Child labour (Slumdog Millionaire)

Slumdog Millionaire- Child labour
The show, Slumdog Millionaire, is set in India and the story is told through a teenage boy, Jamal Malik’s childhood. Through his various encounters as he lived his younger days on the run, the show tells us some of the happenings in India, a lot of which focuses on child labour. (Of course, in a site quoting Danny Boyle, the director said that “Slumdog Millionaire is not a documentary”; thus, we should take what we see on the show with a pinch of salt.)
The villain of the show is Maman, a gangster who tricks children into being beggars on the pretense of providing for them and teaching them to sing before blinding them to beg on the streets of Bombay. The boys are subject to a cruel fate as this, but Latika, with fairly good looks, is made to be an entertainer, as Maman says that she would fetch a high price. The children have no choice, particularly because they do not have anywhere else to turn to for food except Maman. Jamal, however, escapes this fate because Salim, Jamal’s brother, had seen the ultimate motives of Maman and thus escaped with Jamal to prevent themselves from being blind.
Child labour is still rampant nowadays because firstly, it is cheap in the sense that the children are forced into compliance to accept low pay and appalling conditions. Nike has been exploiting child labour. From the UNICEF website*, it says that “An estimated 158 million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour - one in six children in the world. Millions of children are engaged in hazardous situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations.” This is unfair on the children’s part, because they are resigned to this life not of their own accord, but of their poverty and inability to get a decent education. As such, since there is so much poverty in the world, this is reality.
In the slums, as they call it, the boy Jamal chances upon an old friend he knew when he was still under Maman’s clutches when he was in search of Latika. Up till years later, the child who was unfortunately blinded by Maman was still begging on the streets. Children who are forced to be labourers must work all day, and the pay is infinitesimal. However, since education is the only way out of poverty, and these children do not have the rights to it, they can only turn to these exploiters.
Though many see it as a violation of fundamental rights, these people who practice it believe that they are not only giving these children a life, they are merely using them for work only. There is no abuse. However, in the show we already see examples where Salim gangs up against the children to give them fear so that they obey. Life without freedom is worse than death. Child labour can only stop through efforts to give children schooling.
Thus, through a simple movie we see that child labour is prevalent in India. We must understand that the children do not have a choice. It is the vicious cycle of poverty that forces these children to give in to torture.

B.B

Not sure if you have read the story, but B.B is about a strange infidel father who hardly stays at home. It is a little vague if B.B is male or female, but I am guessing that it is a female. A part in the story which says the urgent tone of a girl and the common indirect expression of feelings in the story shows that she might be a girl.

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Journal according to Mary Maloney after the police visits(Lamb to the Slaughter)

Wednesday- I have fooled the police. I went about the usual routine and I have used the grocer to be an alibi. I also did someting risky- I informed the police. This put me at a great advantage because they will never think it is me. I am in great distress now. The baby is only at the second trimester. What would I do? People will start asking if suddenly Patrick disappears from the outings with me.People will ask where he is, and one fine day the truth will not set me free. It will bind me to jail. I must get out of this place. I must make myself a totally new person. I must get away soon or else I will die, literally.

After an hour of consideration, I have made the decision. I will go to Europe and start life anew. Patrick still has a princely sum of money left behind, and I can go to Europe on that. I hope that I can get rid of this house soon, and leave. I will survive on my own with the child. I have to go to make preparations now.

Journal according to Mary Maloney (Lamb to the Slaughter)

Tuesday- I am in the room, pondering over the situation. I still cannot come to terms with the fact that I had taken Patrick's life. However, I am now the main cause for concern. I must cover this up. But should I create an alibi or kill myself? No, Patrick is too worthless for me to kill myself. He deserved to die. An ungrateful man is an undeserving man. But, I think I have to play the innocent role from now on. I need an alibi. Perhaps I will go about the normal routine and act as if I am not in the know. This I will refine. But I must prepare before I call the police...

I have successfully fooled the police. I am safe for now. I will decide on my further course of action.

My learning style

Recently, I took an online test to gauge my learning style, and I found out I was intra-personal(myself-smart?). Well, I guess it means I learn best on my own. It seems strange how I am a self-learner; maybe it is because when I work with myself, everything goes my way.
The implications-hmm, I think I lack teamwork skills. I was not engineered to be someone big, I guess. Anyway, just google the term Multiple Intelligence Test and you should be able to humour yourself with your learning style.

Mary Maloney in Lamb to the Slaughter or The way up to heaven

Lamb to the slaughter- it revolves around a detective husband who decides to leave his pregnant wife for another woman. Mary Maloney, his wife is very shocked and in the moment of inability to digest that fact, she kills him with a frozen lamb leg. In a marriage, love is reciprocal. As Patrick did not care for her, she did not care for him and killed him so that she may be better off. It shows how women can be shrewd and when forced to the limit, humans can reveal the dark side and make the most shocking decisions.

The way up to heaven-Mrs Foster is extremely devoted to Mr Foster and cares for him deeply. But, the same cannot be said for Mr Foster. He takes delight in making Mrs Foster irritated by exploiting the fact that she hates being late. He purposely delays her with every excuse until a particular time where the wife saw through the intentions of his delaying her which made her see him in a new light as an uncaring man and thus, left him for dead when she knew that he would get stuck in their home lift. He was left there for six weeks. However, the driver is Mrs Fosters's alibi, so she can never be found out. This also reveals the dark and sinister side like that of Dr.Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

But, I like the way up to heaven. Notice that many doors are opened slowly, like the discovery of Mr Foster's intentions and even then, the dark sinister side of Mrs Foster being revealed is revealed later, thus the reader is given many opportunities to ponder on the unfoldings and the wide array of possibilities until the fact is revealed, unlike the Lamb to the Slaughter whereby the story unfolds faster-Mary kills Patrick upon discovering he left her and then she creates for herself an alibi and then the police come but she is not found out. For the way up to heaven, the twist is more shocking and powerful.