Global challenges through literature and Movie

In this text, I intend to write about how a literary text and a film helped me raised my awareness about a global challenge. The text about Robert and the Dog by Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-1995, Nigeria) and the film Slumdog Millionaire (2008) by director Danny Boyle are very similar, they both are about two “poor people” who are trying to survive poverty. However both of the main character are also quite different.

 “Just imagine, how would you feel if someone fed you dry bread and beans, then started to feed his garbage disposal with lobster and Caviar?”

Robert and the Dog is about a steward and his master and his mistress, the main character is the steward: Robert. Robert´s new employer was a young medical doctor just returned from abroad. He was cheerful, exuberant and polite. It was obvious to Robert that he had not been in the country for a long time. Because he did not once lose his temper, he did not shout at Robert, he called him about his wife, children and other members of his family”. Later in the story the young doctor

Robert was a man who lives with his wife and six children in Ajengungle called “The Jungle”. His new employer was a young medical doctor who just returned from abroad he lived alone in an apartment. Robert was very happy with his job until the arrival of the employer´s wife and her dog called Bingo. The lady was cheerful and she took an interest in Robert´s culture. The problem was her dog because Robert could see that the dog was treated like a human being and it had a good life in comparison with his family. When his employers travelled, he had to take care of it but…on the third day he gathered all the food and the milk, tethered the dog to the settee and he walked off the house. He abandoned his job and the dog died.

“The boy who knows all the answer”

"Slumdog Millionaire" is the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" However, when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating, how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. The new day and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out the true.

The stories are described and presented in a realistic way, both of them have global challenges. The global Challenges in Robert and the Dog are poverty and the life between rich and the poor. As for Slumdog Millionaire, the global Challenges there are overcoming poverty and fighting for what you want. These two stories are interesting in many ways, both of them have some similarity but they also have different point of view on things. Robert decided to quit his job and run of with the Dog food and on the other hand, Jamal Malik wanted to set things straight and still fight for what him wants in the right way.

This shows how we human can be in the same exact solutions, it just depends how you as a person want to handle it. Even how bad of a challenge you are in/about to face, do it with open heart and be able stand for what you fight for. These two main characters are a very good example.      

Sources; http://www.slumdogmillionairemovie.co.uk/,   http://knskx.tumblr.com/post/16409876887/ken-saro-wiwas-robert-and-the-dog-conveys-the http://lets-bring-it-on.blogspot.no/2010/01/slumdog-millionaire-character-analysis.html  (09.02.15)

Pictures: http://www.slumdogmillionairemovie.co.uk/     http://access- internationalvg2.cappelendamm.no/c952855/sammendrag/vis.html?tid=982100 (09.02.15)