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One of the rst stories relayed about the past of the family in The God of Small

Things is the account of how Pappachi, an entomologist, discovered a new breed of moth and classied it, only to have his ndings rejected by the scientic society to which he belonged. Later, a rival presented his own discovery of the same moth; his classication stuck, and his name, not Pappachis, was given to the moth species. As is the case with many of the parables scattered throughout Roys novel, the tale of Pappachis moth sets up a theme woven throughout the rest of the book: the idea that people or objects can obey or defy classication, much to the chagrin of those who adhere to the standards and want to keep them intact. ! ! The familys status is tied up in their Anglophilia. As Chacko expresses, though

he hated to admit it, they were all Anglophiles (Roy 51). Since British colonization of India, everything Anglo-Saxon was held, in the general public eye, as above everything Indian. This is especially showcased in the novel by the arrival of Sophie Mol. Because she is half-white and from England, she is held in highest esteem, and, as Rahel puts it, Loved from the Beginning. Everyone fawns over Sophie and Margaret Kochamma when they arrive, and compared to the treatment of Ammu throughout the entirety of the story, it is easy to see how much status plays into how much the family seems to love each individual person. ! ! In keeping with the Pappachi analogy, Ammu is the moth who refuses to please.

Baby Kochamma, undoubtedly the most judgmental character in the novel, enumerates the societal transgressions of Ammu regarding her marriage: ! ! ! [A] married daughter had no position in her parents' home. As for a divorced ! daughter according to Baby Kochamma, she had no position anywhere at all. !

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And as for a divorced daughter from a love marriage, well, words could not ! describe Baby Kochamma's outrage. As for a divorced daughter from an ! intercommunity love marriage Baby Kochamma chose to remain quiveringly ! silent on the subject (Roy 45). !

The fact that Baby Kochamma, who seems to have a snippy comment for every occasion, is so abhorred by Ammus choices that she speaks not a word shows just how great of a taboo Ammu has committed. However, it is not Ammus failed relationship with Baba, her abusive ex-husband, but her illicit affair with Velutha, a Marxist Untouchable who is employed by Chacko. ! ! Velutha is the infamous and eponymous God of Small Things in Roys novel, and

it can be argued that his relationship with Ammu as well as the status he was born into both play a role in his death. Both Mammachi and Baby Kochamma, when told of Velutha and Ammus affair together, react violently toward Vellya Paapen both because he is a Paravan and because of what Velutha has done. Vellya Paapen even offered to kill his son. To tear him limb from limb (Roy 243), so great was Veluthas transgression. Ammu and Veluthas love brings them to an utter deance of their social classes and the etiquette surrounding the caste system, even though it ends up destroying them. ! ! The theme of obeying as well as breaking free from classication and class

barriers loops around The God of Small Things multiple times, ensnaring all the characters at one point or another. Almost all of the outward conict is caused by attempts at defying the social norms, and the inward conict, such as Rahels view that she is less loved than Sophie Mol, comes from adhering to those norms. The God of Small Things depicts both the obedience to and deance of the strict class structure.