The God of Small Things: Chapters 10-12

This boat is a bad idea. It is a very, very bad idea. I have a terrible feeling that this boat will have something to do with Sophie Mol's death. Velutha's brother had a warning for the twins that they didn't take too much stock in, I believe. The river is not who she seems to be. I think my step father channels the spirit of Velutha's brother. Any time I go to Lori's camp on the river, I am told about every terrible drowning and death that has ever occurred in rivers. I am advised to wear a life jacket if I am within ten feet of the river. This is not a joke, but my friends sure thought my ridiculous, over-exaggerated fear of the river was. When Sophie Mol's funeral was described in the beginning, it said something about her skin being wrinkled from too much time in the water or something. I will assume that she does have a river related death. Marty can add the death of this fictional character to his list of River Evils. Even books see the evil in the fast flowing waters of nature!

Perhaps Velutha's involvement in fixing the boat is why he has such a terrible fate. He will probably be killed, judging from clues in the text. That may be another reason Ammu is so eager to follow in the darkness of the Velutha shaped hole in the universe. Her secret love is dead, her brother hates her, and Estha is being sent away. I think that the twins will get some of the blame because the boat was their idea, but Velutha will probably take most of the heat because he was the one who fixed it (and perhaps it might have something to do with his social status). Velutha is slowly evolving in this novel. Ammu's dream was confusing. One would assume that the one-armed man in her dream was Velutha because of her earlier thoughts about him. Then she starts mentioning gods. The God of Small Things. It is the title of the book, the title of the chapter, and possibly the title of the one-armed man. It has to mean something. This something has to be important, too. I just don't know what it means. Velutha cannot be the God of Small Things. That wouldn't make sense. Or would it? Everything is so cryptic!! I might be completely off-base with all of my assumptions (in which case, I will look like a fool), but I think I'm sorta close.

I'm not sure what the meaning of those stories were. Chapter 12 confused me a lot. The stories were interesting, I'm just not sure what the purpose of telling them was. Where exactly were Rahel and Estha? Were they just remembering these stories or were they actually happening? I couldn't really tell what was going on in the chapter. I finished the chapter and had to re-read most of it because I was lost. It didn't help much. The stories have symbolism, surely. I just don't understand the details of the chapter. Perhaps the next part will clear things up. I did enjoy the little snippet descriptions of the elephant, though. I think it is strangely fascinating that they are used in India. I thought it gave the book a nice touch.

At this point, I find the novel to be completely infuriating because it is so cryptic. It is keeping secrets from me. At the same time, the novel is obnoxiously interesting and good. It is getting harder and harder to put down after every chapter. I might end up finishing it quite soon. I am hanging loose; left unknowing in the knowing-world of Rahel and Estha.