Abandonment: Sunil’s Drive to Survive in Behind the Beautiful Forevers Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo, records the quotidian lives of interconnected residents in Annawadi, a Mumbai slum. In this “under city”(Boo, xii) , we are introduced to individuals fighting the recursive loop of poverty. Boo depicts this reality as both a disturbing and moving testament to the hope and strength of individuals living in desperation. The juxtaposition of the glinting glass of airports and bustling hotels abutting the slums of Annawadi lends itself to seduction, providing Annawadians with optimism that “the future would look nothing like the past” (xvii). India’s rise in prosperity pushes its citizens past their limits as they are. The
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At the orphanage, Sunil grows up under the corrupt hands of Sister Paulette, but is forced to land on the streets or seek out his father for shelter whenever he falls ill. This chronic abandonment and failure to receive the necessary psychological or physical protection from his father creates a distrust towards the world. The psychological implications of his abandonment forges within him a toxic shame towards himself. This physical incapacity to grow affects him in such perverse ways that he finds himself wanting to prove his merit as he feels alone and …show more content…
He becomes literate in two languages, Marathi and Hindi, and learns how to count in English. He also makes observations that delve deeper than the academic realm. He is able to deduce some of the hypocrisies behind the orphanage: giving out ice-cream only when the newspaper photographers come or secretly reselling donated clothes. He recognizes that “nuns [aren’t] as different from regular people” (33); they participate in the orchestration of corruption in the world. His ability to identify these motives speaks to his intelligence. Sunil rarely gets angered by the ways people behave as he is able to understand and empathize with them given their similar circumstances. This can be due to his experiences of abandonment as it strengthens his mental and emotional growth, developing a greater understanding of the corrupt ways of the world; foreshadowing his departure as he does not belong “among the human traffic in the city” (197). By subduing surges of impulse, Sunil is able to test his patience and view the world through a drastically different lens, one of maturity, as opposed to that of the average
At the orphanage, Sunil grows up under the corrupt hands of Sister Paulette, but is forced to land on the streets or seek out his father for shelter whenever he falls ill. This chronic abandonment and failure to receive the necessary psychological or physical protection from his father creates a distrust towards the world. The psychological implications of his abandonment forges within him a toxic shame towards himself. This physical incapacity to grow affects him in such perverse ways that he finds himself wanting to prove his merit as he feels alone and …show more content…
He becomes literate in two languages, Marathi and Hindi, and learns how to count in English. He also makes observations that delve deeper than the academic realm. He is able to deduce some of the hypocrisies behind the orphanage: giving out ice-cream only when the newspaper photographers come or secretly reselling donated clothes. He recognizes that “nuns [aren’t] as different from regular people” (33); they participate in the orchestration of corruption in the world. His ability to identify these motives speaks to his intelligence. Sunil rarely gets angered by the ways people behave as he is able to understand and empathize with them given their similar circumstances. This can be due to his experiences of abandonment as it strengthens his mental and emotional growth, developing a greater understanding of the corrupt ways of the world; foreshadowing his departure as he does not belong “among the human traffic in the city” (197). By subduing surges of impulse, Sunil is able to test his patience and view the world through a drastically different lens, one of maturity, as opposed to that of the average