Eidia. Roy. 3/30

9. Ammu, the twin's mother, is in some ways a different type of female character from the ones we've seen. Expand on this idea.

"In the Plymouth, Ammu was sitting in the front, next to Chacko. She was twenty-seven years that year, and in the pit of her stomach she carried the cold knowledge that, for her, life had been lived. She had had one chance. She made a mistake. She married the wrong man." (Roy, The God of Small Things, pg. 38)

Ammu, in a sense is a non-conventional sort of woman. She definitely did not conform to the traditions of her family, disregarding cultural and religious constraints, she married a man of a different caste as well as a different religion. Despite coming from the same nationality, Ammu and her husband were culturally different; hence, their children - Estha and Rahel were referred to as "hybrids". Yes, her life had been lived, for she married the wrong, but still managed to undergo the complete course, in a traditional sense, womanhood: daughter, wife, mother. Another striking impression brought forth via Ammu courageous confrontation with her life situation is her ability to endure and undergo her fate. She divorces from her husband, and once again returns to her maternal home, knowing the cold frontier that it has become for her, yet still obstinate to survive amidst the scorn and negative scrutiny of her own character and her baba-less children. I think Ammu's biggest attribute is her ability to accept her situation, yet confront the odds, still pushing forward through the thick air of failure.