Critical Analysis Of Katherine Boo's Behind The Beautiful Forever

In the previous critical analysis on the first few chapters of Katherine Boo’s novel, ‘Behind the Beautiful Forever’, discussions were related to the general socioeconomic constraints slum dwellers face in Mumbai. This second critical analysis of chapters five through eight will focus specifically on the development obstacles of a young Muslim slum dweller, which led a simple argument amongst neighbors to result in a false conviction. While the method of discerning the development obstacles is one often used in ‘International Development’ course, the novels content will again be paired with the theoretical content present in the ‘Development and the City’ course to date. Connected to the events associated with the burning of a disabled women, topics such as natural …show more content…
While the city is home to a major financial cluster, which tends to make a city more resilient, there are glaring inequalities. This can be easily understood when reading Boo’s novel as comparisons between the slum dwellers and the rest of the city are stark. What many do not take note of, however, is that inequalities are also present amongst slum dwellers that can lead to dramatic actions done in envy, like setting oneself on fire. In this scenario it is understood that Fatima, a disabled women was envious of the current success the Husain family was having economically. After lighting herself on fire, “on arrival at Cooper [hospital], Fatima had said that Karam, Abdul, and Kahkashan had set her on fire”, a lie told to ruin the family . Reading, it was hard to believe someone would be willing to go to such extreme measure to ruin another family. Nevertheless, while some people aspire to achieve more in witnessing the cities rapid economic growth others have been crushed by experiences of destitution leaving them feeling that they have nothing to