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[Message #1]
Al Garcia:
So, what does everyone think the theme of the novel is?

[Message #2]
Amy Lawlor:
begin with an overview of the novel:
What are the characters like? What are the themes of the story? In what way is the setting (India) important to the story?

[Message #3]
Christina Romero:
I read up to chapter 2 so far and there are a lot of themes. Rahel can't connect with people except for Estha. Maybe communication or lack of is a theme.

[Message #4]
Christina Romero:
What do you think Estha being mute represents?

[Message #5]
Jody Chan:
Maybe she is holding back for some reason...i'm not too sure

[Message #6]
Al Garcia:
Yea, I've read up to the middle of Ch. 3 so far...I'm not exactly sure as to what her being mute represents. Any ideas?

[Message #7]
Jody Chan:
i have not really started reading the book yet because i just got it yesterdday

[Message #9]
Al Garcia:
Thats cool, I don't think many have read much of the book thus far.

[Message #11]
Christina Romero:
Remember when Rahel couldn't connect with her husband because he thought she had some crazy look in her eyes when they had sex but she was really happy? In a way she is mute just like Estha. Maybe the theme of silence represents how they shut out the world.

[Message #12]
Sabrina Martinez:
okay i just finaly signed on and i hope i'm in the right confress so what is everyone talking about right now

[Message #14]
Al Garcia:
We're trying to come up with the theme of the novel.

[Message #16]
Jody Chan:
I agree that one of the themes might be silence

[Message #17]
Sabrina Martinez:
I agree too there is a lot of silence in this book

[Message #20]
Christina Romero:
Reason to shut out the world you mean? The mom said something about how the kids were too trusting when they were younger, partially because they had no father and let anyone take his place in their life. Since people walked all over them maybe they got bitter.

[Message #21]
Margarita De-Los-Santos:
or maybe their experiences may them stronger.

[Message #22]
Jody Chan:
yea i can see that ...they got taken advantage of ....but if it made them stronger then they would not shut out the world

[Message #23]
Sabrina Martinez:
Yeah the wanted to fill that void of a father but i guess they relize that people will use their innocense for bad things

[Message #25]
Christina Romero:
in some ways stronger and others weaker

[Message #28]
Al Garcia:
Any ideas on how the setting is important to the story?

[Message #29]
Jody Chan:
dame this is pretty hard since we all have not really read much of the book...we got to do some crazy reading over the weekend

[Message #33]
Christina Romero:
How do you think all of the politics, especially communism effects the characters? yeah, you're right i need to read pretty quickly to finish

[Message #34]
Christina Romero:
i thin they live in the southern part of india because there were 3 cities on the map she just showed us that they mention and they're all in the south

[Message #35]
Al Garcia:
Just curious, how far is everyone in the reading so far?

[Message #38]
Sabrina Martinez:
Not far enough barley past the 2nd chapter

[Message #39]
Al Garcia:
Okay, sounds like everyone is around the same chapter then

[Message #40]
Sabrina Martinez:
i got stuck on that whole funeral thing in chapter one about the girl who did and that she died when she was barried

[Message #41]
Sabrina Martinez:
like did she mean that seriously or metaphorically

[Message #42]
Christina Romero:
i think it was serious right? they really did go to the funeral. what was her name again? sophia mol or something like that?

[Message #44]
andrew peek:
Communication is definetly a theme. The caste system pertaining to social interaction makes it difficult for people of the lower caste to speak or be heard. The fact that one protagonist(Estha) is mute is showing that their journey through the novel will be difficult and require courage.

[Message #46]
andrew peek:
Not bad since i dont even own the book

[Message #49]
Sabrina Martinez:
But yeah there is a lot of cummincation themes in this book

[Message #51]
andrew peek:
am i talkin to people in lawlors class?

[Message #62]
Amy Lawlor:
What are the main issues The God of Small Things deals with? Give examples

[Message #63]
andy peek:
i think the hand job in the movie theater played a roll in it

[Message #64]
Jody Chan:
I think one of the main issues was tradition

[Message #65]
Christina Romero:
yeah that's a huge part of the book. they keep referring to it afterward

[Message #68]
Sabrina Martinez:
there is a lot of communition problems in this book

[Message #69]
Christina Romero:
and who you are allowed to love and who you are not

[Message #71]
Al Garcia:
Yea, I noticed that as well...the one thing I don't like is the fact that the author goes into every single little detail about things...

[Message #72]
Al Garcia:
I mean, thats great and all...but a little too in depth

[Message #73]
Jody Chan:
yea it was kinda hard to follow the book with all the detail in it

[Message #74]
Sabrina Martinez:
i just got really bored sometimes with all the detial

[Message #75]
Jody Chan:
yea every little situation had so much detail

[Message #76]
Al Garcia:
Okay, well Im glad to see Im not the only one who thinks this...

[Message #79]
Jody Chan:
wut do you guys think about the church not accepting Ammu's funeral

[Message #80]
Christina Romero:
i think religion is a huge theme in the story. ammu wasn't an upstanding citizen or christian so she wasn't buried by the church

[Message #81]
andy peek:
baby kochamma told the clergy what Ammu did or the gossip leaked out

[Message #82]
Sabrina Martinez:
baby kochamma was so annoying in this book

[Message #84]
Christina Romero:
i think people found out when she went to the police station and made it known

[Message #85]
Jody Chan:
i think it was because she was a disgrace and did too much to make her self look bad to her family and society...i mean she married for love instead of an arranged marriage and she had a love affair with an untouchable which it pretty bad

[Message #86]
Al Garcia:
Yea, I agree about religion being a MAJOR theme as well...

[Message #87]
Sabrina Martinez:
yes betrayal major cause look right in the begining of the story estha and rahel were seperated because of something bad happening

[Message #88]
andy peek:
however is it Ammu who should be faulted or the entire mindset of a confused and underdeveloped country

[Message #89]
Christina Romero:
you're right. once she came back after the divorce she was practically dead to society

[Message #90]
Al Garcia:
Any other main issues that you feel were a part of the story?

[Message #91]
Al Garcia:
I think the ones we have mentioned pretty much sum it up

[Message #93]
Jody Chan:
yea i cant' really think of any others right now

[Message #94]
Christina Romero:
yeah the anglophile thing... huge part of the book

[Message #95]
Sabrina Martinez:
just cause she is english she is a prize possesion shouldn't all the kids in the family be prized possesions

[Message #96]
andy peek:
Regretting the choices made in the early parts of life is a theme...almost all the older women regret their lives

[Message #97]
Sabrina Martinez:
yeah a lot of regret and divorces

[Message #99]
Christina Romero:
everyone thought english was better. the highclass castes were trying to pass themselves off as english so they could justify being better than the lower castes. you know, how they sent their children to english schools and tried to associate themselves with english things

[Message #100]
Sabrina Martinez:
yeah it's a shame that they don't have this much pride in their own country

[Message #102]
Jody Chan:
well i guess at that time most people wanted to be better since Ammu was showing how their people could fail

[Message #103]
Christina Romero:
the older women do all have sad lives towards the end. notice how ammu passed on her despair to rahel? they both get divorced and end up coming home after being disgraced

[Message #104]
andy peek:
Along with the desire to adopt english habits, the entire country was also being confused with communism and ancient religions...all at the same time...I think it's the direct reasoning for the actions of the characters and their sins and regrets...too much confusion of enviroment

[Message #106]
andy peek:
especially for an underdeveloped nation

[Message #107]
Christina Romero:
it's like rahel became her mother even though she didn't always like ammu when she was alive

[Message #109]
Sabrina Martinez:
they were only underdeveloped cause some are trying to be english and others are trying to be communist and others have no idea what to do

[Message #110]
Jody Chan:
it was almost like she was ment to follow the path like her mother

[Message #111]
andy peek:
Something to note is when Ammu and Rahel had the confrontation in the airport I believe and Ammu said when people say or do things to truly hurt the soul....the soul always loves a little less...i think that is a factual concept

[Message #112]
Al Garcia:
Yea, thats kind of a typical ending though, not getting along with your mother when shes alive...but once she passes away, you realize what youve lost...

[Message #116]
Sabrina Martinez:
it's a basic concept of life you don't really know what you have until it is gone

[Message #117]
Christina Romero:
that was messed up. after that rahel thought her mother didn't love her as much as before. it never went away. rahel would always think that ammu loved everyone else more than her because she said that to her

[Message #118]
Jody Chan:
so would you guys say that this book relates alot to reality in out world and how our society is compared to theirs

[Message #119]
Amy Lawlor:
but Rahel does "recapture" her mother's love some after Sophie Mol arrives

[Message #122]
andy peek:
it's true though....estha and rahel even as young kids did not posses the social skills to understand what words and actions hurt and which dont....and is directly from the generations above them who led their lives in the same kind misery...sad

[Message #123]
Amy Lawlor:
on page 312 she goes to bed early after making faces at dinner and she knows her mother isn't really mad at her and she thinks to herself "a little more her mother loved her"

so I don't think it stayed with her for life, from the airport scene

[Message #126]
Amy Lawlor:
but she knows that her mother has given up after the Terror and doesn't fight to live or to reunite her family --as if her love was not enough

[Message #128]
Christina Romero:
that ammu's hurtful words didn't stay with rahel

[Message #129]
andy peek:
its an emotion all people posses....and memories vivid enough for cruel words or actions do stay with us

[Message #131]
Amy Lawlor:
because after that scene she thinks to herself that her mother loves her a little more--she's keeping a very careful account of how much love her mother has for her, because it is so important

[Message #133]
Sabrina Martinez:
espcially when the cruel words come from someone who is soppose to love you

[Message #134]
andy peek:
And did Ammu carry the same forgiveness for Baby Kochamma? Forgiveness of her own daughter is one thing....but i dont think she could ever forgive the others

[Message #135]
Amy Lawlor:
the scene before Ammu goes to Velutha when she is putting Rahel to bed is a very strong argument for the bond between them (mother and daughter). Rahel is happy again because she knows that her mother does love her. It makes up for the "less love" from the airport. Keep in mind this is the same day.

[Message #136]
Christina Romero:
anyone have a quote or something from rahel's thoughts after ammu's death? i don't exactly remember her attitude towards her mother

[Message #138]
Amy Lawlor:
well Baby Kochamma's behavior is very different from what Estha does. Estha is a child who is manipulated. BK is a bitter adult

[Message #139]
Al Garcia:
Okay, I see now I wasnt too sure if it was the same day or not

[Message #140]
andy peek:
But Kochammas words and actions would have served to teach the children not to be like her or anything of those adults...all equally wretched...except Ammu and Velutha....the rules they sinned under were bullshit anyway, a direct reflection of a corrupt culture

[Message #141]
Jody Chan:
in a way Ammu corrupted herself because of her actions, knowing the consequences

[Message #142]
Christina Romero:
remember that bk once was a child in love with a priest. she converted to become a catholic for that man. she was not above the sinning

[Message #143]
Christina Romero:
she was another victim of society's social system. that corruption took everyone down, just in different ways

[Message #145]
andy peek:
Ammus actions would not have been shit in modern america or most places..if anything she could have done exactly that and been happen....but the place of this story was not free, was primitive, and it was the place these people were born, the enviroment that shaped their fates

[Message #147]
Sabrina Martinez:
true, during what time was this book written thou

[Message #149]
Jody Chan:
well India's traditions and cultures are much different from american but in some ways similar by means of respect and disgrace

[Message #151]
andy peek:
oh yea and you get beaten by puppet police officers for loving here dont u

[Message #152]
Jody Chan:
have a good weekend and have fun doing the essay

[Message #154]
Christina Romero:
you're right about ammu knowing the consequences of her actions. if she cared enough about her status she would have played society's game and never stepped out of line. remember her duelality: she's a suicide bomber and a stern mother in one package