Edward Said lays out Orientalism as the view held by the West, "us", of the East or Orient, "them". His postcolonial theory explains that the western view of this Orient wildly exaggerates between the two cultures. According to said, Orientalism favors the West, making it seem superior to the uncivilized and disorganized West. These biases have become ingrained in society throughout history and is still recognizable today.
The customs of those from the Orient are unfamiliar to a West perspective and have been construed as uncivilized because, in our society today, something unfamiliar is strange and unsophisticated. In The God of Small Things, this fear of unusual customs was found in the interactions between Sophie Mol and the members who belong to Rahel and Estha's family. When Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma first arrive, Margaret questions the way the family and cook goes about greeting them in an attempt to understand it. Because of Margaret's questions, Ammu becomes upset and storms out saying they are being examined like "natives" under scientific study. The rituals which are a part of everyday life to Ammu are unfamiliar, or even off-putting, to Margaret and Sophie. This emphasizes the Orientalism, because they have not experienced the culture before, Margaret and Sophie assume that the ordinary behavior of their lives is what is supposedly right while anything else is wrong and primitive. I believe many people from western cultures might have behaved in the same way, this fact emphasizes that Orientalism is still present in our current society.
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