Ayemenem House like a quiet thing in socks. It hid in books and food. In Mammachi's violin case. In the scabs of sores on Chacko's shins that he constantly worried. In his slack, womanish legs." (Roy Ch. 1)
This quote shows the idea that everyone is being constantly reminded of Sophie Mol's death. How could someone so perfect and so high up in society leave them like that? Everyone is reminded of her in the smallest ways. Her death is not something the twins can go ahead and talk about as this is one of the first instances of death the children have experienced.