The setting

Hello, everyone!

Today I thought that I should write about the setting in “Slumdog Millionaire”, as I have already written about the main character. Even though the book is fictional, the setting is very similar to the modern India and the world as it is today.

One of the things that makes “Slumdog Millionaire” so interesting to read  is that it has two different types of settings. One where Ram sits in his apartment with a lawyer and watch the game-show and the other one in the “flashbacks” that relate to the questions in the game-show.

After winning this WB3 show, Ram has to explain how he could get all the answers right. This, he explains to the lawyer Smita Shah, while they watch a videotape from the show. In between the questions, Ram tells a story from his life, that shows why he knows these answers. This is where the other, more interesting, type of setting comes in. In the “flashbacks”, the setting is mostly in the western parts of India, from New Delhi and Taj Mahal to Mumbai. Here we meet many different types of Indian lives, from people living in slums to famous actors and singers. Ram travels around from city to city and the setting is always thoroughly described , which makes the story more entertaining.

The time period is something we do not get to know about, as there are no dates mentioned. What we do get to know is that Ram was 18 years old at the time he was in the game show. This may indicate that he was born around the 1980’s, or later, since this type of television shows first aired around 2000. If one reads carefully and compare what happens with similar incidences from the real world, one can perhaps find out a little more about the time period. Vikas has used real events in his books, but as the book is a work of fiction, this cannot be interpreted as one normally would do with a documentary.

So, that was what I know about the setting until this point in the book and I really enjoy reading it!

Didrik