Compose a 1500 words assignment on beautiful and the damned: portrait of new india by siddhartha deb
These were questions that Siddhartha Deb aimed to answer in his novel entitled “The Beautiful and the Damned: Portrait of New India”. Similar to Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, Deb invited his readers to ponder on the darker side of progress and wealth in India by focusing on the terrible price that average Indians have to pay to reach ‘economic success’. Precisely, Deb argued that modernity in India is an ambiguous phenomenon—while there are obvious developments in the fields of information technology, economics, and business, the majority of middle-class Indians are still reduced to poverty. Indeed, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. And this phenomenon, as Deb further pointed out, is wreaking a more profound effect on the common mindset of Indians. Capitalism and consumerism have borne a culture of pretense among Indians—of frantic and mindless pursuit of material ‘nirvana’.
By revisiting Deb’s distinct writing style, as well as examining the primary flow of his narrative, we intend to gather concrete evidence that will aid in better understanding his thesis. The findings that will be obtained in this phase will be used to study his philosophy in its entirely, and judge it according to the principles of ethics and social order.
Thus, we support Deb in his thesis that any economic and social development, when divorced from the basic principles of morality and ethics, or when it fails to uphold the dignity of the human person, may bring the course of human development into its unnerving downfall.
Deb’s writing style in this novel was heavily influenced by his background in broadcast journalism. Unlike past novelists like V.S. Naipul who had trouble representing the status quo of modern Indian society, Deb maintained the journalistic value of ‘upholding the truth’ in his novel. However, of course, he maintained a sense of creativity and originality in the way he told his story to the readers. .In this sense, much of his reportage was done on significant areas in urban and rural Indian society.
