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An Analysis Of Baby Kochamman In The God Of Small Things

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An antagonist can be defined as someone or something that is put in the story to oppose the protagonist or to cause problems that need to be overcome. Throughout the story, every character in one way or another causes problems, as the story emphasizes that nobody is perfect. The Orangedrink Lemondrink man could be an antagonist as he causes Estha great emotional turmoil and traumatizes him. Ammu and Velutha could be antagonists because if they hadn’t had the affair then maybe Velutha wouldn’t be dead and the children wouldn’t have been separated and maybe, just maybe, Sophie Mol wouldn’t have drowned in the river. Chacko could also be an antagonist as he kicks Ammu out of the house which eventually results in the separation of the twins. However, one character, in particular, Baby Kochamma, in every part of the story, not only does she cause problems, she causes problems for everyone. Baby Kochamma causes problems for Rahel and Estha, for Ammu, for Velutha, for the police, and even makes Chacko more miserable and angry, eventually leading him to force Ammu to leave. Baby Kochamma continually manipulates the characters in the story into doing what she wants to get herself out of trouble. Foreshadowing the main conflict and also the climax in The God of Small Things, Baby Kochamma says, in relation to Velutha, “That man will be our nemesis” (Roy 175).
When Velutha’s father shows up at the family house to tell Mammachi that Ammu and Velutha had been seeing each other, Baby

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