Hierarchy In Lagaan

Lani Hall

Modern World History

Ms. Sondra Morris

March 11, 2014

A. In the movie Lagaan there are obvious and non obvious intimations about social hierarchy. Many characters have more power than others throughout the movie. Captain Russell obviously has control over the Indians because the British colonized India, by controlling the amount of Lagaan the villagers have to pay. The British are not a part of the caste system because they are not Hindu nor were they born into a caste based on their family background. Unlike the British, the Indians are a part of the caste system. Kachra was an untouchable. Untouchables got treated poorly and unfairly. If the villagers touched or had interactions with any untouchable they would become polluted. Becoming polluted means becoming unclean. Villagers who become polluted would have to go through a cleansing system. In the movie, all of the villagers had a problem with letting the Kachra play because of his caste system position. Bhuvan convinced everyone to let him play in the game of cricket by forgetting he was an untouchable and focusing on the fact that Karcha was good and they needed to win against the British for justice. The villagers throughout the town are the third on the caste system; Vaishya's, they are traders, merchants, and apart of agriculture. They don’t have any control over the government but make a big difference by beating the British and forcing them to stop colonization in India because of their loss.

B. When facing unfair demands it is better to fight through the unfair demands because you could have a chance to make a difference and change the unfairness in the situation. In the movie, there was unfair tax amount that the Indians had to pay. Since there was a d...

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... in the past and doing that doesn’t help because you can't change what happened in the past. Continuing to stay focused on the situation will only cause bitterness because you are looking for the other person to be apologetic. I don’t think it is possible to forget because I believe that when a person shows who they are you should believe them the first time. I will never forget how my father lies to me or how he isn’t there for me because I am not letting myself get hurt again like in the past. I know who is and he’s not going to change for anybody not even his kids. I forgive but I don’t forget because I have to be strong for myself. Forgiving doesn't mean forgetting. Nor does the person who we've forgiven have to be a part of our lives. It means we have moved part of on and healed from the pain. Forgiveness brings a kind of peace that helps you move on with life.