i
ALIENATION AS THE RESULT OF SOCIAL DISPARITIES
SEEN FROM RAM MOHAMMAD THOMAS’S CHARACTER IN VIKAS SWARUP’S SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Q & A)
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Sastra in English Letter
By
INDRIANI RETNO PALUPI Student number: 044214083
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
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Kantan ni ikanai
kara ikiteyukeru
(Since things aren’t easy,
that’s w
hy I can live)
~Yui Yoshioka
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to
My late Dad,
my beloved Mom,
A. Indarto, B. Indrawan,
and my beloved man, Johan.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the very first place, I would like to thank and praise my Lord, Jesus Christ, for His blessing, guidance and miracles in finishing this thesis. I would be nothing without Him.
I send my gratitude to my advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S. S., M.Hum for her valuable guidance, time, contributions, ideas, help, patience, and SMS during my undergraduate thesis writing. My deepest appreciation goes to my co-advisor, Dr. F. X. Siswadi, M. A. for his suggestions and correction that help me improving this writing. I am also indebted to my examiner, Tatang Iskarna, S. S., M. Hum who gave me questions and critics for the sake of my work.
To my Mom, M. Th. Masita, I can hardly find the right words to thank you. Your unlimited love, supports and prays make me strong in this upside down life. To my brothers, Mas Datong and Mas Wawang, you are rock, guys! To my beloved F. X. Johan Wisnu Indrianto, I really thank you for all the things you have done for me in finishing this thesis. I love you. And to my twin sister, Ririto Hikari, I am thankful for all her supports in the very bad times.
My gratitude also goes to my best friends, Shinta and Rio who always encourage me in every single day. I also would like to thank my hilarious friends in Menur 15; Loi, Nophe, Poetri, Nina, Efin and Esther. I thank them for all incredible times in boarding house.
My special appreciation goes to my friend, Rahul Gaikwad, in Spicer Memorial College in Pune, India who has helped me much in translating and understanding the Indian words in the novel. I owe so much to you, Sunny.
Finally yet importantly, I thank all the people in English Department; the lectures, the secretariat staffs, and the friends for all the helps have been given to me. I also thank others whose names cannot be mentioned one by one.
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CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW………. 8
A. Review of Related Studies……… 8
B. Review of Related Theories……….. 10
1. Theory of Character and Characterization……… 10
2. Theory of Literature and Society……….. 13
3. Theory of Alienation………. 14
3.1. Qualities of an Alienated Person………... 15
3.2. Kinds of Alienation……… 16
3.2.1. Man‟s Alienation to Himself……… 16
3.2.2. Man‟s Alienation to Other People and to His Community………... 17
3.3. Trigger Factors of Alienation………. 17
4. Theory of Social Class……….. 19
C. Review on India‟s Economic and Social Condition in the Late of 21stCentury……….………. 19
1. Review on India‟s Social Condition in the Late of 21st Century………..….. 20
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A. The Depiction of Ram Mohammad Thomas in Vikas Swarup‟s
Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A)……….. 28
B. Social Disparity in India‟s Society in Vikas Swarup‟s Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A) through Ram Mohammad Thomas……….. 37
C. Alienation as the Result of Social Disparity Seen from Ram Mohammad Thomas……….. 45
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……….. 58
BIBLIOGRAPHY……… 61
ix ABSTRACT
INDRIANI RETNO PALUPI. Alienation as the Result of Social Disparities
Seen from Ram Mohammad Thomas’s Character in Vikas Swarup’s Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A). Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.
This thesis discusses Vikas Swarup‟s novel entitled Slumdog Millionaire, originally published as Q&A. The writer analyzes the alienation that is undergone by the main character in the novel, Ram Mohammad Thomas which is caused by
the social disparity that happens in India‟s late 21st
century. The stratification rooted from the application of caste-system in India at that time results in social disparity among classes of society that trigger alienation.
To analyze this thesis, three problems are formulated. The first problem is to identify the qualities and the characteristic of the main character. The second problem is to find out the alienation caused by social disparity seen from the
social and economic condition in India‟s late 21st
century. The last one is to reveal the effects of social disparity toward the main character.
The writer employs the sociocultural-historical approach to conduct this study. The library research method is applied in this study. The Theory of Character and Characterization, Theory of Relation between Literature and
Society, theory of Alienation, Theory of Social Class and the review on India‟s
x INTISARI
INDRIANI RETNO PALUPI. Alienation as the Result of Social Disparities
Seen from Ram Mohammad Thomas’s Character in Vikas Swarup’s Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A). Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.
Skripsi ini mengkaji novel Vikas Swarup yang berjudul Slumdog Millionaire, yang terbitkan secara resmi dengan judul Q&A. Penulis menganalisis keterasingan yang dialami oleh tokoh utama di dalam novel, Ram Mohammad Thomas, yang disebabkan oleh adanya kesenjangan sosial yang terjadi di India pada periode akhir abad ke 21. Pembagian kelas sosial masyarakat yang timbul dari adanya penerapan sistem kasta di India pada saat itu menimbulkan adanya kesenjangan sosial diantara masyarakat sehingga memicu terjadinya keterasingan.
Terdapat tiga masalah yang dirumuskan dalam skripsi ini. Masalah pertama adalah analisis mengenai kualitas dan karakteristik dari tokoh utama. Masalah kedua dirumuskan untuk mengetahui keterasingan yang disebabkan oleh kesenjangan sosial dilihat dari kondisi sosial dan ekonomi India pada tahun periode akhir abad ke 21. Permasalahan terakhir dimaksudkan untuk mengetahui pengaruh kesenjangan sosial terhadap tokoh utama.
Dalam sripsi ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosial budaya dan sejarah. Metode kepustakaan digunakan untuk memperoleh data. Untuk menganalisis skripsi ini, penulis menggunakan teori karakter dan perwatakan, teori hubungan antara literatur dan masyarakat, teori alienasi, teori pembagian kelas, serta gambaran mengenai kondisi sosial dan ekonomi masyarakat India pada periode akhir abad ke 21.
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This thesis is the study of Alienation as the Result of Social Disparities Seen from Ram Mohammad Thomas's Character in Vikas Swarup's Slumdog
Millionaire (Q & A). This chapter consists of several parts namely; background of
the study, problem formulation, objectives of the study, and the last is definition of terms.
A. Background of the Study
This world does not only consist of two or three societies. There are thousands even more that cover this earth. A society may consist of different kinds of individual characteristics, and it represents different kind of race, gender, culture, ethnicity, language, religion, social status, education, etc. When we further talk about a society, then we have to look closely at what is inside the society. If we think logically from the fact that a society represents different kind of aspects such as race, gender, culture, ethnicity, language, religion, social status, education, etc., then we will think that there must be a differentiation among the societies. For example, from the gender point of view we may find men and women, from the race point of view we may know the whites and the blacks, and from the social status view side we can find the rich and the poor, the majorities and the minorities or the upper class and the lower class.
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Sociologists use the term of social stratification to refer to the organization of inequality in a society. There are a lot of kinds of social inequalities that we may find in our surrounding. Perhaps there are numerous bases for stratifying a society, and each of us might have different ways of determining the people. According to Earl Babbie in his book titled A Context for Action Understanding Sociology, he argues that regardless of whether people are created equal, they typically live in a state of inequality. Indeed, in every society some people are more powerful than others, some have more of the good things than others, some can do things others cannot, and some can be what they want to be whereas the others cannot (1982: 191). In Earl Babbie‟s book, he and also Max Weber have stratified the society into several dimensions. Babbie divided the society based on the dimensions of kinship, economy, politics, education, religion, and also age, race and gender (1982: 194). On other hand, Weber stratifies the society into three dimensions; economic, social and political (1982: 194).
Based on the fact above, the writer realizes economic inequality as the most crucial issue that people often experienced in the surrounding society. Since thousand years ago, economic inequality and social disparities have become a serious problem in almost all countries in the world, especially in countries where there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor.
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affect their social status. Caste is essentially hereditary. Babbie also cited that according to Max Weber this hereditary character was not merely the result of monopolizing and restricting the earning opportunity to a definite maximum quota. Such quota restriction existed, and still exist in part, among the occupational castes of India; but restriction is strongest not in the cities but in the villages, where a quota restriction of opportunities has had no connection with a guild organization and no need for it. In India, the access to wealth and power varies considerably, and vast differences in socioeconomic status are evident everywhere. The poor and the wealthy people live side by side in urban and rural areas. It is common in city life to see a prosperous, well-fed man or woman chauffeured in a fine car pass gaunt street dwellers huddled beneath burlap shelters along the roadway. In many villages, solid cement houses of landowners rise not far from the flimsy thatched shacks of landless laborers. Even when not so obvious, distinctions of class are found in almost every settlement in India (Indianchild, 2000: http://www.indianchild.com/indian_society.htm).
A lot of Indians and also non-Indians tried to describe the India‟s social life, not only the glamorous one but also the unfortunate lives that the society deals with everyday. One who concerns oneself on India‟s life is Vikas Swarup. He is an Indian diplomat who is presently serving in Pretoria, South Africa. He
tried to depict the India‟s social life by writing a debut novel, Slumdog
Millionaire, originally published as Q & A. His framing written novel has been
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of his life which is ups and downs in all sorts of Indian unfortunate fates. In the novel, he became the first contestant to answer all twelve questions correctly and take the price. However, the television producers charged Ram that he must have cheated and they should not have to pay up just because Ram works as a servant. In fact, Ram really knows the answers for sure because the questions raised in the quiz were connected to his life.
Even though Slumdog Millionaire (Q & A) is not the only novel describing the poor Indian society, but this novel precisely shows the representation of reality in India. Swarup made the narrator, Ram, conveys the story in twelve frames as the twelve questions that presented on the television show Who Will Win a Billion which sent Ram tortured by the police and be alienated from society. A review
written by Becky Hazlett on
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Q_%26_A_by_Vikas_Swa rup, stated that Q & A is so visual, vivid and teeming with life like a New Delhi bazaar. The first person narrative draws you in and takes you on an action-packed adventure.
The focus of this thesis will be on Ram Mohammad Thomas‟s sufferings
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our surrounding society so that people can distinguish what the best for their own life in a society.
B.Problem Formulation
In order to specify the thesis‟s scope, the writer has formulated three
questions deal with the alienation caused by the social disparity based on Vikas
Swarup‟s Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A). The questions are following:
1. How is the main character, Ram, depicted in Vikas Swarup‟s Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A)?
2. How is the social disparity revealed through the presence of Ram in the novel?
3. How is alienation as the result of social disparity reflected through Ram?
C.Objectives of the Study
Since this thesis discusses about alienation which is undergone by the character of Ram Mohammad Thomas as the result of social disparity in India, the primary objectives of this study will be divided into three parts according to the questions formulated above.
The first objective of this study is to identify Ram Mohammad Thomas‟s
characteristics and qualities depicted in the novel. In the discussion, the writer will
analyze Ram‟s characteristics and qualities as an alienated boy by using the theory of character.
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be described by the writer accordingly to the novel discussed. The depiction of the social disparities in the novel can be seen from the main character, Ram Mohammad Thomas, events, and economic situation and also the social background of India described in the novel.
Finally, the last objective of this study is to see the effect of social disparity in India from what has been through by Ram Mohammad Thomas in the novel. In the discussion, the writer tries to give a clear depiction on how the social and economic conditions can influence the lives of individual in a society where Ram lives in, especially after Ram is successfully answer all the questions and take the prize in a quiz, Who Will Win a Billion. This part will also explain the effects of Ram‟s alienated experience as the result of social disparity that exists in India as storied in the novel.
D.Definition of Terms
There are some terms that the writer wants to define in order to avoid confusion and differences in understanding about certain terms used in this thesis, they are:
1. Alienation
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loneliness that caused by social changes in a society and it covers alienation toward society, nature, other people and him or herself.
2. Social Disparity
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A.Review of Related Studies
Social disparities have become a crucial issue that people often experienced in our surrounding society, both in a developed country and in a developing country. It can be influenced by power, wealth, social class, etc. (Johnson, 1986: 320). As stated in a study titled Comparing Brown Era Racial Disparities to Today published by Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and
Ethnicity, it is claimed that disparities exist in many levels; individual group, neighborhood, city, metropolitan area and nation (Douglas S. Massey & Nancy A Denton, 2004: 31). This study is also described that though America is a developed country, the social disparity still becomes a serious problem in that country. It is clearly depicted that the social disparity in America is mainly caused by racism between the blacks and the whites (2004: 29).
Another related study on social disparity Poverty, Inequality and Social
Disparities during China’s Economic Reform done by David Dollar said that
different kinds of disparities increase in China, especially after the government introduced a new market system; decentralized fiscal system. The result is social
inequality occurs among China‟s citizens (qtd in Dollar, 2007: 1). In this case,
9 people.
In India, there exist several dimensions of economic and social disparities of development in the country. N. J. Kurian in his article Widening Economic and Social Disparities: Implications for India stated that India suffers from acute
economic and social disparities (2007: 374). He divided disparities in India into four parts; regional, rural-urban, and social and gender. There is a wide gap between the societies live in the city and in the rural-urban area. However, their social class is also defined by their caste they belong to. The higher the caste the higher the social class they have, and this is the point that Kurian tried to explain:
The caste system practiced by the Hindu society did not allow social mobility across the classes (Kurian, 2007: 378).
The idea mentioned above means that their mobility is limited only in their caste they have, and usually the society with a lower caste will be just discriminated and rejected by the society with a higher caste.
Furthermore, Rohit Mutatkar in his study Social Group Disparities and Poverty in India tried to depict the profile of social group disparities and poverty
in India, where social groups are classified as scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and other social groups. He found that social group disparities in levels of living are
the result of historically rooted „social disadvantages‟ for scheduled caste by way
of social exclusion which continue to operate in contemporary Indian society (2005: 1).
Vikas Swarup‟s Slumdog Millionaire (Q & A) is considered as the novel
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Thomas as the character who is influenced by the social disparities that happen in India. Sandra McLean in a website mentioned that Swarup's novel takes us into the harsh reality of Indian life, but never forgets to entertain. Q and A is absolutely embedded in India with its chawls, or slums, Bollywood obsession, starving street kids, alcoholism and glistening monuments to love, and it is also a story of everymen (http://www.vikasswarup.net/index_files/Page443.html).
The writer agrees with the discussions mentioned above. However, this undergraduate thesis is also trying to develop and to find out the trigger factors
contributing to Ram Mohammad Thomas‟ alienation. The writer also tries to give
a clear depiction on how the social and economic conditions can influence the lives of individual in a society he/she lives in.
B.Review on Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
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figure that is relevant to every event in the story and usually the events cause
some changes either in him or in the reader‟s attitude toward him (1965:17).
Furthermore, M. J. Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen explains on how an author conveys to the readers the characters and the personalities of the people he writes about. Those ways of characterizing the characters are mentioned as follow (1972: 161-173).
1. Personal Description
The author describes the characters through the details of his appearance, which are shown in the physical appearance of the characters. This personal description helps the readers both to visualize the person and to understand the characteristics.
2. Characters as seen by other
The author describes a certain character through the eyes and opinion of other characters. The other characters will give explanation about what a character is like. The readers can also use their point of view to describe a certain character. 3. Speech
The author gives the readers an insight into the character in the work through what a person says. It can be seen whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with other characters, whenever he puts forward an opinion we can see his characteristics.
4. Past life
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something about a person‟s past life. This can be done by direct comment by the
author and through the person‟s thought, his conversation or the medium of
another person. The character‟s past life is always closely related to his present
life. The pictures of the character‟s life can trace the motives of his recent actions.
5. Conversation of other
The author gives the readers clues to a person‟s character through the
conversation of the other people and the things they say about him. The conversation of the other characters can be used by the readers to support their judgment on a certain character.
6. Reaction
The author can also gives the reader a clue to a person‟s character by
letting them know how a certain character reacts to various situation and events. This means that the character shows his or her personality from his or her actions. These actions are related to his or her inner motives and thoughts.
7. Direct comment
The author describes or gives comment on a person‟s character directly.
This comment will let the readers know about the character‟s description. 8. Thoughts
13 9. Mannerisms
The author gives description on a person‟s mannerism, habit or idiosyncrasies which may also tell the readers about his or her characteristics.
Another theory of character and characterization is proposed by Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. In their book titled Fiction: an Introduction to Reading and Writing, they define a character as an extended verbal representation
of a human being, the inner self that determines thought, speech and behavior (1986: 119). So, a character in fiction may have the characteristics of human being in a society since it is a representation of a real life. A character is also must be consistent in his/her behavior, clearly motivated and credible. Consistent means that a character can change if there is strong reason, for instance when somebody feels depressed in his poverty, he can change to become a thief or something similar. A character also to have clear motivation when he changes his minds, and the reason has to be acceptable (Kenney, 1988:67) Moreover, Roberts and Jacobs mentioned that there are four ways in determining the qualities of characters or what-so-called as characterizing the characters. Those are by examining what the character says, what the character does, what the other characters say about a certain character and what the author says about those characters (1986: 122-124).
2. Literature and Society
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society. That is why the theory of literature and society is needed in this thesis. Rene Wellek and Austen Warren in their book Theory of Literature stated that literature represents life, and life is a social reality (1956: 94).
3. Alienation
There are three main definitions of alienation used in this thesis. According to a book titled Theories of Personality, Richard M. Ryckman defines alienation as feeling of powerlessness and aloness experienced by individuals who have rejected traditional values of society and are incapable of instituting a social and political system compatible with their own values and principles (1989: 167). Whereas Richard A. Kalish describes alienation as an experience when people do not feel they belong to their community or when they feel that they cannot relate to a group (1973: 44-45). In line with Kalish, Gold argues that there are three interrelated meanings that have been suggested to alienation, they are isolation, feeling of powerlessness, an identity crisis (Kalish, 1973: 45). Therefore, from Ryckman, Kalish and Gold definition of alienation is a human experience which includes the feeling of loneliness, powerlessness, meaninglessness, isolation, and separation with himself, other people and the society they live in.
15 a. Qualities of Alienated Person
In order to be acquainted with the term of alienation the writer thinks that it is important to understand the quality of a person who is experiencing alienation. There are several qualities of an alienated person. Karl Marx explains that when people are alienated they feel powerless, isolated, and feel the social world is meaningless. They look at the social institutions as beyond their control, and consider them oppressive (Elwell, 1989:78). Furthermore, an alienated person
is “out of touch with himself as he is out of touch withany other person”. One is
emotionally distant with other people as well as with oneself. (Kalish, 1973: 44). In addition, from the book The Sane Society, it is suggested that the alienated person lacks a feeling of selfhood and experiences himself in terms of a response to the expectation of others (Fromm, 1955: 193). Craving for acceptance is also a very characteristic feeling in the alienated person. The only safe thing to do for having a sense of identity is conformity (Fromm, 1955: 155). An alienated person tries as best as he or she can to be the same as other people. Being the same with other people makes one feels secure and accepted by other people. Alienated person feels secure in being as similar as possible to the others. He or she wants to be approved by others because to be different and to be a minority threatened his or her sense of security.
Therefore, he or she craves for limitless conformity. Any deviation from the pattern, any criticism, arouses fear and insecurity: one is always dependent in the approval of others, just as a drug addict is dependent on his drug, and
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weaker (Fromm, 1955: 197). Another characteristic of an alienated person is that an alienated person has so much guilty feeling. He feels guilty for being himself, and not for being himself, for being alive and for being automaton, for being a person and for being a thing (Fromm, 1955: 205).
b. Kinds of Alienation
Identifying the kinds of alienation might help the writer to get closer with the meaning of alienation itself, so that the writer can draw the characteristics of an alienated person.
There are two kinds of alienation; they are the alienation from oneself, and the alienation from other people, and from the world in which one lives. These two kinds of alienation are interconnected and explained as follow:
i. Man’s Alienation to Himself
Fromm describes the relationship of a man toward himself as “marketing
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a failure; if he succeeds, he is a success (Fromm, 1955: 142). ii. Man’s Alienation to Other People and to His Community
Fromm states that a person‟s relationship to other person is like “two
living machine who use each other”. Human relations are based on their needs.
There is, rather, a superficial friendlineness, and a more than superficial fairness, but behind the surface is distance and indifference (Fromm, 1955: 139). Yet, man is a social being with a deep need to share, to help, to feel as a member of a group.
However, in modern man the individual is motivated by egoistical interest, and not by solidarity with and love for his fellow man (Fromm, 1955: 140). Furthermore, Fromm also states that in the modern time, most of people see the
value of one‟s life from one‟s possessions or status. This condition creates a hard
competition between the people and makes the people forget that they have some needs as a social being. So, man is alienated from other people. The alienation between man and man results in the loss of those general and social bonds.
c. Trigger Factors of Alienation
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individual feel small and powerless in the midst of torrents of social forces that
are far beyond one person‟s control (2009:
www.thehealthcenter.info/emotions/alienation/causes.htm). In a society where there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor or in a country where there is a high rate of poverty, such as India, alienation happens. Moreover, Norman Uphoff states that in India there is the special problem which few people are willing to talk about it. Even after 50 years, there is still strong residual discrimination against persons born into scheduled-caste or scheduled-tribe families. There are some exceptions, as some of these households have been able to climb up some rungs on the socio-economic ladder. But this is the one of the most glaring sources of poverty and inequality in India: the continuing effect of a caste system several thousand years old (Uphoff, 1974:14-15).
Generally, Julian Blackburn in her book The Framework of Human Behavior said that most societies appear to possess the same form of class system,
though the degree of mobility between the different classes has varied enormously from the rigidity of a caste-system, including sex, age, conquest, birth and relationship, occupation, education, wealth, intelligence (1947: 121).
In line with the arguments above, Allan Fromme also argues that alienation
19 4. Theory of Social Class
According to Johnson, inhabitants can be classified based on several things. In traditional cultures, religion, genealogical background, and possession of means of production were the dividing elements on which the class division was based. As societies expand and become more complex, occupation, education and qualification, income and wealth, and wealth and properties are the new elements to divide people into some different classes. The more these qualifications people have, the higher the class they can obtain (1986:327). Furthermore, the concept of social class lies in the differences in life opportunities which are reflected in housing, education and health. Life opportunities will be greater if people can provide themselves with material goods and an appropriate of living, but people from the lower class will concentrate in how they can afford their basic necessities with their limited resources and abilities.
C.Review on India’s Economic and Social Condition in the Late of 21st Century
The writer attaches the review of India in the late of 21st century because the author of Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A) uses that period of time and the society
in India as his story‟s background. So, this part will provide some general
depictions on India‟s economic and social condition for a better understanding that
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i. Review on India’s Social Condition in the Late of 21st Century
The Indian society is not a uniform one. This is a natural corollary to the fact that diversity is a part of Indian way of life. From region to region, diversity in the social structure is prominently seen. It is estimated that there are more than 2,000 ethnic groups in India. According to Society and Culture Tour India, unity
in diversity is best seen in India in a maze of seemingly disparate peoples.
Religion, caste, and language are major determinants of social and political
organization in India.
One social unifier is the Indian system of caste system adhered to by all racial groups belonging to the Hindu religion fold. Lambasted by many as a retrogressive social tradition, this system has also given the Indians a sense of belongingness to a shared way of life (Trinetra Tours, 2006: http://destinationsindia.com/india/society-culture.html). Dalits, a member of the lowest caste in India, who are outcastes are the worst victims of caste-discrimination followed by the adivasis, a member of an aboriginal tribal people
of India, who are outside the caste hierarchy (Kurian‟ 2007:378)
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Hinduism but also exist among other Indian religious groups. Muslims sometimes expressly deny that they have castes but observation of Muslim life in various parts of India reveals the existence of caste-like groups and clear concern with social hierarchy. Among Indian Christians, too, differences in caste are acknowledged and maintained <http://countrystudies.us/india/82.htm>.
Deal with religion, the data shows that India consists of 81.4% Hindu, 12.4% Muslim and 2.3% Christian <http://destinationsindia.com/india/society-culture.html>. There are many contradictions between Moslem and Hindu in India. Until now they often attack each other in some parts of India, both in the
rural and urban (Jupiter Infomedia, 2008:
http://www.indianetzone.com/25/social_condition_india_during_pratiharas.htm).
ii. Review on India’s Economic Condition in the Late of 21st Century
Based on a study titled China and India: Growth and Poverty, 1980-2000 done by T.N. Srinivasan and Samuel C. Park Jr., India is the world's second populous economies accounting for nearly 2-5 billion or 40% of the estimated 6.25 billion human beings of the world in 2002. This country enjoyed historically unprecedented average rate of growth of GDP at around 10% and 6% per year respectively during late 21st century. In 1980s, India faced a fragile growth of economic, but in 1990s India experienced a triumph of reforms by acquiring some new policies (Srinivasan, 2003: http://siepr.stanford.edu/publicationsprofile/1283).
As it is cited by Indianchild on
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economic changes led to the growth in the number of Indians with significant economic resources. About 10 million Indians are considered upper class, and roughly 300 million are part of the rapidly increasing middle class. Typical middle-class occupations include owning a small business or being corporate executive, lawyer, physician, white-collar worker, or land-owning farmer. Unbelievably, around eighty percent of the populations of India are living in poverty, and it is estimated that 332 million people or 38 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Farmers and other rural residents make up the large majority of India's poor. Some own very small amounts of land while others are field hands, semi nomadic shepherds, or migrant workers. The urban poor include many construction workers and petty vendors (Heitzman, 1995).
In the middle of 1990s, domestic and foreign businesses hoped to take advantage of India's economic liberalization to increase the range of consumer products offered to this market. In spite of significant leaps made by India in the economic front, poverty is still a dominant social reality. A majority of the population of India lives in utter poverty without access to health care, housing, drinking water and education.
D.Theoretical Framework.
There are three theories used in this thesis. They are theory of character and characterization, theory of literature and society, and theory of alienation.
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examine the intrinsic elements of the novel, Slumdog Millionaire. By using this theory, the writer tries to find out the characteristics of the major character, Ram Mohammad Thomas, who experiences the alienation. It is also important to
determine the character‟s development.
The second theory is theory of literature and society. This theory is applied to analyze the relationship between the work and the real society. Since literature is a representation of a real society, therefore this theory is used to examine that the novel is a representation of the society when the novel is written by the author. The last theory used in this thesis is theory of alienation. This theory reveals the condition of an individual who is being alienated. It consists of theory on qualities of alienated person, kinds of alienation and trigger factors of
alienation. In this case, theory of alienation is used to determine Ram‟s alienation
storied in the novel. This analysis will provide the thesis about the fact that alienation is a representation of India‟s society at that time.
The review on India‟s society and economic condition is also important to
give a clear depiction about what is trying to be described by the author about the
24 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A.Object of the Study
Q & A is a novel written by Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat who serves
in Pretoria, South Africa. Q and A is his first novel. A career diplomat, he has written two novels so far, those are Q & A and Six Suspects. With these novels, Vikas Swarup joins other writers from India who write in English. This genre of writing is variously referred to as Indian Literature in English, Indian English Literature, and South Asian Literature.
Through this novel, Vikas Swarup is trying to describe the India‟s social and economic condition. Angelina Nachimuthu argued that Q & A has all the ingredients of a blockbuster Bollywood (Hindi) Masala movie: romance, tragedy, violence and a happy ending. It seems appropriate that the novel which resembles a fast pace movie was turned into a movie. The Oscar award winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire, takes the basic plot of the novel and focuses on three
characters (Ram, Salim and Nita) and enlarges the romance angle. Ram Mohammed Thomas becomes Jamal in the movie. The personalities of the three
characters are also different. From questions and answers about an orphan‟s life
experiences the movie centers on rags to riches story of a slum boy whose mother is killed in Hindu-Muslim riots.
25
different, but the whole story is still the same, it is about Ram Mohammad
Thomas‟s alienation. The novel is divided into twelve different frames, according
to the twelve questions that represents Ram‟s story of life.
The story begins when Ram is arrested after he has succeeded answering the twelve questions on a quiz show. Ram is charged into a prison since the director and the manager suspected him cheating. In fact Ram did no cheating at all. As storied in the novel, Ram really knows the answer, but the director argued that Ram must have been cheated because Ram is only an uneducated servant
from a lower social class. The rest of the novel describes about Ram‟s alienation
experience and his struggle to get out of the alienation caused by the social disparity that happen in his country.
A.Approach of the Study
The writer uses the socio-cultural historical approach to literature since the writer wants to analyze the alienation which is experienced by the main character, Ram Mohammad Thomas. According to Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods in a book titled Reading and Writing about Literature,
Socio-cultural historical approach to literature locates the real work in reference to the civilization that produced it. Civilization includes the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people and literature take these attitudes and actions as its subject matters. Therefore, the social milieu in which a work was created and which it necessarily reflect needs to be investigated (1971: 9).
26
approach is also acts as an imitation of a certain society reality where the author of a literary work lives.
B.Method of the Study
A library research was used by the writer. The writer collected the data from books and various published and printed journals. There are three sources that were applied for this study. The primary source was taken from Vikas
Swarup‟s novel, Slumdog Millionaire (Q & A). Next, the theories taken from
several books were considered as the second data. Those were Theory of Character and Characterization, Theory of Literature and Society, and Theory of
Alienation. The third source were taken from some internet cites on Indian‟s
social and economic condition, alienation, social disparity and on the description of the novel itself.
While the approach used in his study was the socio-cultural historical approach proposed by Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods in a book titled Reading and Writing about Literature.
27
stories in the novel become chronologically written. The writer did this in order to make it easier in understanding the whole novel.
The second step was studying the major character carefully and his attitude toward the society he lives in to get the idea of alienation he experienced of. The writer also examined the social life depicted in the novel in order to get the thought that the caste-system and the society where the major character lives influenced his manner and his characteristic development.
Next, the writer reviewed the India‟s social and economic condition in
28 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part will answer the question of how are the characteristics of Ram Mohammad Thomas are depicted in the novel. It is important to understand the main character thoroughly so that the qualities of an alienated person as the effect of social disparity can be drawn in the next part. To understand the qualities of an alienated person, it is better to know the background of the society where the character lives as described by the author through the main character in the novel. It is discussed in part two. The discussion of the last part will give details on the alienation as the result of social disparity toward the character of Ram Mohammad Thomas. In this part the writer
will also give the reader Ram‟s qualities as an alienated person, and give a clear depiction on how the social and economic conditions can influence the life of Ram Mohammad Thomas.
A. The Depiction of Ram Mohammad Thomas in Vikas Swarup’s Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A).
Vikas Swarup carries Ram Mohammad Thomas as the main character in Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A) who represents a character that undergoes alienation.
29
story and usually the events cause some changes either in him or in the reader‟s
attitude toward him (1965: 17). From Stanton‟s statement, it can be established
that Ram is the main character in the novel since he appears in every event. The novel is framed into twelve chapters and those chapters take Ram in it. From the depiction of Ram, it can be seen that Ram is also a good story teller because he narrates his experiences in details. In this case, the author of Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A) uses Ram to be the first person narrator to describe all the happenings in
the novel.
“Smita returns with a plate and a glass in her hand. I smell food. „I know you must be hungry, so I‟ve brought you some chapattis, some mixed vegetables and a Coke. It was all I had in my fridge.‟
I grasp her hand. It feels warm and moist. „Thank you‟ I say. I still
don‟t know how she got to the police station, or why. All she had told me
is that she read about my arrest in the papers and came as she could. Now I am at her house in Bandra. I will not ask her when she brought me here, or
why. One doesn‟t question a miracle.” (Swarup, 2006:15)
Furthermore, M. J. Murphy in his book titled Understanding Unseen has
mentioned nine ways of determining a person‟s characteristic and personality. The
first way is by looking at the personal description of a character given by the author in the novel. In Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A), the author, Vikas Swarup, does not give the personal description of the main character, Ram Mohammad Thomas, explicitly, but Swarup gives it implicitly through what Ram says and feels. In the novel, Ram complains about his physical appearance. He always
compares himself with his best friend, Salim. “Salim is everything that I am not.
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not as divine as Salim‟s face, and he has no dimple when he smiles. Moreover
Ram says, “Salim has become taller and more handsome. At sixteen, he looks as good as any Bollywood film star. The hard life of the city has not corrupted him
like it corrupted me.” (p. 193). From Ram‟s utterances, it can be seen that he feels
so uncomfortable with his physical appearance because he looks older than his actual age.
Another way of determining someone‟s characteristic is by the impression
of other‟s opinion or comments. The other character gives explanation about what
a character is like. In the workplace, Ram is described as a loyal person. Loyal
here means that Ram can be trusted by other people. It can be seen from Ram‟s
action when he works as a servant at Colonel Taylor, an Australian diplomat. Working over a year, Ram realizes that The Taylors has changed their servants for more than ten times. Only Ram who survives. The prior servants were fired by Colonel Taylor for mistakes they did. Amazingly, Colonel Taylor knows everything that happens in the house, and he is known as Man Who Knows. Learning from this situation and promising himself not to lose the job, Ram tries to give the best for Taylor family. Ram avoids doing errors, always being honest and loyal. Furthermore, the most important thing he has learned from the house is
that trying not to take parts into Colonel Taylor‟s family matters. Ram‟s loyalty
and honesty is approved by Colonel Taylor through the speech below:
“Colonel Taylor returns to Delhi without even attending his mother‟s funeral. He rushes into the den as soon as the taxi pulls up
outside the house. He comes up looking relieved. „Thank God, nothing has been taken from the room. Well done, Thomas. I knew I could rely on
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The next way of determining a person‟s characteristic is by looking at the
speech. By doing this way, the author gives the readers an insight into the character in the work through what a person says. It can be seen whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with other character, or whenever he puts forward an opinion. By looking at the speeches in the novel, the writer finds that Ram is also described as a person who has a big curiosity. Since his childhood, Ram likes to have something new and challenging things and he wants to know all the things that happen around him. He also loves to see and pay attention toward other people‟s actions and utterances. For instance, when he lives
in St. Mary‟s Orphanage House he likes to notice the attitudes and the deeds of
Father John, a guest pastor who is responsible for the Church while Father Timothy is overseas. Ram considers Father John as a weird man, and as a child, he just does not like Father John. Ram keeps an eye for Father John. As the result, Ram finds that Father John uses heroin, and Father John tries to do sex abuse to
Ian, Father Timothy‟s biological child from England. Ram tells all what he has seen and heard to Father Timothy, and Father Timothy becomes very angry. At the end, Father Timothy commits suicide after shooting Father John into death.
“I decide to follow one of these visitors to Father John‟s room. He knocks and enters, and Father John closes the door. I peer through the keyhole. I know I m doing a very bad thing, but my curiosity is killing me. Through the keyhole, I see Father John and the young leather-clad man sitting on the bed. Father John opens his drawer and takes out a plastic
packet, which has some white powder in it.” (Swarup, 2006:46).
Further example of Ram‟s big curiosity is when he finds Gupta, the head of the
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finds that Gupta tries to abuse Salim. He screams and frights because the event he saw reminds him about Father John and Ian.
“Why is he calling me?” he asked me.
“I don‟t know,” I reply. “I‟ve never been to his room. But we can find out today.”
So Salim walks down to Gupta‟s room, and I tiptoe behind him.
Gupta is sitting in his room wearing crumpled kurta pajama when
Salim knocks on the door. “Come…come, Salim,” he says in a slurred voice. He has glassful of golden liquid in his hand. He gulps it down and wipes his mouth. His eyes look like big buttons. I watch from the little
space between the two curtains in the doorway. He strokes Salim‟s face,
tracing his fingers over his bony nose and thin lips. Then he abruptly he
orders, “Take off your shorts.” (Swarup, 2006:78)
From the conversations above, the writer can obtain the picture of Ram‟s
characteristic. In this case, Ram‟s speech when he speaks with Salim can
strengthens the sense of his big curiosity.
Knowing the past life of a person also can be the way of determining
his/her characteristic. In the workplace, Ram‟s childhood is described as unhappy
one. He has an unordinary life since his childhood because he was born as an
orphan. Ram has no father, no mother or any sibling since he was born. Ram‟s
mother left him in front of the Church of St. Mary‟s gate on one Christmas night,
and that was the first day Ram meet Father Timothy, a priest who raised Ram until he is eight years old, before Father Timothy is dead in a miserable way. Ram lives
in St. Mary‟s Orphanage House under Father Timothy‟s responsibility. At first,
33
a perfect life and family is all gone. Father Timothy is not his father, and his brothers and sisters in the orphanage house are not his biological brothers and sisters, but they are the children who have the same fate with Ram. Ram feels sad and very disappointed when Father Timothy finally explains in the gentlest possible way that Ram is only an orphan child. He never knows his biological mother, neither his father.
“…that was why he was white and I was not. It was then, at the
first time, that I understood the distinction between father and Father. And that night, for the first time, my tears had nothing to do with physical
pain.” (Swarup, 2006:42).
The quotation above also shows Ram‟s feeling after knowing the fact that
Father Timothy is not his biological father. What Ram has in his mind at that time lets the readers know about his process of life.
Furthermore, characteristic of a person can be seen by giving a clue to a
person‟s character through the conversation of the other people and the things they
say about him. In the novel, the conversation between Ram, Gudiya and Mrs. Shantaram can give a clear depiction that Ram is a person who can keep his words. It is seen after Ram visits his neighbor Gudiya, a girl in the chawl, a large building divided into separate tenements that offering cheap and basic accommodation. Gudiya, who has to be hospitalized because she is tortured by her own father, asks Ram to take care of her cat at home.
“Do me a favor, Ram Mohammad Thomas,” Gudiya says. “Please look after Pluto till I return home.”
“Definitely.” I promise.
Suddenly she stretches out her arm and takes my hand in hers.
“You are the brother I never had. Isn‟t he, Mummy?” she says. Mrs.
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The above conversation makes Ram feels significant. The above conversation also implies that Gudiya and Mrs. Shantaram believe Ram can keep his words. From that day, Ram promises that he will do anything to help Gudiya
from her father‟s bad attitudes. Ram proves his promise by pushing Mr.
Shantaram, Gudiya‟s father, to the ground from the upstairs when Mr. Shantaram tries to abuse his own daughter. Ram thinks that Mr. Shantaram has dead, so he runs off from the chawl and shifts to Delhi.
Moreover, Ram is a character that makes some great deal of changes in his life. Ram becomes a person who has a strong commitment and big power to stay
alive in the middle of India‟s slum area. It can be seen from his reaction in facing
his unfortunate life. In this case, he has strong reasons to change his unfortunate life into a better one. He tries to overcome and gets out from bad lucks and poverty by doing hard work. Moreover, it is for his belief in miracle that nothing
is ever impossible. For instance, Ram escapes from Sethji‟s house, where children
are formed to be blind and cripple so that they can beg on local trains and streets. He escapes with his best friend, Salim, whom Ram meets in the juvenile house.
Furthermore, the biggest change of Ram‟s life is when he joined a quiz show
called Who Will Win a Billion, a quiz with a billion rupee as the grand prize. There are some strong reasons why Ram participates in the quiz; the first is that he wants to have a lot of money to get a better life, especially to set Nita free from
35
Ram knows that the host of Who Will Win a Billion is Prem Kumar. The quotation below also shows that Ram is a person who has strong commitment, and he can survive to make his dreams come true although he has to live under oppression in
India‟s poor economic and harsh society.
“A sense of defeat has begun to cloud my mind. I feel that the specific purpose for which I came to Mumbay is beyond me. That I am swimming against the tide. That powerful currents are at work which I
cannot overcome. But then I hear my beloved Nita‟s cries and Neelima Kumari‟s sob, and my willpower returns. And I have to get onto that show. And till that happens, I will continue to listen to the stories of the
drunkards in this city” (Swarup, 2006:135).
. The writer uses the last way of determining a person‟s characteristic that
is by looking at the manner of the main character, Ram Mohammad Thomas. In the novel, Ram is a consistent character. He is described as a person who clearly motivated and has a strong will. However, William Kenney (1988) argues that the consistency of a character can change if there is strong reason, for instance when somebody feels depressed in his poverty, he can change to become a thief or something similar. In the story, Ram who lives in poverty since a child becomes an individual who bravely stealing things. As it is mentioned above, when Ram lives in a chawl he begins to steal newspaper from his neighbor, Mr. Barve. Ram steals the newspaper or sometimes milk because he does not have money to buy newspaper and milk. Furthermore, when Ram grows up, he also steals some money from the owner of a chawl when he lives in a suburban area in Agra. He steals the money with a reason; he wants to set Nita free from the prostitution
world. Shyam, Nita‟s pimp offers Ram to pay four lakh rupees, or four hundred
36
rupees, Ram is also permitted to marry Nita. Therefore, Ram whose his income as a guide is not enough to pay Shyam decides to steal the money from the owner of his chawl in Agra, Queen Swapna Devi.
“I feel no qualms about stealing from the safe. I stuff the four bundles into my pockets, close the safe, return the painting and the key to their original locations and exit the way I came.
I rush into my room in the outhouse, lock the door behind me, and sit down to count the loot. The four bundles total 399,844 rupees.” (Swarup, 2006:290).
What is said by Ram above also shows that Ram feels sure when he steals the money from the safe. It implies that Ram is a constant character who feels no doubt anymore in doing his actions. Moreover, the author, through Ram character,
gives a direct comment saying that Ram comes from India‟s slum area, and gives
a direct description informing that India is a country that maintains the gap between the rich and the poor.
“My departure from Asia‟s biggest slum would make no difference
to their lives. There are those who will say that I brought this upon myself. By dabbling in that quiz show. They will wag a finger at me and remind me that the elders in Dharavi say about never crossing the dividing line that separate the rich from the poor. After all, what business did a penniless waiter have participating in a brain quiz? The brain is not an organ we are authorized to use. We are supposed to use only our hands and
legs.” (Swarup, 2006:2).
By closely looking at the novel, it can be derived that Ram is also a good learner and he is smart. Although Ram has never been to school, he can keep up with anything that presents around him. He is the only child who can speak English, which he previously learns from Father Timothy, in the juvenile house.
Ram loves to broaden his knowledge by reading and listening to other‟s
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makes fondue. He also becomes an expert at mixing drinks and measuring whisky
by the shot since The Taylor‟s house has a small bar in it. Ram likes to read
Australian Geographic, which he considers as the best magazine on earth as well.
His big interest toward Australian Geographic is confirmed by buying those magazines, which has been sold by The Taylors, from kabariwalla, a neighborhood junk dealer in India. He spends his spare times reading the magazines and improve his English by watching Australian channels. Ram also loves to read in order to broaden his knowledge. Indeed, he has no money to buy newspaper or any books, but he occasionally find another way to have newspapers.
“I don‟t read the Maharashtra Times. In fact, I don‟t read
any newspaper. But I occasionally pilfer a copy from Mr. Barve‟s rubbish
bin.” (Swarup, 2006:54).
B. Social Disparity in India’s Society in Vikas Swarup’s Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A) through the Character of Ram Mohammad Thomas
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(1956:94). That is why the social backgrounds are very important to influence literature. A lot of literary works are written according the setting of time and place where the author lives. Slumdog Millionaire (Q&A) is also written at the same place and the period when the alienation as the result of social disparity happens in India. The author creates the character Ram Mohammad Thomas who has the qualities of an alienated person caused by the social disparity in India suburban area as Ram experiences being a person from the lower class.
First of all, the writer will focus on India‟s society system that is supposed
to have a caste system in it which has been rooted for decades. The caste system practiced by the Hindu society is not allowing social mobility across the classes. Though other religions are supposed to be casteless, in the Indian context all religious groups covertly practice caste-based discrimination. Dalits, a member of the lowest caste in India, who are outcastes are the worst victims of caste-discrimination followed by the adivasis, a member of an aboriginal tribal people of India, who are outside the caste hierarchy (Kurian, 2007:378). At this point, the writer argues that the main character in the novel, Ram Mohammad Thomas, comes from the lower caste in the society he lives in. The writer agrees the words
saying that the determination of one‟s caste-belongings is based on several determiners. Julian Blackburn in the book titled The Framework of Human Behavior states:
“Most societies appear to possessed the same form of class system,
though the degree of mobility between the different classes has varied enormously from the rigidity of a caste-system, including sex, age, conquest, birth and relationship, occupation, education, wealth,
39
The author gives a vivid depiction about the social condition of India at the mentioned times in the novel through Ram character. Considering the society where Ram lives, it can be revealed that he comes from lower class since he lives in slum or in sub-urban area which is believed as the origin of the poor. The description of the society at that time can be seen as follow:
“I live in a corner of Mumbai called Dharavi, in a cramped
hundred-square-foot shack that has no natural light or ventilation, with a corrugated metal sheet serving as the roof. It vibrates violently whenever a train passes overhead. There is no running water and no sanitation. This is all I can afford. But I am not alone in Dharavi. There are a million people like me, packed in a two-hundred-hectare triangle of swampy urban
wasteland, where we live like animal and die like insects.” (Swarup,
2006:135).
It also has been described in the novel that before Ram moves to Mumbai and wins the quiz‟s prize, Ram used to live in Agra and work as a guide in Taj Mahal. Becoming a guide is the only thing Ram can do to get some money rather than dying for hungry. Although he receives more money than his previous time by doing this job, Ram is still included as a person from the lower class since he dwells in a cheap chawl with forty rooms on it. He also deals with lower-class people since the people who live in a chawl are people who have less money and are uneducated. Ram himself also realize this matter and argues, „Those who can afford to live in Nariman Point,the heart of the financial and business district in Mumbai with access to major corporate houses, entertainment, recreation and shopping centers, never stay in chawls, not even temporarily,‟ (2006:57). It means that it is impossible for people who have bunch of money living in a cheap chawl
in slum area in India. However, Ram‟s life gets better after he lives in Mumbai
40 in the novel as follow:
“A bundle of one-room tenements occupied by the lower-middle-classes, chawls are the smelly armpit of Mumbai. Those who live in are the only marginally better off than those who livein slums in Dharavi. As Mr. Barve told me once, the rich people, those who live in their marble and granite four-bedroom flats, they enjoy. The slum people, who live in the squalid, tattered huts, they suffer. And we, who reside in the overcrowded
chawls, we simplylive.” (Swarup, 2006:56).
Furthermore, the society in India is said to be a country with its plurality, including the people, culture, race, language, religion, social-class, education, etc. Ram Mohammad Thomas is the example of the plurality in India. As it is storied in the novel, Ram‟s full name is a combination of three main different religions that exist in India. Based on the factual data, India consists of 81.4% Hindu, 12.4% Muslim and 2.3% Christian <http://destinationsindia.com/india/society-culture.html>. Therefore, Ram whose his former name is Joseph Michael Thomas, a name given by Father Timothy, has to change his name since there is a protest from All Faith Community. The community, that sends Mr. Jagdis Sharma as the representative of Hindu, and Mr. Inayat Hidayatullah as the representative of
Muslim, make a complaint about the orphan child‟s name. They want to
recommend a name according to the religion they hold. Mr. Sharma proposes Ram to be the name of the child, but Mr. Hidayatullah wants the child to have named Mohammad.
„What name have you given this boy?‟ „Joseph Michael Thomas‟
„Isn‟t that a Christian name?‟ „Yes, but…‟
„How do you know that he was born to Christian parents?‟ „Well, I don‟t.‟
„Thenwhy have you given him a Christian name?‟
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Michael Thomas?‟
„Everything…‟ (Swarup, 2006:38).
Here, Mr. Jagdis Sharma explains the reason why they have to change the
boy‟s name. It is caused by the mob between religious groups that happens in
India at that time, so that the boy‟s name has to be changed to prevent the situation
from getting worse. As it is depicted in the review on social condition of India, the novel also takes the situation of movements among religions in it. Therefore, it is proper to say that literature is mirroring on the real situation of the real society.
„What do you suggest I do?‟
„Suggest you to change the boy‟s name.‟ „To what?‟
„Well…giving him a Hindu name might do the trick. Why not name him Ram, after one of our favorite gods? Said Mr. Sharma
Mr. Hidayatullah coughed gently, „Excuse me, Mr. Sharma, but aren‟t we replacing one evil with another? I mean, what is the proof that
the boy was Hindu at birth? He might have been Muslim, you know. Why
can‟t he be called Mohammad?‟
Finally, Father Timothy gave up. „Look, if it takes a name change
to get the mob off my back, I will do it. How about if I accept both your
suggestions and change the boy‟s name to Ram Mohammad Thomas? That
should satisfy everyone.‟ (Swarup, 2006:39).
It can be implied from the quotation that Indian‟s society acknowledges
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It is also said that castes are primarily associated with Hinduism but also exist among other Indian religious groups. Muslims sometimes expressly deny that they have castes--they state that all Muslims are brothers under God, but observation of Muslim life in various parts of India reveals the existence of caste-like groups and clear concern with social hierarchy. Among Indian Christians, too, differences in caste are acknowledged and maintained <http://countrystudies.us/india/82.htm>. An example that religion takes a great
deal on people‟s life can be noticed through the society. The gap between one
religion to another religion, for instance Muslim and Hindu, is clearly depicted in the novel. As in the reality, the mobs among religious groups are still prevalent and they often attack each other in some parts of India. We may see from the
event after Ram escapes from Sethji‟s house together with Salim. When Ram tries
to get a job in Neelima Kumari‟s house as a servant, Neelima, who is Hindu,
cannot accept Salim who is Muslim in her house since Neelima‟s mother cannot
lives together with a Muslim.
“What is your name?” she asks Salim. “Salim.”
“Oh, you are Muslim, aren‟t you?”
Salim nods.
“Look, I am sorry, but my aged mother, who lives with me, cannot
eat anything touched by a Muslim. I personally don‟t believe in all this
polluting-contact nonsense, but what am I to do?” she shrugs her shoulders. Salim looks crest-fallen.
Then she turns to me. “And what about you? What is your name?”
“Ram,” I tell her. (Swarup, 2006:212).
The conversation above means that Ram is also Hindu, so that Neelima Kumari gives the job to Ram only and she lets Ram to live in her house. However, for
