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Baby Kochamma in The God of Small Things

“Over the din Kochu Maria shouted Vellya Paapen’s story to Baby Kochamma. Baby Kochamma recognized at once the immense potential of the situation, but immediately anointed her thoughts with unctuous oils. She bloomed. She saw it as God’s Way of punishing Ammu for her sins and simultaneously avenging her (Baby Kochamma’s) humiliation at the hands of Velutha and the men in the march–the Modalali Mariakutty taunts, the forced flagwaving. She set sail at once. A ship of goodness ploughing through a sea of sin” (243). 

            Baby Kochamma emerges as the villain of TheGod of Small Things. Throughout the novel, Roy notes how Baby Kochamma is constantly judgmental of both Ammu and the twins and how she seems to think they are plotting against her. Baby Kochamma uses Ammu’s sexual relationship with Velutha to her own advantage and gains a sense of satisfaction from ruining Ammu’s life. In this passage, the use of the word “bloom” functions to compare Baby to a flower, as though she lives and thrives on the family drama. Baby sees herself as “a ship of goodness ploughing through a sea of sin.” This statement reveals how arrogant she is and how self-righteous she perceives herself, and it also provides a critical commentary on how an individual uses Christianity and morality to justify his or her own agenda. When reading this, I was reminded of the character Cora Tull in William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying. Baby’s manipulative behavior raises questions about her reasons and motives. Perhaps Baby acts in this way because she is still bitter about Father Mulligan rejecting her. Even in her old age, Baby writes in her diary that she loves Father Mulligan, and so since she was once rejected, she must reject everyone and everything around her, including her niece and the twins. Moreover, Baby sees herself as an extremely prideful and dignified woman, and when she is humiliated and degraded in the communist march, she releases her anger on Velutha and seeks to exact revenge. 

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