Behind the Beautiful Forevers Analysis

1207 Words3 Pages

While it may be easier to persuade yourself that Boo’s published stories are works of fiction, her writings of the slums that surround the luxury hotels of Mumbai’s airport are very, very real. Katherine Boo’s book “Behind the Beautiful Forevers – Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity” does not attempt to solve problems or be an expert on social policy; instead, Boo provides the reader with an objective window into the battles between extremities of wealth and poverty. “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” then, exposes the paucity and corruption prevalent within India. Boo’s story begins in Annawadi, a trash-strewn slum located by the Mumbai International Airport. This “sumpy plug of slum” had a population of three thousand people living within 335 huts (Boo, 2011, xi). The land owned by the Airport Authority of India and was surrounded by five hotels that Abdul’s younger brother described as “roses” versus their slum, “the shit in between” (Boo, 2011, xi). Abdul is a Muslim teenage who buys garbage of the rich and sells it to recyclers to support his family. Abdul’s family, Muslim, is a religious minority in the slum of Hindus; in fact a major element of tension within the book can be distilled to these Hindu-Muslim tensions. This difference in religion makes Abdul fearful of his neighbors for two reasons: (1) they would attempt to steal the family’s wealth, and (2) if Abdul were caught, he would not be able to support his family. The other major character was Fatima, a woman who burned herself by attempting suicide through self-immolation. She accused Abdul, his father, and sister of beating and threatening her; in India, it is against the law to convince someone else to kill him or herself. With a corruption-ridden legal sys... ... middle of paper ... ...oes not show emotion to either side, which truly makes a difference. I am astounded that the slum dwellers of Annawadi are doing what they can to make it through the day, attempting to fulfill Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs of the Western world. This development into a Western country was short-cut ridden, the result of corruption and social structural factors that cause widespread poverty. The other side of greed is apparent within this non-fiction text, a moving text published by Katherine Boo. Works Cited Asuncion-Landé, N. C., & Pascasio, E. M. (1981). Building bridges across cultures: Perspectives on intercultural communication--theory and practice. Manila, Philippines: Solidaridad Pub. House. Boo, K. (2011). Behind the beautiful forevers / life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity. New York: Random House. Maslow's hierarchy of needs [Digital image]. (n.d.).

Open Document