A Culture "Just Discovered" Should Never Imply That It Is "New"

Edward Said's book Orientalism entails the tense and misunderstood relationship between the Western and Eastern worlds. The West's imperialistic mindset creates an illusion of Eastern culture as less civilized and unpolished. This mindset justifies actions that have created a racist outline of another culture. For example, many Indians (and other Eastern cultures) do not use silverware during meals. That isn't odd unless viewed from a culture that knows no other way of eating. Historically, this traditionally Indian practice exists because of a belief that as many of the senses should be involved during meals. Westerners have viewed this practice, however, as a primitive. As Ammu put it, it was as if an entire culture were just discovered because of its differences. Western appropriation, however, is a force that has overcome these older traditions, and as a result many Easterners adapted to Western culture.

In The God of Small Things, the anglophilic mindset of India set in place by England, as Said described it, created a "new India" that erased its previous cultural practices in order to appropriate English traditions. The Indian customs are erased, which sweeps away the rich, historic culture of India, set in place for thousands of years. The sense of heritage is jeopardized because of English imposition. English/American idolization is prevalent in the novel through the allusions to novels and media. Gatsby, Shakespeare, and The Sound of Music are all favored topics among the Indians, but no reference to Indian literature or films are used. This exclusion of Indian culture roots obvious conflict in Ammu, but it also develops in Rahel and Estha, as they struggle to find a sense of India in themselves. Secrets hidden in pickled preserves are inaccessible because the history of India has been forgotten; forcibly removed by Western idolization.