Previous Next

Rahel is one of two protagonists in the novel, and it is through her perspective, both as a child and as an adult, that much of the novel’s events are told. Rahel’s bond with her fraternal twin Estha, the other protagonist, is so close that they share a subconscious, non-verbal communication, which makes them feel like “One” as children. When Estha is abused by the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, Rahel senses it right away and acts out, not understanding what she’s reacting to. Rahel is a keen observer of the things around her, and she often acts out rebelliously, just like her mother, Ammu. Rahel marries a man on a whim, just like her mother, and follows him to America, but lies listless within the relationship, unable to emotionally connect. She never makes anything of her degree in architecture. Rahel’s life is a series of wanderings and driftings, and it is only when she lands back home in Ayemenem, at the age of thirty-one, the same age her mother died, that she begins to put the painful pieces of her life together. 

Rahel worries about love throughout the novel—both as a child, when she feels anxious about her mother’s love, and later, when she realizes the gulfs she must cross to connect with anyone. Both Rahel and her twin brother Estha are deeply scarred by the betrayals they face from their family. Rahel, in an attempt to feel close to someone, commits incest with her brother in a crescendo of horror and grief at the end of the novel. 

Previous section Character List Next section Estha

Take a Study Break