The Other Side of Orientalism

In our class discussions on Orientalism and its manifestations in our Western, but more specifically, American society, I found myself increasingly drawn to the representation of the other side of the spectrum in The God of Small Things. The characterization of "Non-Western" culture on American stages, screens, and pages is a consequence of an expression of our dominance over the peoples we perceive as different from us, and historically, lesser than us. In analyzing foreign civilizations as nuanced and sophisticated as our own, we only manage to see the things that scare or confuse us, and manipulate these observations until they can serve as proof that we remain comfortably estranged from the "other."

But in Roy's novel, not only are we able to see past the veil and into the lives of people who remind us so much of ourselves, we are also privy to the effects of the specter of Orientalism on the objectified; they are prone to a different type of cultural appropriation. After the colonizers utilize their historical upper hand to suppress foreign populations and reinforce their sense of superiority by robbing them of their material and psychological wealth, the colonized are left with the scattered remains of their national identity, and are hard pressed to rediscover their culture in all its former glory. Desperate, the survivors of English colonial rule incorporate the Western world into their cultural identity to disastrous results. Kathakali dancers get high and lose control of their lives, and the skeletons of blue Plymouths are driven around the block once every couple months to keep their batteries from dying. Baby Kochamma detests Father Mulligan for converting to Hinduism, and spends her afternoons entering TV raffles, pretending to be an Ornamental Gardener from Rochester. Even Chacko, the world-wise, Oxford-educated Rhodes Scholar who laments India's loss of a collective past because of the period of British occupation, forever locked out of the History House, cannot resist referring to Margaret as HIS wife whenever possible, trying to solidify his threadbare connection to the Western world, because being Indian is not something to be proud of anymore.

This erosion of a non-Western people's communal identity is by no means unique to India. This tragedy has been repeated throughout the historical record: vibrant cultures stripped apart by prejudice and ignorance, and always by a fear of accidentally discovering commonality where difference would have been much more palatable. If we can accept and rejoice in the fact that members of the same species will ultimately find that they are more similar than not, we can then ensure that the small variances we do encounter between communities, cultures, and continents are respected and appreciated by all.

The cultural misrepresentations which are propagated by Orientalism criminally undermine the strength and accomplishments of millions, and further prevents the establishment of a global community. Unity, on every scale, is a valuable thing, but our historical biases are actively preventing any further progress on that front. People like Chacko should never have any cause to be ashamed of their own heritage, and once we can recognize that basic human right, we will have reached a point where we can realistically think about resolving the issues which confront all of us.