Velutha - portrayed and viewed

Just as people in real life, the characters in this book are often very different from how others see them. In order to explain this better, I will take the example of Velutha.

1) What do we KNOW about Velutha?

• He is an Untouchable (a Paravan)
• He doesn't believe in the cast system --> he is a communist
• He has many positive qualities even though he is an Untouchable: he is good, helpful, smart (he finished the Untouchables' School and high school) and talented (he is a carpenter); he is proud and walks with his head high; he can read and write
  
• He works for Mammachi and becomes Estha and Rahel's friend and Ammu's lover
• His father tells Mammachi about his affair with Ammu and offers her to kill him
• When Baby Kochamma finds out about the affair, she accuses him of raping and kidnapping
• He is beaten to death by the police
  

-This is what the author tells us about Velutha - how he is portrayed.

2) How do other characters see Velutha?

• Mammachi

- she becomes aware of his potential and persuades his father to send him to the Untouchables' school
- she gives him the job
- she expects him to be indefinitely grateful to her
- she doesn't realize how unfair the cast system is and considers herself above Velutha

• Ammu

- she knows him since they were children
- while watching him playing with her children, she realizes how he had changed
- she sees him as a man and feels attracted to him
- finally, she has an affair with him
- she knows that he is a victim

• Rahel and Estha

- as children, they are not completely aware of the caste system and see Velutha as a person and their friend
- later they realize that he was a victim

• Baby Kochamma

- she thinks that she is above everyone else, including Velutha
- she sees him as an Untouchable and a communists
- she was once humiliated by the communists, so she decides to revenge on Velutha by accusing him of raping Ammu and kidnapping the twins.



This is how other characters see Velutha - how he is viewed. They all have their own reasons for their opinions, but they don't realize that their reasons sometimes don't make much sense and one of them is responsible for Velutha's death.