Behind the beautiful forevers, Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbaï undercity, Katherine Boo

 

 

Summary:

 

The story features two distinct families from Mumbai, India.

It takes place in Annawadi, in a constant state of struggle as no family can be seen as wealthy or secure. The book opposed two families, one slumlord (the Asha), and garbage seller family (the Hussains), who has both began to prosper in their harsh surroundings.

The sole goal of all Annawadians is to integrate themselves into a culture and caste deemed superior, refined, and wholly removed from their own. Asha, the Hussains, and the rest of Annawadi want to be just like the rich foreigners and the higher classes of Indians who emulate them.

 

 

Critique:

 

By emphasising this contrast between the Annawadi slum culture against the wealthy population of Mumbai, Boo creates a context quite similar to the Western narrative trope of an aspiring immigrant to the Western world.

The book explains to the reader the mecanism of the Indian Casts, and how it affects the live of the Indian People.