Arranged Marriage Analysis

(Un)arranged Marriage

In (Un)arranged Marriage Bali Rai shows us the spicy world of an Indian Punjabi boy and his family living in England. Bali rai has found inspiration for his main character in himself. He grew up in Leicester and wanted to become the best Liverpool player of all time, just like the main character. The boy who is the main character is called Manjit but he prefers being called manny, as to being more westernised. Manny has a good friend called Ady with whom he does things he should not do according to his Punjabi culture. They shoplift, do drugs and get drunk during the weekdays. This is because he strives to escape his strictly cultural home, where he gets beaten by his father and his brothers on a regular basis. They …show more content…
One of them is having Arranged Marriages. When the Indian culture crashes into the Western where you don’t have those, some things may get controversial. This is just what happened in Bali Rais book, where Manny found himself helpless. In the western society a family is no longer about surviving, you don’t get a wife to have someone take care of your home. In india alot of people think about is to survive and having a good family plays a big part in this. This can be because of the harsh conditions where you have to work very hard to make a living, so more people working equals more money. While in England for example, you will make a living with or without a family and maybe even better without because of the welfare and elevated living standards. Since Manny was all about the Western culture and sought a life just like it, he had absolutely no need to get an arranged marriage. It would only limit him. Something that stops Manny from doing as he likes is his father who beats him. This in it self is another big problem that might just be an old and stupid tradition. However, if you’ve lived strictly one way your entire life, changing because of one of your kids isn’t likely to …show more content…
I also haven’t heard alot about it. It was a new thing for me to read about and I think it could be the same with alot of people. Many might not know how it is being inbetween two cultures but this book showed it very well. I do not wish problems upon people but the issue in the book is atleast something everyone should be aware of. That’s why I would recommend this book, especially if you seek to vastly expand your knowledge. Bali rai was an unknown author to me. He turned out to have a pleasing way of writing and now, I would love to read more novels from