Blog Paragraph 6: The White Tiger

By using the phrase, “what a fucking joke,” Adiga’s novel, White Tiger, suggests that people of power in India want to portray an idealistic society to others. Their efforts to disguise corruption allow citizens like Balram to expose the hypocrisies within power structures, mainly political. “What a fucking joke,” first appears in conjunction with government officials that will be sent to welcome Premiere Jiabo and Balram says, “I see our prime minister and his distinguished sidekicks drive to the airport in black cars and get out and do namastes before you in front of a TV camera and will tell you how moral and saintly India is” (2). Indian government officials perform for those visiting their country to show how “perfect” life is in their country and how democratic their nation is. Those in power want to portray a functioning and democratic India and a country that leaves outsiders in awe of their successes. If the prime minister takes Jiabao to a village slum, the minister runs the risk of exposing the drastic differences between the lives of the rich and poor, and the one-sidedness of Indian “democracy.” Throughout the novel, readers are shown the“jokes” that are hidden from Jiabao, like the people’s love for their “elected”officials. When most have never been able to express the rights they are entitled to in a free democratic nation like electing their own leaders. According to Balram, his father never physically voted, “I’ve seen twelve elections-five general, five state, and two local-and someone else has voted for me twelve times” (84). The government paints a picture perfect image to outsiders, but still cannot rid their country of an old value system. If the Indian government wants a perfect India, they must employ policeman to maintain social order and control those who seek to overthrow and expose their nation’s corruptness. Innocent men sit in jail for crimes their masters committed because their servant’s lives have no meaning. Servants like Balram have no voice and must endure the hallow promises their government makes them, that one day they too can succeed, “…but the masters still own us, body, soul, and arse. Yes, that’s right: we all live in the world’s greatest democracy. What a fucking joke” (145). Adiga’s reference to the “world’s democracy”questions the functions of democracy and what it stands for, just like Balram questions the way government officials portray their country to outsiders. The American phrase, “what a fucking joke,”exposes the hidden lies within a democratic nation and critiques the idea that what works for one person works for another.

  

http://www.forbes.com/sites/worldviews/2012/09/27/india-great-for-women-entrepreneurs-and-bad-for-women-how-is-this-possible/2/
The article above lists some of the most successful female entrepreneurs in India, alluding to the fact that India just recently had a female president.  While noting the successes of many women, the article also points out the problems with Indian culture and the advancement of women.  In the White Tiger, Balram, Mr. Ashoke, and most of the men mentioned in the novel, only mention women in relation to sex.  They do not view them as equals in the field of business, or in Balram's case, as having aspirations outside of the home.  In the novel, lower class students are mainly young boys, women are not given the opporutnities of education, but are limited to duties of the home.  Women are still viewed as objects to exploited in the Indian culture.  They are not seen as equals and boys are taught that a woman is still subservient to their masters.

Rita Marya, the editor-in-chief of Franchise India describes the growing number of Indian people able to partake in entrepreneural acts like Adiga's character, Balram does.  She notes the growing numbers of businesses that take off in India and quickly die, due to other more successful companies, or an owner not understanding how to set themselves apart and make themselves more marketable.   Marya, like Adiga, expresses the importance of giving all that one has and not being afraid to take risks when managing a business. She also warns of the corruption that has plagued India for years with the financial leaders who treat and prevent other people from creating new companies and creating upward mobility for Indians who seek a different life, than say servitude or farming. To become an entrepreneur, one must be tenacious and not be afraid of their acts as an individual to climb the 'corporate ladder.'

God of Small Things

In Arundhati Roy’s novel, The God of Small Things, Ammu’s refusal to conform to restrictions placed on gender and caste allows for her to reject the rigid social laws of her town, Ayemenem. Although Ammu is not an Untouchable, her gender prevents her from redefining long standing social structures. Ammu’s downfall occurs the day she was born because she was born a woman. Not being a man makes her undesirable in the eyes of her family. Unlike her brother Chacko, her family denies her the right to an education, instead educating her about the duties of her gender. Woman, mother, daughter are roles in place for her the day she is born.  She returns to her home of Ayemenem a divorcee who is not humble, but rather confident and free spirited.  Ammu’s family expects her to feel shame for her failures. Ammu’s strength to escape abuse chips away at history’s demands for women’s subservience. Roy describes Ammu as a woman searching for a voice in a world surrounded by traditions.  Her choice to divorce and raise two children alone shows her progressive mindset, “Maybe they’re right, maybe a boy does need a Baba” (286).  Ammu believes she is capable of taking on the roles of mother and father, but history suppresses this idea.  Ammu struggles with her role of woman as mother and breaks boundaries when she actively pursues her own personal desires, “It was what she had battling inside of her. An unmixable mix. The infinite tenderness of motherhood and the reckless rage of a suicide bomber. It was this that grew inside of her and eventually led her to love by night the man her children loved by day” (44). Before Ammu was born her life was written for her, dictating how she must live. As a woman her life has no room for desire. Ammu choses to deny history’s role for her and this denial threatens the past. Not only does Ammu break the laws of her gender, but her choice of Velutha as a lover destroys history’s caste system. Their actions defy long established boundaries. History attempts to tame the heart and Ammu and Velutha’s pursuit of desire recreates boundaries, “They knew that things could change in a day. They were right about that” (321). Ammu consciously gives into her desires; discarding the “identities” that history tells her she must obey. Breaking boundaries by herself and with Velutha are her attempts to change the past and give strength to those whose voices are lost.  

Ammu's choices and 'wild nature' constantly defies the life her family envisioned for her.  Indian tradition expects their women to conform to what has been dictated for them.  An Indian woman's duties revolve around the needs and expectations of her family and the household. Ammu's nonconformist and wild attitude threatens to disrupt the boundaries that Indian culture constructs for their women.  Ammu understood the consequences of marrying an American, the problems with sleeping with an Untouchable, but she decided to listen to HER needs and not the rules of her culture.  

In Shamim Sarif's film "The World Unseen," she frames the narrative around a woman's right to choose and the difficulties in breaking with tradition.  Sarif uses the character of Amina, an independent business owner and homosexual to comment on a woman's right to choose and the difficulties of containing what comes naturally to a person.  Amina comes from a traditional Indian background that expects her to conform and marry the man they choose for her to fulfill her duty as a daughter and honor her family.  Both Ammu and Amina subvert their gender roles by not adhering to the guidelines constructed by Indian society. For Ammu her duties encompass taking care of the household, raising her children, and performing the duties of a wife, as McLeod notes in his book titled, Postcolonialism. Amina constantly faces pressures from her community for her choice of dress: trousers, men's loafers, and blouses.  Traditionally Indian dress for a woman requires that they wear saris and for Amina to wear what she feels comfortable gives her the label of nonconformist.  In this aspect, women are subservient to their own comforts and must wear the prescribed manner of dress.  

Petra, like Ammu marries a man of a different background, refusing to acknowledge the boundaries placed on who a woman can marry and the process of marriage.  Love, like life, is instinctual and something that should have no restraints.  Petra marries a white man in 1960 South Africa.  There were bans at this time, prohibiting Indians from marrying whites.  Petra's choice to risk her life for the one she loves was slightly over-romanticized/dramatized, but Sarif's message was one of perseverance   Even though tradition runs through India and thought of disrupting scares many women, they must realize that is human nature to listen to one's own desires. 

Blog Paragraph 4: Slumdog Millionaire

Gender in Slumdog Millionaire

            In the film Slumdog Millionaire, director Danny Boyle focuses on the Orientalist stereotypes that sexualize and disempower women through their bodies and subservience to men.  According to Orientalist stereotypes, women in an Indian society are seen as sexualized beings and exist specifically for man’s pleasure and disposal. The character of Latika embodies the gender differences and enables Boyle to critique gender discourses through her fairytale existence. Latika is subservient to the dominant male society and exists as a sexual pawn that only acts when told to do so, as she does when her mob boss boyfriend commands her to make a sandwich and switch television channels.  In Latika’s childhood she stands in the rain while Jamal and Salim find protection under a shed and she must wait in the rain until given permission to enter by one of the boys.  At a young age she is conditioned to understand her subservience to men and a role that denies her a voice and mind.  A she grows she becomes man’s sexual toy and her body exploited for man’s satisfaction. Boyle shows this exploitation through his use of camera angles and lighting that highlight Latika’s beauty and allure by shooting pieces of her.  The camera focuses on her henna tattoos, jewelry, and her bare body to highlight her sensual nature.  In the camera’s eyes, Latika is a fragmented being, always doing what others expect of her and the angles in which she is shot depict the view of the world and deny her existence; she exists by the ways in which others dictate her life for her. Fragmentation in Boyle’s film explains the roles women must play in society and their lack of agency in a male dominated world. Latika is constantly shot behind bars, trains, doors which prevent her from being seen clearly and deny her a dominating presence on screen.  Latika, much like the stereotypes in place for women, represents the inequalities between men and women and women’s difficulties in finding a place in a “growing” nation that denounces gender changes.  

http://ladevey.blogspot.com/2010/05/sex-slave-trade-globalization.html
An issue that the film deals with pertains to the problem of globalization and human trafficking.  While I do not condone this horrible act, many are unaware that sexual enslavement/prostitution, as Lawrence states,"Additional evidence of licentiousness was provided by Muslim polygamy and Hindu child marriages, in which the bride was expected to have intercourse on or even before her twelfth birthday, a custom which shocked some commentators" (Lawrence 217).  In Indian culture, sex trafficking and the exploitation of child labor dates back to the 1800's.  When the British colonized India, Indians used their women and children as a way to meet the needs of the British travelers by offering services foreign and exotic to them.  Men wrote of the 'horrific sights,' but brought the customs to the attention of many people and began implementing practices. Globalization has largely contributed to the rise of capital and the demand for human trafficking.  Women and children have little to no voices in society, so therefore makes the sales realistic and plausible, no one will question the disappearance of an unknown citizen.  Many victims of this slavery are women and children of the Dalit class; the Dalit class being linked to the untouchable class.  The Dalits do not have a place within Indian society, so they are viewed as items that will not be missed, and offered up for trade. One can argue that globalization and capitalism preys on the poor. Countries with traditionally defined, class/caste systems, associate success only with the upper echelon.  The lower classes are the tools for the rich to exploit and force into human bondage.  

The video above, relates the horrors of sex trafficking, trying to raise awareness to victims.  Young girls are forced from their homes, the parents are coerced, promised money for their children's bodies, and the daughters are sent away.  The effects of capitalism and the lack of money among the lower class members is evident by some families desperation to sell their children for some money.