Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Chapter 14: "The Trial"

[Behind the Beautiful Forevers]

In chapter 14 “The Trial” of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo describes the trial of Karam and Kahkashan, which takes place in the city’s Fast-Track Sessions Court. Several witnesses travel from Annawadi to testify in the trail where corruption blackmail take place leading up to the final moments before the trial begins.

Boo writes “The Annawadi witnesses might remember new, devastating details of the night in question, the special executive officer had told Karam. She herself might have to testify about Fatima’s dying declaration in such a manner that a guilty verdict was all but guaranteed” (338).


Priya, Dinesh, Abdul Shaikh, and Cynthia are all called as witnesses for the prosecution during the trial. Which testimony did you find most interesting? Why? Please provide a page citation.

--Kacee Aldridge  

13 comments:

Joey N. said...

In what I have read so far, I believe that his encounters with law enforcement really help in understanding racism. His interactions are things that still to this day unfortunately happen to many African-Americans all over the world.

Alex J said...

With Cynthia's testimony, I found it so interesting how much influence judges and lawyers influence the hearing. p 351. Even today, individuals with the best lawyers usually end up with more successful cases.

Andrea R. said...

I found Dinesh's testimony to be very notable along with Cynthia's. On one hand, it shows that (from what I've gathered) the prosecution isn't above bringing in false witnesses and on the other it shows that the prosecution is not above manipulating witnesses in order to suit their needs. The prosecution here only really cares about the guilty verdict as exemplified by this quote "Cynthia's brows knitted together. She felt the prosecutor was rushing her. Didn't the judge want to hear the details of the fight she was pretending to have seen?" (pg. 350)

Unknown said...

The testimony that I found most interesting was Cynthia's. The fact that she had it set in her mind to tell a lie and then got caught telling the lie (350-351). After she was caught telling the lie, she said loudly to the Husains in the court room that she would show them (352). That just further made her look guilty that she was clearly lying.

Kiana S. said...

The most interesting testimony to me was Cynthia's. Before she went in she was so sure of herself and confident in her abilities to put the Husains in prison. Under a little pressure and with a few questions from the defender, she cracked and admitted that she was a liar (p. 351).

Sierra Ewing said...

Cynthia's testimony captured my attention. Several quotes stuck out to me and it seemed like her being in the court was more about her than it was about the trial. Here are the quotes and excerpts from the chapter that stood out to me: "Didn't the judge want to hear the details of the fight she was pretending to have seen?", "What she understood was that the judge has told the stenographer to write that she had admitted she was a liar. She wanted a correction." , "But this was a fast-track court-- a nothing case in a fast-track court." The fact that Cynthia is shown to be angry (in pages 349-352) and places blame unnecessarily at others shows me that her concern is not really about the trial or even justice. It is about herself; it is a very selfish few pages that I see a lot of focus on Cynthia and her reaction and perception of the court rather than the purpose of the justice system. It was a disheartening chapter, like the others.

Brianna B said...

On page 338, Karam spoke about paying the lawyer not the judge. I found it interesting that paying a lawyer instead of a judge was the idea that held little basis in reality.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

I found Cynthia's testimony to be the most interesting. She was so determined to put the Husains in jail she lied about witnessing the fight (350-351). Then, she cracked under pressure after only a few questions. I think this helps us see how the people of Annawadi view their justice system and law enforcement.

Anitra B. said...

I found Cynthia's testimony to be the most interesting. I found it interesting because she was intent on telling her lie to get the family thrown in jail (pg 350). Then she got caught after a few question. It's sad to see someone willing to go that far to just to hurt someone. It's crazy to all of the corruption that goes on in the town.

Unknown said...

I found Priya's testimony to be the most interesting. When Fatima comes to mind, I think of the words: "mean", "whore", "bitter", and "angry". To see someone that actually liked Fatima was very surprising to me. Although Priya admitted to her friends' tendencies to provoke arguments, she still felt as though Fatima was the only person to feel her "heart's pain".
Reading that quote just makes me think of the possibility of Fatima having another side of her that the reader hadn't learned of.

-B. Nigeda

B said...

Cynthia's testimony was most interesting, because she basically crumbles under the pressure of the prosecutor's questions. She gets caught in the middle of her lie (page 350).

Unknown said...

I found Cynthia's testimony to be the most interesting. It shows just how low people will go to make sure they get what they want. The lawyers will manipulate anyone and everyone to get they're win in the court.

Jessica Oranika said...

Cynthia's testimony was definitely the most interesting to me. (pg 350) Her lying was the worst because she wasn't doing it so much for personal gain like the officers and people who attempted to blackmail the Hussains. She simply was being a spiteful, evil person. And unlike the other blackmailers who didnt know exactly what happened, she was a witness and still had no qualms about telling her lies in court.