Tuesday 19 November 2013

ISU Check #1

Does Sara Banerji have enough knowledge about India to make Shining Hero a credible novel about India's culture? In my opinion, I think she does.

Shining Hero is about two half brothers living in India named Karna and Arjuna. The story highlights how it is to grow up being both a rich and a poor Indian male. It also touches on how hard it can be to hold power in India because it is set in the time when communists are trying to take over.

 The reason I think Sara Banerji is knowledgeable enough to make Shining Hero a credible novel would be because she has lived on both spectrums of social class as an Indian woman. Although Banerji grew up in England she did live in a small mud house with no running water after World War 2. She lets this childhood setting shine through, portraying Karna's young life in poverty.

When Banerji met her husband, that's when they finally moved to India. In India, they ran a dairy farm for 17 years and were very successful. But, ultimately their success was defeated by monsoons and a heavy rainy season. This can be connected back to Arjuna's life where his father was a powerful 'zamindar' and ran a dairy farm himself. The communists in the story ended up taking their cows and killing the 'zamindar'. This can be seen as symbolism, because the communists could be viewed as the storm that wiped away all of Banerji's wealth, taking away all of Arjuna's power.

Overall, I think Sara Banerji's life reflects a lot of what has happened in Shining Hero from the good and the bad.

1 comment:

  1. Great work, Hailey. You have clearly discussed how your author's past influenced her novel. This is especially evident in your use of symbolism.

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