Curriculum  /  ELA  /  12th Grade  /  Unit 3: The God of Small Things  /  Lesson 6

The God of Small Things

Lesson 6
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ELA

Unit 3

12th Grade

Lesson 6 of 37

Objective

Analyze the symbolism of Paradise Pickles & Preserves.

Review the two plotlines as they have been presented thus far.

Readings and Materials

  • Book: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy  pp. 29 – 34

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Target Task

Multiple Choice

The symbol of Paradise Pickles & Preserves is developed to

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Writing Prompt

The nonlinear narrative structure can lead to some confusion. The reader is left, to some degree, to piece together the puzzle of the novel. Based on what you have read so far, write a three- to five-sentence summary of the major events that have happened, or we know will happen, in the main plotlines of 1969 and 1993. You do not need to include information from flashbacks outside these time periods.

What kinds of questions does the plot structure raise for you? List two or three questions you have about the plot itself or about the author’s decision to structure the novel in this way.

Key Questions

  • According to the description on p. 30, why is the river no longer visible from the house? Why do you think Mammachi might have blocked the view? How can you use the narrator’s tone to help you answer this question?
  • What do we learn about Paradise Pickles & Preserves (the title of the chapter) on pp. 30–31?
  • Why is banana jam banned? What is the significance of this sentence on p. 31: “Looking back now, to Rahel it seemed as though this difficulty that their family had with classification ran much deeper than that.”? Trace the banana jam as a metaphor for the family.
  • Track the author’s creative use of language in these pages—alliteration, capitalization, plays on words, etc. How does it establish tone? Why might the tone have shifted again? (It shifts with the setting, largely.)
  • Note the setting change on p. 31.
  • Who decides Estha should be “Returned”?
  • What is the terrible memory Estha carries with him?
  • What does she mean when she says, “In a purely practical sense it would probably be correct to say that it all began when Sophie Mol came to Ayemenem”? What other possible beginning does the author offer? Why? How does this develop the idea of small things and big things?
  • What are “love laws”? The author will reference this again and again; what might she mean? Can we begin to answer this yet?

Notes

  • Make sure students know the purpose of pickling and preserving fruits and vegetables prior to reading today’s text.
  • As readers, we still don’t know entirely how/why Sophie Mol died, but the author has already told us that she died and that the memory of her death was “always there.” (p. 17) Today, the students should be tracking any information we get that might help us to piece together how she died and why her death had such a profound impact on the lives of Estha and Rahel (and the whole family). Analyzing the title of the chapter will require students to have started to piece together this puzzle.
  • The students’ summaries should include:
    • 1969: Ammu, twins, and Mammachi live in Ayemenem at PP&P; Sophie Mol visits and dies; Velutha is arrested; Estha is Returned
    • 1993: Rahel returns from U.S. to see Estha, who no longer speaks and has been Re-returned.
  • For students who have read Purple Hibiscus in ninth grade, there is a parallel to be drawn here. Both texts use nonlinear plot lines and in both texts an event is frozen in time and the rest of the novel is built around the impact of that event on the lives of the characters. In the case of Purple Hibiscus, it is the fight between Papa and Jaja. It would be useful to help students make this connection.
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