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Summary Of Behind The Beautiful Forevers By Katherine Boo

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Behind the Beautiful Forevers “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” by Katherine Boo is a wonderful novel about the trials many go through in the slums of modern India. This novel first introduces Abdul, a garbage sorter in the Mumbai slum of Annawadi. Abdul is hiding because he is afraid of being arrested for setting his neighbor Fatima on fire, despite the fact that he is innocent. The novel then skips backward to seven months before the burning. Another slum resident, Asha, dreams of being the first female slumlord of Annawadi, through whatever means necessary such as helping the Shiv Sena party. Asha sends her daughter, Manju, to college so that she will be able to improve their family’s situation. The conglomerate that owns the land on which Annawadi has been built is constantly threatening to demolish the slum …show more content…

Fatima engages in numerous extra-marital affairs to give herself a sense of self-worth. Abduls Mother, Zehrunisa, does not approve of her next-door neighbor Fatima. Abdul’s father, wants to one day moving his family out of Annawadi, but Zehrunisa would rather use their savings to improve their house. Zehrunisa wins, and Abdul tries to install shelves into the wall that the Husain house and Fatima’s house share. Fatima becomes upset and Zehrunisa and Fatima engage in a verbal altercation that ends in Karam ordering Abdul to beat Fatima, but Abdul refuses. Fatima sets herself on fire, and accuses the Husains of pushing her to burning herself, which is a criminal offense in India. Fatima is rushed to the hospital, while Karam, and eventually Abdul and his sister are arrested. Their time in the police station is full of beatings that only gets worse when Fatima dies. Zehrunisa bribes a police man into trying Abdul as a minor, so Abdul is sent to a juvenile detention center called Dongri. In July, Abdul, is released from Dongri until his

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