Impelled by feelings that were primal yet paradoxically wholly impersonal. Feelings of contempt born of inchoate, unacknowledged fear--civilization's fear of nature, men's fear of women, power's fear of powerlessness. Man's subliminal urge to destroy what he could neither subdue nor deify.
The quote from Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" addresses the deep-rooted, primal feelings within humanity that drive complex emotions like contempt and fear. It highlights how these feelings are not just personal but resonate with broader societal issues, reflecting civilization's struggle with nature and the dynamics between genders and power. This emotional turmoil arises from an instinctive fright that remains unspoken yet profoundly influences human behavior.
Roy suggests that these fears compel people to react destructively against forces they cannot control or elevate. This subliminal urge manifests as a desire to erase the very things that evoke a sense of helplessness or inadequacy. The interplay between fear and power in human relationships, as described in the quote, reveals a poignant critique of societal structures, indicating that these primal emotions shape not only individual actions but also cultural dynamics at large.
