What is the cold moth?

This moth makes it’s appearance on page 107, setting it’s icy legs on Rahel’s heart. The moth is Rahel’s feeling of guilt and sadness because she believes that her mother and brother love her less. This feeling motivates her and influences Estha for the rest of the novel, always searching for love and approval.

What is the electrocuted elephant?
Pg. 146
This elephant is Sophie Mol’s first encounter with mortality in India, and not her last. The twins are at first concerned that the elephant is the one that visits their town, but are relieved to find out they do not know this elephant. This is an important insight to how the twins are accustomed to mortality and view the importance of people and even that they know. “Thang God” -Estha

What are the Love Laws?

While there are no literal love laws, the twins use this term to describe how different relationships have different levels of commitment and love. As they grow up and are taught about how you treat others, they describe these teachings as love laws. A lot of the love laws are broken in this story, and it in these instances that the twins learn even more life lessons, more than when they were taught about the love laws. Ex: Ammu and Velutha, Estha and Rahel

What is Paradise Pickles? The Pickle Factory owned by Mammamichi

The pickle factory represents the fight for preservation in Ayemenem. Owned by Mammamachi, who is the stereotypical old person who hates change and wants to keep the old ways of life in place. The story is set in a turbulent time in Indian politics and society, which makes these issues stand out.

What is the Indian Communist movement?

Comrade Pillai is a powerful political figure in the novel. It is once stated that he and the police inspector Thomas Matthew “know the machine of the world, because they are the ones that move it”. The story is set in a time of political and societal turbulence in India. This is observed through the Communist movement and the touchable/untouchable classes throughout the story.

*Insert discussion about 266*

What is Velutha’s birthmark?

First mentioned on page 70, when Rahel recognizes Velutha at the Communist march. This small thing is a casual conversation topic between Velutha and the twins and represents the special relationship he had with them. Just like he did not have to treat the twins so well, he did not have to entertain their imaginations with a story of a lucky leaf that brings monsoons on time, but he did because he cared about them. It is also foreshadowed that his leaf was ‘not lucky enough’.

What is the squashed frog and the squashed Mrs Mitten?
Pg 78
On the way to the theater, the twins noticed a frog that has been flattened on the road, Rahel observes it looks more like a frog shaped stain and wonders if that is what happened to Mrs. Mitten. They begin to call deaths Blank shaped holes in the universe, which is how they view mortality and death.

What is the silver thimble?

When Sophie Mol dies, it is said that she is clutching a little silver thimble for good luck. Once again we see these symbols of luck being turned into foreshadowing for bad luck.

What is the death of Ammu?

Ammu’s death comes in the middle of the novel despite happening years later on the timeline. It is clear that this is not the climax or even a mini climax of the story. The tone of her death is rather a matter of fact. Due to her poor reputation, she is not escorted by an ambulance so Chacko loads her up into a car to be taken to the crematorium. Rahel rides with her dead mother and notes that she looks like a Roman Senator. This prompts her to think ‘Et tu, Ammu’ and think of Estha. When she is cremated, Rahel sees her as her beautiful mother and not as the sickly, disheveled woman she had become.

What is a tiny wooden boat?

The tiny wooden boat found at the tree by the river. To Estha it’s a means of escape from the ODLD Man, to Rahel it’s a source of adventure with her brother. To Ammu it is also a means of escape, an escape from the pressures and expectations of her family. Both use it in a secretive way as they are hiding something. At the end of the novel, it also ends up being not good enough to protect all of the characters as the kids get knocked out of it. While the twins are able to survive, Sophie Mol does not, which also causes the Terror. In many many ways, without the tiny wooden boat, this book does not happen.

What is the death of Sophie Mol?

The death of Sophie Mol was a tragic accident on the river. The reader knows that she will die from the very beginning, but the circumstances surrounding her death are unknown as this is what drives the rest of the story. In her case, it is quite observable how the death of someone can have more influence than the life of that actual person (no discredit to Sophie Mol).

What is the word ‘yes’?

It is revealed at the end of the novel that this word ‘yes’ is the bolt that locks shut his voice. From that point on he does not speak anymore because of the traumatic events that he has been through, as well as the guilt he carries. Throughout the novel, it seemed that his altercation with the OrangeDrinkLemonDrink Man would be the source of his muteness, but that ends up just being a part of the haystack. This word becomes an extreme sore point in Estha’s mind and makes him not speak anymore.

What is the death of Velutha?

Velutha’s death is extremely tragic and undeserved. The unfortunate circumstances of his death all build up to the climax of the story when he is brutally beaten by the local police force. His death deals with all the themes of the novel including love, politics, small things, and mortality. The use of this death in the novel is important as it comments on all these themes and ends the storyline.