29. Works Cited

Amrita816. "Chapter 21The Cost of Living for Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things." Scribd. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/76998294/21/Chapter-21-The-Cost-of-Living>.


"Banned Books." : The God of Small Things. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://bannedbookschallenge.blogspot.com/2007/11/god-of-small-things-wendys-review.html>.


"Our Diocese - Location | Diocese of Neyyattinkara." Our Diocese - Location | Diocese of Neyyattinkara. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.diocese-neyyattinkara.net/diocese/location/>.


"The God of Small Things Characters." Study Guides & Essay Editing. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.gradesaver.com/the-god-of-small-things/study-guide/character-list/>.


 "The God of Small Things [Paperback]." Amazon.com: The God of Small Things (9780060977498): Arundhati Roy: Books. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/The-God-Small-Things-Arundhati/dp/0060977493>.


 "The God of Small Things Plot Analysis." Shmoop. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.shmoop.com/god-of-small-things/plot-analysis.html>.


"The God of Small Things Quotes." By Arundhati Roy. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/810135-the-god-of-small-things>.

30. Reflection Paragraph on Sources

The sources that I used were not as helpful as I would have liked, but I worked with them. I never did learn who it was that actually challenged the book, so that was discouraging. I searched for three hours just trying to find one topic for this novel! It was very stressfull. The most useful source that I found was probably the blog by Wendy. It really helped me learn the most about the ban more than any other site I could find! The most trustworthy was probably gradesaver.com because it had so many of their sources listed when it came to background information on the characters.

28. Reflection on Findings and Process

    What I discovered in my research is that this book has absolutely nothing to do with what I expected! It did surprise me a lot because I expected it to be a sweet little story about candy canes and sugar plums that express how great the small things of God are but no ma'am it was not. It did prove the same point that I expected Roy just did it MUCH differently than I thought she would. The most interesting thing I found was probably how explicit the novel was.
    I really enjoyed doing the ToonDoodle and Wordle's in this project. I have never had a project where I could hardly find ANY research on it! It was definitely a challenge! I hated digging for information for hours and never finding it! It was awful! If I did it over I would have chose a different book because this book sucks. I hated it!

27. Finding Paragraph 3

Another question that I had was "Who are the main characters?" The main characters are Estha and Rahel. Estha, according to gradesaver.com,  is sent to live with his father, Babu, in Assam after Sophi Mol's death. At the age of thirty-one, he moves back to Ayemenem. It also says that much of the story is told from Rahel's perspective as a seven-year-old girl and as a thirty-one-year-old woman. She has an instinctive connecton to Estha, and as a child she could share experiences and memories with him unconsciously.
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-god-of-small-things/study-guide/character-list/

26. Finding Paragraph 2

Another question that I had about my book was "Where do they live?" Amazon.com states that it is Set in Kerala during the late 1960s when communism rattled the age-old caste system. They stay in a small home in Kerala. The city that they live in in Kerala is called Ayemenem. It goes on to tell how the story begins in a mossy, soaky, and dusty home in Ayemenem.
http://www.amazon.com/The-God-Small-Things-Arundhati/dp/0060977493

25. Finding Paragraph 1

In my first few blogs I wrote questions that I had about my book. The main question that I had about my book is what is the main conflict in the story. The conflict in the story is when Estha is molested by the Orangedrink Lemondrink man. It's also when Ammu is insulted by Rahel. In the quote that I put up about "careless words making people love you less" is the conflict point where Rahel insults Ammu.
http://www.shmoop.com/god-of-small-things/plot-analysis.html

21. Groups that have banned the book and Citation

According to "Wendy's Review", "The God Of Small things was not officially banned, but it faced controversy and challenges in India. Roy faced an obscenity trial for her depiction of love between a Christian woman and a low caste Hindu servant. The novel included pedophilia and incest, but apparently those issues were not what made the novel 'obscene.'" As for who challenged it I couldn't find any information on that.
http://bannedbookschallenge.blogspot.com/2007/11/god-of-small-things-wendys-review.html

22. Quote, Caption, Citation

D’you know what happens when you hurt people?’ Ammu said. ‘When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That’s what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.
http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/810135-the-god-of-small-things

Bad things can happen when you hurt people. When you hurt people they aren't going to love you as much. When you say careless things it tends to hurt people. Careless words make people love you less.

20. Message Passage 2, Explanation, and Citation

“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. They don’t deceive you with thrills and trick endings. They don’t surprise you with the unforeseen. They are as familiar as the house you live in. Or the smell of your lover’s skin. You know how they end, yet you listen as though you don’t. In the way that although you know that one day you will die, you live as though you won’t. In the Great Stories you know who lives, who dies, who finds love, who doesn’t. And yet you want to know again." http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/810135-the-god-of-small-things

     This quote is basically saying that a good story is a story that never gets old. To put it in my own interpretation, a good story is like watching your favorite movie! You know every single detail that is going to happen but you still love it. You never get tired of watching it.
     I chose this quote because it's a great example of why the book should not be banned. I watched an interview on YouTube between the author and a man where she explained how she wanted everyone to know the ending as soon as you started reading. She didn't want to write a book that kept you on your toes the whole time wondering what's going to happen. She wanted to spoil it at the beginning. In this quote it shows how she did that. I find that very interesting how she did that.

19. Message Passage 1, Explanation, and Citation

"They knew that there was nowhere for them to go. They had nothing. No future. So they stuck to the small things." Chapter 21 "The Cost of Living"

    In this passage, the author is talking about how the two lovers had nothing. They didn't have a home. They knew that there was no futrure for them at all. They didn't have a penny to their names and it didn't matter. Even though they were going through all that they still managed to stick to the small things.
      This quote from the novel is a perfect example of why it shouldn't be banned. In my opinion, this quote is saying that when you're at your lowest point in life, and you know that there's no hope for you, if you have love then there's no reason to worry. Love will get you through everything. I think that is a good message that does come from this book even though most quotes from this chapter made me gag!

18. Graph/Chart/Map and Citation

The novel takes play in the state of Kerala, India. http://www.diocese-neyyattinkara.net/diocese/location/

17. Controversial Passage 3, Explanation, and Citation

"Ammu, naked now, crouched over Velutha, her mouth on his. He drew her hair around them like a tent. Like her children did when they wanted to exclude the outside world. She slid furtherdown, introducing herself to the rest of him." http://www.scribd.com/doc/76998294/21/Chapter-21-The-Cost-of-Living#page=149
  In these controversial passages, the controversy is mostly caused by the relationship between Ammu and Velutha. Ammu, the mother of main characters Estha and Rahel, is having an affair with this man who's name is Velutha. Velutha is the father figure of Estha and Rahel, even though he is accused of kidnapping them. This is still an unfit passage for anyone under the ages of 18 to read.
  This book has been challeged because of its sexual passages. Almost all of Chapter 21, "The Cost of Living", is about sex. The whole chapter is basically describing Ammu and Velutha's affair. It describes what is happening in the affair. This is why it is challenged. The whole point of Roy describing the affair in the way she does is because she uses it to emphasise the change in their way of seeing things. She shows that in Chapter 21 when she says "Even later, on the thirteen nights that followed this one, instinctively they stuck to the Small Things. ..They laughed at ant-bites on each other’s bottoms. At clumsy caterpillars sliding off the ends of leaves, at overturned beetles that couldn’t right themselves. At the pair of small fish that always sought Velutha out in the river and bit him." But the sexual passages is why it's challenged.

16. Controversial Passage 2, Explanation and Citation

"She lay against him. Their bodies slick with sweat. She felt his body drop away from her. Hisbreath become more regular. She saw his eyes clear. He stroked her hair, sensing that the knot thathad eased in him was still tight and quivering in her. Gently he turned her over on her back. He wiped the sweat and grit from her with his wet cloth." http://www.scribd.com/doc/76998294/21/Chapter-21-The-Cost-of-Living#page=149

      When I chose this book, I was expecting a story about showing God's glory through the little stuff. I waned to find something that may be a good book that would help me read about the power in the small things God has created, but in this chapter: Chapter 21, "The Cost of Living", I was appauled! All the expectations relating to God that I had in this novel were gone. This book isn't even fit to read with God, much less does it praise him like I expected.
     It is absolutely rediculous to even think that this book could be in schools. This passage isn't just about sex, it's about what's going on during sex. That's very awkward to say, but that's what it is. The book is not at all a book that pulls you in and makes you want to read it. Reading this passage was very uncomfortable for me, honestly. I felt like this passage is too vulgar and too explicit for school.

15. Controversial Passage 1, Explanation and Citation

    "Once he was inside her, fear was derailed and biology took over. The cost of living climbed to an unaffordable heights; though Baby Kochamma would say it was a small price to pay." pg. 318
    This is DEFINITELY an example of a controversial passage in this book! This quote in my opinion is quite disturbing! But it's actually one of the least explicit quotes compared to the ones that follow it! This can be an extreme reason for banning the book in schools. It is by far the most explicit quote from a school novel as any one I have ever read. I actually didn't want to keep reading when I got to that part.
   In my opinion according to this quote the book should definitely be banned in schools! It is not appropriate for student under the age of 18. Students should not be reading such graphic passages from a book such as this one. That is why it should be banned in schools.