Slumdog Millionaire By Vikas Swarup: What It Is Like To Grow Up In The Slums

The fact that society is controlled by money is an undeniable and necessary fact of life. The rich flourish while the poor are deprived. In the novel “Slumdog Millionaire” by Vikas Swarup, the author demonstrates to the audience the struggles of living in the slums and the way society views people from the slums. The story follows the protagonist, a young man named Ram Mohammad Thomas, from the slums of India who somehow managed to win billions of rupees on the popular game show “Who Will Win a Billion?”. Ram is now being accused of cheating and has been taken into custody by the police for interrogation because they think there is no chance anyone from the slums could have correctly answered all ten questions. Ram is tortured by the police until his unexpected lawyer, Smita Shah, enters and takes new her client home. Smita and Ram then go over the game show tape together in order to free Rams’ name and claim his money. The audience then learns that Ram knew the answers from life experience and in fact did not cheat, instead was just lucky. As a result of Ram being from the slums, everybody believes there is no way an uneducated boy could have won the game. Throughout the novel, the audience sees how being from the slums affects the way society views people and their moral values. Society views slumdogs as uneducated people, people with no importance or value in life and people that already have their destiny defined.

Ram was an orphan, he grew up poor in the slums of India. As a kid he would hustle his way to obtain just a little bit of money in order to survive. He later got a job as a waiter, serving food and chai to people at a low end restaurant earning very little money. Until one day when he was selected to be on the game show “Who Will Win a Billion?” and answered all the questions correctly earning him billions of rupees. To the outside world it was a shock, people wondered how a young man from the slums could answer all the questions correctly “What the hell can a slumdog possibly know”. Ram being from the slums, people questioned his legitimacy. Anyone from the slums was considered the lowest of the class, they did not have an education and therefore were considered unintelligent, they were considered to have low end jobs and they were considered useless members of society “The brain is not an organ we are authorized to use. We are only supposed to use our hands and legs”. This is why Ram is being questioned, society believes there is no way a slumdog can answer educated questions correctly. “The framing device is a brutal interrogation by police who are convinced this uneducated ‘slumdog’ must be cheating”. However if it was someone from a higher class with even a little bit of education, people would believe it is possible for them to answer the questions correctly. This demonstrates to the audience how based on someone's economic status, society views them and their moral values differently, being from a lower class can make people treat them differently.

The poor are a complete outcast of society.The audience learns that the impoverishment has put many people living in the slums including Ram in a miserable situation. Society considers people in the slums to be useless or pariahs, who in their lifetime are expected to commit at least one crime. Slumdogs are considered lowest in the class system and are treated like it by society, people like Ram know this and disregard it as if it was normal “When your whole existence is ‘illegal,’ when you live on the brink of penury in an urban wasteland where you jostle for every inch of space and have to queue even for a shit, arrest has a certain inevitability about it.” Ram explains the facts of growing up in a slum and what people in a higher class view people in slums as. Ram depicts the day-to-day essence of being in the slums and the uneventfulness of being detained by the police. Also, it is shown throughout the book how being born poor means having to fend for yourself. Children born into the slums have fear of authority bred into them “Are you out of your mind? Haven’t you learned anything since delhi? Whatever you do, wherever you go, never go to the police.” This is proof of fear placed in children from the slums, they live like criminals that have only committed the crime of being born poor.This shows how no matter their intentions or contributions, society will always view slumdogs as lower than humans.

Early in a slumdogs life, they are taught by society their destiny. At a young age, orphans like Ram are aware of the role they as slumdogs play in society. They are aware of the fact that their future has already been laid out for them and how it is full of turmoil. This is because of the way society views them and their morals. Society believes slumdogs are nothing and will never amount to anything. This belief alienates slumdogs leaving them with no chance or hope. The only hope for slum dwellers like Ram is to add to the endless chain by putting themselves in a position of power. “We saw this fantasy world, but we never got carried away by it. The most we could aspire to was to become one of those who held power over us.”(75.Swarup). This shows the reader how society has trapped Ram and the orphans thinking that they can never be anything more than those who hold power over them.

In the book “Slumdog Millionaire” by Vikas Swarup, the author shows the reader what it is like to grow up in the slums and the surrounding society's views and morals. Society's views on slumdogs is shown throughout the novel, these views are all negative. Firstly, it is shown that society thinks of slumdogs as unintelligent members of society because they cannot get the proper education viewing them as useless low class citizens. Secondly, society views slumdogs as people with no value or significance in life. They believe slumdogs are worthless in society and are bound to be put in jail at some point. Finally, society has taught slumdogs of their destiny, slumdogs are aware of the way society views them and are aware of the role they play in society. Society has trapped slumdogs like Ram into believing they are not allowed to amount to anything and cannot aspire to be anything more than slumdogs. These are just some examples of the way society views people from the slums like Ram. Based on the economic status someone has, society treats them differently. For lower class citizens like Ram, society treats them like their nothing, while higher class citizens are treated with the utmost respect. Being from the slums affects the way society views people and their moral values, this is shown throughout the book “Slumdog millionaire” and in society in real life.