cruelty and its implications

Much of the cruelty in Roy's novel surrounds the rigid caste system as well a female subordination. It is through the caste system that individuals are able to secure power and control. They are able to oppress others through the guise of religion. Ammu has difficulty looking past the fact that her father is an Anglophile. This hinders his status as an "Indian". Vellya Paapen kills his own child as a testament to the system that, he feels, will reward him. Roy mixes the caste system with the effects of the British class system to create some nasty social consequences for Indians who don't fit into a narrow socio-cultural group.