Discuss social realism in The God of Small Things.

Social Realism developed as a reaction against idealism
and the exaggerated ego encouraged by Romanticism. With a new sense of social
consciousness, the social realists pledged to “fight the beautiful art”, any style which
appealed to the eye or emotions. They focused on the ugly realities of the contemporary
life and sympathized with working class people, particularly the poor. They recorded
what they saw in a dispassionate manner. It is known as social realism. And if we go
through dictionary- Social is a word that means living in company or convivial or
pertaining to society. The other meaning may be used as inter-dependent. If we live in
society we are called social. Realism means theory in regard to things in their true
nature or freedom from prejudice. Social Realism may be defined as reality of the
society - its culture, its customs contemporarial values all are included in social
realism. The word Social Realism is used by Arundhati Roy in a very profound and vivid
manner. In many incidents and situations, we feel as such things are just happening
before us.“The God of Small Things has it all : the echoes, calls and the cries of the
Earth. But more importantly, an intellectual daring. This... is not just an
extraordinary novel, but an uncoiling spring of human foreboding and inevitability. It
is quite simply unbeatable.”The God of Small Things is a great work by Arundhati Roy
which presents the glimpse of social realism, its true picture through many incidents
described in the novel. “In The God of Small Things, Roy creates a microcosm that
encompasses wife battleing in fidelity, molestation, emotional insecurity, pride and
death within one family in the Southern Indian state of Kerala.”2 Gender discrimination,
untouchability (a great evil of society, corrupt police administration, problems
& clashes of cultures, all are the best examples of social realism. In these
 aspects, we can see the reality of the contemporaries.
The theme of
the novel is the confrontation between ‘The Big Man’ and ‘The Small Man’. In the novel
two small persons, Ammu and Velutha have to leave the world for the big things. “Even
later on the thirteen nights that followed this one instinctively, they stuck to the
small things. The Big things ever lurked inside. They knew that there was nowhere for
them to go. They had nothing. No future, so they stuck to the small things.”The God of
Small Things is a realistic portrayal of the gender discrimination prevalent in Indian
society. Ammu is the central character who yearns for pleasure and happiness and for a
life far from hurdles and constraints. As a little girl, Ammu had to face a lot of
worries and anxieties, fret and fever of life. She had to face the cruelty of her
father, Pappachi who used to beat her and her mother, Mammachi with a brass-vase. Ammu
was also deprived of the higher education. Pappachi thought that college education is
not at all useful for a girl