Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People creates awareness of the chemical disaster of Bhopal through the fictional city of Khaufpur. Animal - the bildungsroman’s main protagonist - is a twisted-figure because of the chemical accident that caused him to become a four-legged creature, which impacts the plot underneath Khaufpur’s battle against the “Kampani:” the western business responsible for the chemical incident. Many conflicts between those from western civilizations and those from India occur because of the cultural differences that happens between first world countries and third world countries. Sinha uses the interferences of “Amerika” in order to represent this struggle through the “Kampani” but also uses the benefits that Elli brings in order to contrast the two impacts that “Amerika” has. …show more content…
Elli displays the positive side of America’s impact on India through her relationship to Somraj.
Somraj and Elli represent the two worlds - India and the United States - and Sinha manages to use these two for a great comparison of how in the right circumstances, and how each party has to respond to either, people can come together in order to assist one another. Sinha’s usage of music makes this a predominately displayed connection without either of the characters discussing anything. “Later still, the piano’s still playing, almost asleep I’m, when from much closer comes the hum of a sitar.” (132) Language plays a particularly large part in how Animal discusses what is happening around him and it can be a barrier in real life situations, but with the “hum” of these two instruments that are from completely different worlds played by people of two completely different worlds, he manages to eliminate that barrier and make their connection purely through their soulful
responses. The pesticide industry in which Animal refers to as the “Kampani” does not have the same reaction as that of Elli and Somraj’s relationship. Instead, this “Kampani” represents the side of first-world nations that degrades and eliminates the worth of other human beings. Sinha works around this concept that this is an unfortunate truth in which “Kampanis” will do almost anything in order to receive profit, even if it means ruining someone else’s way of life. It is a strong topic among those in Khaufpur, as even a woman speaks up, “‘...you told us you were making medicine for the fields. You were making medicine for the fields. You were making poisons to kill insects, but you killed us instead. I would like to ask, was there ever much difference, to you?” (306) then neglect is made clear by a journalist stating “I don’t know how to translate it” (306). This is clear mockery to the people of Khaufpur and is a bold and brash statement on how little those involved in the dismay of many simply didn’t care. Since the people that were impacted were seen as people with little to no importance, the poor and unhealthy were left to their own devices, and would not be compensated for how it ruined them. Even in an extreme case like Animal’s in which he was twisted and contorted into a four-legged beast, what he received was far from what the people deserved, wanted, and needed, which was for the “Kampani” to take action for what they did and revert this. It is particularly easy to connect this to any event today, and Sinha’s only task was to emphasize the lack of assistance the rich and powerful are willing to give if their palms are greased and it isn’t going to make them any sort of money. Sinha’s exploration of the two sides of outside interaction shows the both extremes with a slight reminder to those who fall somewhere between the two. Immediately it seems unjust and unacceptable but unfortunately it is an eyeopener to the world that has been created by “Amerika” interference. Sinha works to raise awareness of the other issues worldwide that are created by the wealthy and powerful by focusing on this reality-based fiction about an event no one cared to recognize because it wasn’t damaging to the “important people.” These two contrasting ideals allows for many different issues to be realized.
Being a culture under pressure from both sides of the contact zone, there needs to be passion and emotion or else the culture might disappear into history. Anzaldua’s text makes great use of passion and emotion while merging the ideas of multiple cultures together through the tough experiences in her life. Autoethnographic texts give perspective to outsiders on how a culture functions from the inside point of view. Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” excellently portrays her culture’s plight and creates a fiery passionate entrance for her culture in their uprising through the contact zone.
As best stated by writer Paul Auster, “the truth of the story lies in the details.” When it comes to novels, the reader must partake in a close reading to get to the nitty gritty of what the author and/or characters of that novel are trying to say. We The Animals, by Justin Torres, is the perfect example of such a novel. There were endless messages throughout the novel linking story lines to one another from beginning to end. However, it is not easy for the reader to understand such details because Torres constantly withholds information from the audience. Torres did not want to easily give up the information; instead he would leave clues for the reader to pick up on. I had to re-read the novel over and over to understand the meanings behind the story. In particular, the chapter “Heritage” caught my attention. This chapter unveiled the true meaning of the word identity to the main characters, also know as the brothers. The
For a reader who is trying to find a genuine understanding of the different cultures and societies around the world, the passages, “The Endless Hunt” and “Weird Karma” might not be a reliable source to refer to. In these narratives, the narrators describe personal experiences traveling to different parts of the world, which thus provides the readers a depiction of these places through their perspective. However, because the reader’s understanding of these environments are only given through the narrators’ insights, the cultures are not always accurately presented. The narrators in these texts distort the credibility of their narratives by providing misleading depictions of these areas that stray from the reality of their experience.
One of the evident drawbacks of having animals depict human characters, is that they are figuratively and literally dehumanized. Humans are more complex than their primitive desires, impulses, and needs; and this fact could very easily be lost in translation with this choice of illustration. For example, it could be interpreted that the Germans who were drawn as cats, were behaving like the carnivorous species that they are, and chasing mice, because it is encoded in their natural instincts and a part of their primitive behaviour. This exempts the perpetrators, since it implies their lack of free will was affecting their every decision. It also implies that since the Germans are another specie, the mass murder of millions of people could never have happened by any other nationality, and that evil actions are based upon ethnicity, rather than a human’s negligence from their moral standings. However, Spiegelman was able to slightly deter from this indiscretion by giving each character dynamic personalities and pragmatic
In the article “An Animals Place” by Michael Pollan he addresses the problem of Animal
However, that is also not open. He narrate the story and in a sense to prove the ideology right. Moreover, it cannot be said that he consciously did it. He is narrating what he has seen. He himself is not condemning it. He is a European and seeing thing through his perspective. He also thinks natives as savage and unconsciously described Eurocentricism. In the novel, every now and then he uses word savage. The readers also do not get each and everything. Not everyone can comprehend each and everything. Moreover, the writer also does not openly explain everything. He leaves it to the imagination and the understanding of reader. There is always gap left, which needs to be filled. This study is carried out to fill in the gaps and enlighten the readers with the evil. This study is meant to give better understanding of the and the ideology.
Michael Pollan presents many convincing arguments that strengthen his position on whether slaughtering animals is ethical or not. He believes that every living being on this planet deserves an equal amount of respect regardless of it being an animal or human, after all humans are also animals. “An Animal’s place” by Michael Pollan is an opinionated piece that states his beliefs on whether animals should be slaughtered and killed to be someone’s meal or not. In his article, Pollan does not just state his opinions as a writer but also analyzes them from a reader’s point of view, thus answering any questions that the reader might raise. Although Pollan does consider killing and slaughtering of animals unethical, using environmental and ethical
In Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People, he provides the reader with a fictional account of the Bhopal Disaster through the eyes of a deformed teenager in a fictional town named Khaufpor. This teenager calls himself ‘Animal’ because his deformity bent his spine to the point where he must walk on all fours, making him feel inhuman. With his mother and father dead, he accepts the name as his own and denies his own humanity. Although Animal tries to separate himself from his humanity because of the pain it causes him, he is forced to accept his humanity through his friends’ guidance and the inner and external conflicts that he faces meaning that humanity is unavoidable.
When animals overthrew the men, the governance of whom had long been oppressing them, they finally broke the chains of perpetual slavery. They no longer had to work extremely hard in the excruciating conditions solely for the benefits of cruel and greedy men, but for the benefits of themselves. They attained the freedom they were desperately striving for. The times of abuse and maltreatment came to its end. In these new hope-inspiring conditions the animals set up to establish the farm in which there would be no injustice and suffering, but it would be the place where everybody is equal and happy. They knew that establishing such farm would be extremely difficult, nevertheless the thoughts of giving in never crossed their minds. They gradually, step by step started to overcome all the obstacles and hardships on their way to prosperity. Those hardships made clear that the pigs were the most appropriate for a position of a leader. Indeed, the pigs were most intelligent, it was them who were guiding the animals and giving effective advises in farming. Undoubtedly, had it not been for them, the animals would have starved to death not being able to solve the problems regarding ploughing and harvesting. Under their governance the farm was thriving, there were no quarrels and arguments, every animal was happy and contented with their lives. Unfortunately, it did not last for long, the society which was supposed to be just, and where everybody is equal, transformed into the tyrannical society, where everybody lived under strong oppression and in total misery. The reasons why this transformation happened are manifold. This paper will show the main reasons of this.
In the Third and Final Continent, Jhumpa Lahiri uses her own experiences of being from an immigrant family to illustrate to her readers how heritage, cultural influences and adaptation play a major role in finding your true identity. The Third and Final Continent is the ninth narration in a collection of stories called the Interpreter of Maladies. In this story, it discusses themes such as marriage, family, society, language and identity. In this story, we focus on an East Asian man of Bengali descent who wants to have a better future for himself so he leaves India and travels to London, England to pursue a higher education. His pursuit for higher education takes place on three different continents. In India, he feels safe in his home country and welcomed, but when he travels abroad he starts to have fear and anxiety. Through his narrations, we learn how he adapts to the European and American and through these experiences he learns to assimilate and to adapt to the new culture he travels to.
Culture is presented as a source of conflict or pride for the characters and the effect of culture is to depict how non Western lifestyle is often neglected. The disregard for non Western culture is portrayed as negative, detrimental, and a source of identity crises for those whose culture is being neglected. Adichie manipulates culture throughout the novel in order to emphasize the importance of culture to personal identity and one’s authenticity, highlight the dangers of cultural intolerance and ignorance, and expose the misconception of the superiority of Western
The novel “Animal Farm” written by George Orwell revolves around the themes of dreams, hopes and plans. In the novel these themes clash with one another and bring out the turmoil in the novel. The writer has carefully chosen the appropriate characters which are helpful to bring out these themes. The animals in the farm, who insanely fallowed the dreamy utopian concepts which promised them a world of which everyone works well with each other and is happy, finally trapped and enslaved by the same concepts they fallowed. Anyone may argue that it is the self-centered rulers, the pigs who have power over the poor animal transform ‘the dream of a better or more perfect society in “Animal Farm” into a totalitarian nightmare.’ This paper discusses ‘the main causes that transformed the dream of a better or more perfect society in “Animal Farm” into a totalitarian nightmare’, such as intellectual inferiority, violation of rules and regulation, lack of education and awareness in relation to the “actions” and the behavior of the subjected animals.
Estha’s search for justice, or more accurately, his inability to search for justice, is representative of much larger systemic issues that plague India. The caste system, although now illegal, still remains very influential in many aspects of Indian society, including the justice system, which ultimately lead to the death of Velutha, an Untouchable, by denying him an opportunity to defend himself, along with the end of Estha’s childhood innocence as he confronts the harsh reality of the adult world, and subsequently attempts to escape it. Furthermore, Estha’s inability to let go of his past following the trauma of his childhood as he is forced to falsely incriminate Velutha to protect his own family is representative of the larger struggle of society to give up past traditions including the caste system to embrace a more moral society that allows people to fight for justice. Without solving these larger issues, it is impossible for individual people to effectively and morally carry out their lives and their own search for
It combines social, cultural, and political history with the hardships and goal of a travel book. With Kim, a young white boy, sahib, at its center and his friend and mentor the Lama, we see the world of India in the nineteenth century as it is ruled by Great Britain. The story unfolds against the backdrop of The Great Game, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia. It is set after the Second Afghan War which ended in 1881, but before the Third. The novel is notable for its detailed portrait of the people, culture, and varied religions of India.
...shown through Lenny’s point of view. Prior the partition, Lahore was a place of tolerance that enjoyed a secular state. Tension before the partition suggested the division of India was imminent, and that this would result in a religious. 1947 is a year marked by human convulsion, as 1 million people are reported dead because of the partition. Moreover, the children of Lahore elucidate the silences Butalia seeks in her novel. The silence of survivors is rooted to the nature of the partition itself; there is no clear distinction as to who were the antagonists. The distinction is ambiguous, the victims were Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims, and moreover these groups were the aggressors, the violent. The minority in this communal violence amongst these groups was the one out-numbered. This epiphany of blame is embarked in silence, and roots from the embodiment of violence.