History's Henchmen

I have been thinking about the tragic separation of the twins and how this parallels with the caste structure, where people are separated from one another through the arbitrary dictates of history, man's need to impose order. The way Roy describes the relationship between the "two-egg" twins renders the word close an absurd understatement; for they are two halves of the same soul, they dream the same dreams, and Rahel knows Estha is standing on the other side of the door without him knocking. Throughout the novel there is a prevalent fear of people being this close to one another, revealed most explicitly through the caste system and religion but also within the sphere of inter-personal relations, we perceive the need to keep people at a distance. The twins were to young to recognize how dangerous it can be too love someone too much, they did not understand how the 'wrong kind of love' can become an impediment to survival. Indeed, for Velutha love was a death sentence, as well as for Ammu. But what happened to the twins exemplifies what this separation of humanity and restricted intimacy is doing to our souls. We walk around with half a soul, resigning ourselves to the fear, letting the fear win. And then this engenders anger and that in turn hatred for others, because we need to feel something, and histories henchmen march on.