i
l
Lokumo Eteni
Grade 4 February
5, 2013
India's Culture Tied into in
Homeless Bird
Book summary of Homeless Bird
Homeless Bird was a magnificent story . It’s about a girl named Koly that is in an arranged marriage in India who struggles through her life. Her husband is named, Hari and he was ill when Koly married him. He passes away and now Koly is considered a widow. Her mother-in-law called Sass sent her away and left her in a temple full of widows like herself . Koly is now living with a rickshaw boy and his family. She got a job and got remarried to the rickshaw boy that she lived with. Now, she’s going have a new place to live and a new family. As a result now, she will no longer be a “Homeless bird”.
Claim
The book Homeless Bird shows Hindu cultural values in India.
Evidence
In India it is true that widows in arranged marriages go to a temple in the capital city of
Delhi. In the story, after Hari died, she gets left at
Vrindavan ,a city of widows.
Evidence
Homeless Bird says that after an arranged marriage and when they have a feast, it’s the men that eat first, then it’s the women to show respect in the
Hindu religion.
Evidence
The book Homeless Bird says that in Hindu religion when people die and they spread their ashes in the Ganges river, they are considered lucky because the Hindus say that it flows to heaven.
Evidence
In a arranged marriage, the girl and the boy can’t see each other before the marriage. In the book, Koly and Hari didn’t see each other before the marriage.
Evidence
When a man dies from an arranged marriage, the girl is a widow and she has to wear a white sari to show if she’s a widow or not. In the book, after Hari dies, Koly is a widow and she wears a white sari.
Evidence
In an arranged marriage, it is that the girl that goes to live with the man’s family and follows the man and the family's commands. In the book, Koly lived with Hari’s family.
Conclusion
This project is about how the Hindu culture can be tied into Homeless Bird. My claim in this book is that the book shows how Homeless Bird shows a lot of Hindu cultural values. I learned that when a man dies from an arranged marriage, the girls have to wear a white sari to show that their are widows. I showed a lot of pictures and wrote a lot of evidence slides that will help my claim to be proved.
Story Reflection
I think this book had a lot of happy and sad bits like for example when Sass left Koly at Vrindavan and then Koly was sad and then the rickshaw boy brought Koly to Mala’s house so then she was happy. This book tells us that life's not always easy as it can be hard sometimes. It is not always good to be perfect, and it’s also ok to be poor. What matters most is your personality.
Sources
Google images, Kindle and my group helped me with this presentation.