Analyse af 'The Sister' af Arkun Patel

India is still, as of now 2021, one of the poorest countries in the world, and one of the most populated countries as well. With that follows a lot of problems and conflicts, such as begging in the streets, people stealing to survive, and ultimately even people dying on the street every day. In India is very difficult to move up the social ladder, mostly because the family you are born into, will most likely be poor and have nothing to give you, or help you much in life, or you will be born into a rich family and have everything on a silver platter, not much in between.

The short story “The sister” by Arkun Patel sets focus on how young kids’ life is, and how miserably it can be sometimes. We get to see how you as a young kid need to take care of yourself, and maybe even your loved ones. In cities where most people are in the same situation as you, help isn’t just something you can get around the corner.

In the beginning, we get introduces to a brother who has a sister named Munmun. We as the reader, quickly learn that Munmun’s brother is the 1st person narrator. As he starts by telling us how her sister was “ready” when he was 6 years old, and that she was born in a kerosene drum, and he and his mom went to pick her up in a place that’s described very detailed. “a putrid smell and a strange humming sound”. “The smell was that of rotting dampness. That of spoiling meat, like from a week-old carcass. But much stronger. And the humming. Listening carefully, I could hear an undercurrent of scraping, moving, and crying – as if there were a thousand noises in that hum.” This specific description of the place is going to influence us as the reader, in a way that is supposed to make us feel bad already, and throughout the story have sympathy for the two kids.