A Cultural Analysis Of Katherine Boo 's Behind The Beautiful Forevers

The city of Mumbai has seen much growth in the past years. A string of elegant hotels have been set up for travelers and high-class business men. An ever growing, top of the line airport has been built for those coming in and out of the country. From the outside, Mumbai seems to have taken a liking to being internationally integrated with the rest of world, otherwise known as globalization. This is not the case, however; as seen in Katherine Boo’s novel Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. This novel is set in a slum right next to the Mumbai International Airport called

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

In reading the first parts of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, the primary setting of Annawadi was not often described in a glowing light. The area gave me the image of a worse off poorer part of an inner city. The slum seemed to be rather crowded, often very dirty with trash being abound, unclean sewage water being prevalent, overall a rather unnerving place to live. Looking more towards the conditions of the population of Annawadi, there is not a whole lot of positive to be gleaned from here. The majority of the slum’s citizens do not have stable paying jobs, forcing people to undertake very unconventional paths to gain money, such as Sunil, who like a number of people, gain money by scavenging through garbage. Additionally due to the unsettled

Culture can be defined as the behaviours and belief characteristics of a particular social, ethnic,

A culture can be defined as a way of life of a group of people- their behaviors, beliefs, values that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. It also includes the customs, arts, literature, morals/values and traditions of a particular society or group (Virginia Encyclopedia). Culture can also be considered as a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in places or organizations. This topic is of huge importance to our society mainly in the state of

Culture is defined as the shared beliefs, values and practices that participants must learn (Openstax, 52). One way that culture is expressed, in the Congo, is that women are expected to wear one clothing item such as dresses, with

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.

In addition, disappointment is another reason Jayanti choses to let assimilation take over her self-identity. When she finally realizes that America is not as glamorous as she imagined, read about or saw in pictures, she feels disheartened. When she arrives, she looks forward in seeing, “neat red brick house with matching flowery drapes, the huge, perfectly mowed lawn green like it had been painted, the shiny concrete driveway on which sat two shiny motorcars”(73). However, she is greeted by a, “crowded [apartment] with faded, over stuffed sofas and rickety end tables that look like they’ve come from a larger place...the tiny room I am to occupy - it is the same size as my bathroom at home” (73,74).

After a long period of time, she was finally able to gain the citizens’ trust and they started to open up to her, giving her a better sense of what life is really like in Annawadia. When Boo discovered that there was widespread corruption in the slums, lack of law enforcement and undocumented deaths, she began to dig through public resources to understand the corruption. In her book, she wrote about some of the specific events of corruption she witnessed firsthand, but she also wanted to convey to her readers how the increase in poverty stricken areas all over the world (especially in developing countries) will likely promote corruption and mistreatment of those occupying slum settlements. As she went on and on about her fascinating experiences in Mumbai, she explained how her mindset changed and instead of just reporting on what life is really like in slums and for the impoverished, she wanted to write a book and give her audience a more story-like interpretation of her views from her experience in

Poverty and oppression is a serious condition that is prevalent even in today’s modern society. Women and children are exposed to poverty and subjected to a life of injustice. One of the countries where such problems still occur is in India. Despite the country’s modernization, there lies an undercity where the disparity of wealth is transparent. These social problems are thoroughly described in movies and literature such as Slumdog Millionaire and Behind the Beautiful Forevers. In the book Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Catherine Boo, the author describes slum life for a set of individuals and the hardship that their social conditions confined them to. Another movie that gave insight to slum life in India is Slumdog Millionaire

Culture: Culture refers to values, languages, symbols, norms, beliefs, expectations that members of a group possess and the good things they produce and use in their life. Culture is the thing that all the members of a group or society follow.

Culture is defined as “The ideas, attitudes, customs, beliefs, values and social behaviour of a particular group of people or society that are passed on from generation to generation” (Brentnall, A., n.d.).

Culture is a way of life. It can be defined as a group of people linked by geographical location, ethnicity, gender or age. Culture can be reflected through language, clothing, food, behavior, spirituality and traditions. The behavioral patterns developed through culture are difficult to change.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines culture as “the beliefs, customs, and arts of a particular society, group or place.” These different cultures are viewed several different ways around the world, and these views sometimes lead to misconceptions and stereotypes. Two novels, Persepolis, By Marjane Satrapi, and Things Fall Apart, By Chinua Achebe, take their works and shatter the stereotypical views of their cultures (Native Africans and Iranians) made by the western world. They show you that what you always hear about one culture or individual may not always be accurate, and the only way to learn about one’s culture is to learn the facts.

Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).