[Behind the Beautiful Forevers]
In chapter 6 “The Hole She Called a Window” of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo writes about renovations beginning in the Husain household. The next door neighbor Fatima (One Leg) is annoyed by the construction, which leads to a series of disputes and an unpleasant experience for Fatima.
Boo writes “Seconds later, the film song was overwhelmed by a whoosh, a small boom, and an eight year old screaming, “My mother! On fire!” Kehkashan shrieked. The brothelkeeper was the first across the maidan, three boys fast behind, throwing their weight against the door until it broke. They found Fatima thrashing on the floor, smoke pouring from off her skin. At her side was a yellow plastic jug of kerosene, overturned, along with a vessel of water. She had pour cooking fuel over her head, lit a match, then doused the flames with water” (174).
Which idea from chapter 6 fascinated you most? Why or how so? Please provide a citation.
--Kacee Aldridge
14 comments:
Fatima over all fascinates me but since I'm the type of person that likes to dig around to find out exactly why a person is the way he/she is, the part in Chapter 5 about Fatima's mother was one of the more fascinating points for me. It helped me understand Fatima a bit more and the fact that her mother made difference between her daughters really bothers me.
but from Chapter 6, the part involving the officer on page 169 caught my attention as well. The police officer that was attending to Zehrunisa offered her tea and also offered her a bit of advice. "'You need to really beat the crap out of this One Leg, finish the matter once and for all.'" (169) Now, I know we hear stories (especially recently) about crooked cops and what not but I would never expect that to be a bit of advice an officer to give any person in any part of the world. Sure Fatima is a hideous person on the inside and she started an argument for no good reason and she continuously does that but I found that to be a bit much.
In the opening of Chapter 6, I found Abdul's comment about the iPod interesting, "Mirchi had told him about this iPod, and while Abdul knew little of music, he had been enchanted by the concept: a small machine that let you hear only what you wanted to hear. A machine to drown out your neighbors." (161) This quote reveals a flaw in human nature that people tend to only listen and remember what they want to, having selective hearing. I have never viewed an iPod in that way before, but now I can see the truth behind that idea.
The part I found most fascinating in chapter 6 would be when Fatima burns herself. "She want to burn herself a little, create a drama, and instead she burned herself a lot." (175) It is mind-boggling that someone could be so mad or have so much hate for another that they would harm themselves. I understand how it feels to not like your neighbors but the extreme measures she took were too much in my opinion.
I also so thought that the incident with he police officer was very interesting. In the chapter, the officer advices Zehrunisha to, " beat the crap out of this One Leg" (169) Corruption is very prominate in the city where the story takes place, so I understand that the officer was not going to be an outstanding lawman, but advising someone to harm another person seems wrong for a man of the law.
The part that I found fascinated is that when Zehrunisa went to the station to explain to the police officers that she did not assault Fatima, Asha told Zehrunisa that if she pays 1,000 rupes she would convince Fatima not to make any further trouble (168). Just because Zehrunisa's family works hard for their money and they have a little bit of money doesn't mean that Zehrunisa should have to pay Asha in order to stop Fatima from causing problems. I an really starting not to like this Asha character. I think that is just so wrong. They all know that one leg means no good. No one should be taken advantage of though. I guess Asha feels like since she helped Zehrunisa in the past that she should pay up for any further assistance.
I also thought the ipod incident was interesting,but only because Abdul chose this concept of blocking out the world over bettering his family or their situation.
While it was probably meant to be a small side comment from the narrator, I find the concept of technology to be fascinating as expressed in how Abdul felt about the iPod "he had been enchanted by the concept: a small machine that let you hear only what you wanted to hear." (161)
The reason why I find it fascinating is because the wording used gives a different meaning to the uses of an iPod. Rather than it being something to just listen to music on or play games on, Abdul views it as something that lets you hear what you want to hear. In my opinion, people in first world countries take a lot of technological advances for granted and while we may only use it for entertainment, others may use it to drown out the negativity in their life.
The idea that fascinated me the most was that if they were to give Fatima water and she dies during that "the ghost will get inside you (175)." The beliefs they have are so bizarre but interesting to think about. No one wanted to give her water because they didn't want a ghost in them, but a "luckless" girl did because she supposedly already had two others in her.
I agree with Mercedes and Shervonti; Fatima's story fascinates me. She's such a gritty, misunderstood character. I love learning more about her twisted psyche. She is a poor representation of the Annawadi slums, yet I can't seem to get enough.
The thing that I found most interesting was when Zehrunisa went down to the police station and the police officer told her "You need to really beat the crap out of this One Leg, finish the matter once and for all" (pg. 169). The police officer then told her it would be the only way to to get her to stop messing with Zehrunisa and her family. It fascinated me because even though the advice wasn't ethical, it might have worked. One Leg said that she was going to "trap" and hurt the family, and we can see that she meant it when she she set herself on fire and stated she did it because of the Husain family. So it just make me wonder if Zehrunisa had taken the officers advice or paid Asha would things have been different.
What continues to interest me is that some out of the norm continues to go on with Fatima, she herself causes problems but outside forces, such as the police officer as mentioned, continue to work against her. I think I partially am just attracted to damaged characters.
The idea that most fascinates me is that Fatima would burn herself. She let others get to her and make her so mad that she wanted to hurt herself. It makes you realize to try and not let people get to you in such a way where you're hurting yourself.
I found it interesting that Abdul's first principle of Annawadi was, "Don't call attention to yourself"(164). It's ironic because everything around him causes attention to himself.
His house being renovated causes attention (and jealousy), his mother fighting causes attention, and things like them having more money causes attention. It seems as though he violates his principles involuntarily.
-B.Nigeda
The idea that fascinated me the most was that Fatima would burn herself just to spite someone else. That seems very extreme to me. I was also fascinated by the way that everyone including Asha and the police tried to get money out of the Hussains to help them, even though they really were innocent.
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