“They all broke the rules. They all crossed into forbidden territory. They
all tampered with the laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how
much.” (The God of
Small Things, Roy, A., p. 31)
In my life as a reader, I have come across many
works and pieces of art, and as the saying goes, things happen for a reason.
The God of Small Things has arrived to remind people, myself included, how the
Big, Important Things “lurk unsaid inside”, as Roy brilliantly describes it. Love,
and the laws that it is ruled by, is one of the big issues this novel brings to
light, especially in a society where love relationships are forbidden if you
belong to a different caste than your loved one.
The quotation above has been in my mind since I
started reading the book. Are there any laws that lay down who and how we
should love? Society rules seem to go that way. If not, Ammu and Velutha’s love
story would have had a different outcome. Was Ammu in such a crisis that one
only look at her future lover made her fall in love at first sight? Was Velutha
in need of a kind female heart? Did he love her from the beginning without even
knowing it? Was that love worth all the
pain they knew it would cause? I’m still trying to find the answer.
The reading of the novel has also made me
wonder about what the nature of love is. Can somebody love without being loved? Is
that real love? Who can say what is real and what is not? I think we all have
experienced the feeling; but sometimes it turns out to be passing infatuation.
I still haven’t found the answers to those questions. What I did find was a
section of a book in a facebook account, which was directly connected to my
topic. What it deals with is the “effect” love can produce. The section defines
love in simple words: Nothing is that
bad, if it is good for you. Nothing is that good, if it is bad for you. Love is
good, and it cannot be bad for you. If it is bad, then it is not love. Who can
argue with that?
I loved the last phrase you wrote Fer! I think it’s true; sometimes we love someone but that person doesn’t make us happy or he is not good for us. So there may be a problem that we can’t see, because we are blind at that moment. But it’s true that the book is full of amazing and powerful things, and I think I need to read it one more time to find all the answers to the questions, that as you do, I ask to myself.
ResponderBorrarHow deep, Fer! I agree with you. Love is such a peRsonal thing. I think every individual has got a different definition or concept pf love, and consequently, a different feeling towards it.
ResponderBorrarAs you have written Fer, LOVE is something we cannot describe, it goes far beyond our knowledge and words. In my case, I fell in love with this book. And if you ask me the reason why such thing happened to me,well, I don´t know if I would be able to describe this strong feeling. So, I agree with you when you say that nobody can say whether LOVE is real or not, it is a different perception for each of us.
ResponderBorrar