Behind The Beautiful Forevers By Annawadian

Summer Reading Assignment
1. Throughout the book Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Annawadians tell stories of the rich Indians, and their lavish lifestyles are seen almost exclusively through their eyes. Many of them dream of being that wealthy. Take for example Manju. Even though she was born in the Mumbai slums, she still strives to be the first female from Annawadi to graduate from college, which in turn could lead to her becoming wealthy. I do not believe she is resentful of the wealthy. Maybe a little envious, but then again who isn’t in Annawadi? As another example, take Abdul. He sorts through garbage to provide for his family, yet he is not envious of the rich. He takes pride in his garbage sorting business, and how he can provide for

his whole family. He too dreams of being rich and wealthy one day.
7.

I do agree that Asha has a point in saying that something isn’t wrong if powerful people say it isn’t, however I still don’t think it’s right. She has a point because many of the people in Annawadi, and slums in general, dream of being rich and powerful. To them, these wealthy people are like role models. Whatever they say is alright, is seen as alright in the eyes of the slum dwellers. The more a person is exposed to corruption, the more jaded they become to it, and the more normal it seems to them. Take for example the slum dwellers of Annawadi. To children born into poverty it is very normal to them, just as corruption to get what she wants is very normal to Asha. Asha does not see it as a problem to use her power to extort money from people, take bribes, and influence official decisions to get her way, simply because she sees more power people do the same thing, so to her it must be “okay”. I believe that is how most corruption starts. One person sees someone else doing something bad, and they think to themselves, “Oh it must be okay if he was doing it”, and so they do it themselves and so on down the line until everyone is corrupt. On the other hand, I don’t believe it is at all right, even if people in a higher position of authority say it is. All kinds of corruption is bad and eventually everything and everyone involved in said corruption will come toppling down. With Asha as a powerful slumlord especially, her corruption will end

eventually.
11. Annawadi is a cooking pot of religions, with many people being Christian, Hindu, or Muslim. Many used to practice their specific religion when they were younger, but now many Annawadians simply don’t have time for it. In the book, the Annawadians seem very readily able to throw away religious practice if life situations do not permit them to practice the religion properly. And I believe that is what is happening right now. Many Annawadians are too tied up in trying to live better than to go to the unused church down by the sewage lake and practice their religion. For example, Abdul considers himself a strict Muslim. When he came out of prison, he thought to change his business to reflect more religious pillars of value. He does this by stopping his purchase of stolen good. However, his already failing family business falls even further and he is forced to take up his old practice of purchasing stolen goods again. He even says “I tell Allah I love Him immensely, immensely. But I tell Him I cannot be better, because of how the world is”. He tried to follow his religious values but he simply cannot while still being successful so he must adapt. Take as another example Asha. She considers herself a Hindu, but she considers whether she really even need religion. Once she found she could get everything from the gods without praying and fasting, she simply stopped altogether. Hers was not as extreme a case as Abdul, as she didn’t really practice that much in the first place, but it is still an example of how Annawadians can adapt to changing circumstances to stop religious practice.
9. The One-Legged, Fatima, has a very interesting personality in the book. Since birth she has been deformed, having only one leg. It is described in the book that she was basically given away by her parents to a Muslim man because as her father says, “Who else wanted her?” Because of this and the fact that everyone points out her deformity by calling her the One-Legged, her ego and personality has been severely crippled (no pun intended). Her personality is one of sadness and despair. For example, she gets so worked up over the argument with Zehrunisa that’s she sets herself on fire and blames it on the Husains before dying. Personally I don’t believe that that was the only reason for lighting herself on fire. I believe that her personality was so twisted and her view of herself was so warped that she was just looking for a way out of it all. And the argument with the Husains was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. To support this claim, imagine going throughout life being told that no one wanted you because of your deformity. Then your parents just give you away to a man who drinks all day because who else wants you? Now in this slum you live in, people are calling the One-Legged because of your deformity. It messes with a person’s head, and personally I thought she had some sort of mental illness to begin with, but that’s just a hunch. As for wavering between sympathy and disapproval, that did happen to me too. At first I hated Fatima, and thought that she brought all this upon herself. But then I began to think about what it would be like to go through life like she did, being a thing no one likes. That’s when I felt symphony for her, and all the events in life she’s been through.