When Roy presents the love between Margaret Kochamma and Chacko, it is obvious that Chacko is the one head over heels in love with Margaret and that she is hesitant to love him the same way back. She is always unsure of committing herself to Chacko, but eventually marries him. When I was reading this section, I always just thought that Margaret was putting up a front because she did not want to show her full emotions or ever become heart-broken if something were to happen with Chacko, or that she even maybe did not love Chacko nearly as much as he worshipped her. Then, a bit later on in the book, we get to see Margaret’s perspective of the relationship as Roy writes, “She thought of Chacko fondly, but without regret. It simply did not occur to her that she had hurt him as deeply as she had, because she still thought of herself as an ordinary woman, and him as an extraordinary man” (Roy 237). Hearing Margaret’s perspective, it seems as if she just assumes that everyone, including her husband, views her as she views herself: ordinary and mediocre. Her lack of self love and appreciation hinders her ability to see just how much Chacko loves her and adores her. If Margaret was more in tuned and aware of what was actually occurring, who knows what would have happened between Chacko and Margaret in the long term. This instance in the novel makes me wonder if something like this has ever happened to me or someone in my life, where we could hurt someone unknowingly and be completely unaware of the effects of our actions. Has my fixation on my own thoughts or feelings towards something blinded me from what was really happening?
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Millstones Around Ammu's Neck
“If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be here! None of this would have happened!…I would have been free! I should have dumped you in an orphanage the day you were born! You’re the millstones around my neck!” (Roy 240).
Ammu’s abusive language is the base of her children’s future problems. If my mom were to tell me I was the millstone around her neck, I would too be emotionally scarred and completely withdrawn like Estha and Rahel and would definitely try to run away. Ammu takes no responsibility for her actions, but rather deflects her anger and blame on her innocent children. Ammu’s selfishness and lack of maturity are shown in the quote above, as she is more willing to hurt her children than to own up to her own actions. Estha and Rahel are not only scarred from these harsh words, but will probably always wonder what they could have done to prevent their mother from thinking of them as millstones. Like their mother says, certain actions are careless words can make a person love you less, so I’m sure her children are wondering what they have done to make Ammu love them less. After calling children millstones around one’s neck, there is no going back. Nothing she could say or do would ever make her children forget about what she had said and erase the effects that those words will have on them in the future. Think before you speak, immature Ammu.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)