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Jennifer Jones
ENGL 414A
Dr. Burke
April 17, 2016
LSW: Homeless Bird
I do agree that Homeless Bird presents an excessively negative view of life in India. This
book did grab my attention and keep it until I finished the book. However, I would not teach this
book to a group of elementary school students, rather middle school students would be a more
appropriate age group for this novel. I am sure many of parts of this book are true and have
happened, but there are other ways to present the topics from this book including poverty,
disease, sexism, and harshness towards children that do not degrade individuals and their way of
living. A few examples that represent the negative view of life in India include young girls being
married off to another family at the age of thirteen, girls being told they have no use for reading
and that reading will not help them be a good wife to their husband, and children are used in the
sense of slaves for the parents. My brothers went to the boys school in our village. Though
there was a school for girls, I did not go there. I had begged to go promising I would get up early
and stay up late to do my work, but Maa said school was a waste for girls (2). This part of the
book gives an early insight on how Koly was to be treated and how she would live her life. At a
very young age, two teens are to be married and expected to act like adults. Koly is expected to
deal with the death of her husband who she barely knew all while following the orders of Sass.
Kolys family has been tricked into a dowry in order to save the Hari (the boy Koly must
marry). Kolys family is not aware of how sick Hari is and that the boys family only wanted to

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have their son married so that they could take him to the Ganges river to be healed. Now that the
marriage is official and Hari has passed away. Koly is stuck with Haris family. It would a
disgraceful for Koly to return home as a widow. Sass now bosses Koly around and is constantly
scolding her for all of the tasks that she is given. This book presents such a negative lifestyle for
the people who live in the village and for women in general. Women are seen to have less
importance and value compared to a man. Women are treated like property not having a say in
anything that happens to them or what they are ordered to do. When Hari was alive he said to
Koly, You have to do what I tell you because you are my wife, and besides Im not well (24).
Hari had even more power over Koly because he was sick and Koly of course wanted to seem to
be as good as a wife as possible even though there was a chance that Hari might die soon
because he was very sick.
Many of what has been portrayed within this novel has happened at one point or another.
I do not think this book is elementary age appropriate because of the way children are treated
throughout the book. I think this book focuses a majority of its attention on a negative aspect on
the way of life for children in India. It may be true but teaching the negative way is not always
the best kind of delivery in order to teach or make individuals aware of a life style that is present
not only in India but other parts of the world as well.