Just (not) a marriage

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Just (k) a marriage (original title: ( Un) arranged Marriage ) is the title of a book by Bali Rai for young people , which was first published in 2001 .

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The first-person narrator Manny lives with his family from India in Leicester, England . He feels closer to the English way of life than the Indian traditions, which makes him an outsider in his family. His father, who beats him and otherwise ignores him, displeases Manny's dealings with his black friend Ady, and he has to keep his relationship with Lisa a secret. This is especially true since his wedding was already arranged when he was 14 years old.

His rejection of the intolerant lifestyle of his parents leads Manny to increasingly slide into an aggressive protest stance, which ultimately leads to the actually intelligent boy being thrown from school in the summer before the planned wedding. His parents decide to take him to India, but the young man is surprised: he finds a kindred spirit and realizes that he is being tricked.

Manny tries with all his might to prevent the wedding and find a way to break out of the oppression of the environment. He has four years to come up with a plan and implement it.

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The novel is about the fact that some Indian immigrants do not want or cannot integrate into the culture and community life of their new home countries. Young men can also become victims through traditional rituals such as arranged weddings. While the first part of the story, which shows the life and suffering of immigrant children between the new ways of life and the traditions, has already been described many times (for example in the films East is East or My Wonderful Laundromat ), the novel opens to the reader in the second part new perspectives. Manny flies to India with his family and has very unusual experiences there. Even in the small village, far from the nearest big city, the first-person narrator recognizes the beauty of the country and its fascination - against his will.

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Manny

Manjit, called Manny, is the main character in the novel. At the beginning of the story he is 13 years old and lives with His family in Leicester , England. His parents emigrated from Punjab , India. They try to raise their children to be good Punjabis, as they call it. After his two older brothers Harry and Ranjit are already engaged and married, Manny now also learns that his parents are planning to marry him off shortly after his 17th birthday. Together with his best friend Ady and his girlfriend Lisa, Manny tries to use the four years he has left to get out of the planned arranged marriage.

Ranjit and Harry

Ranjit and Harry (Bilhar) are Manny's older brothers. Unlike the youngest of the three, both of them have made a good start on their parents' upbringing and are living the life their father intended for them. Ranjit is married to Jas and they are expecting their first child. And Harry has also agreed to the arranged marriage, his wife's name is Baljit. All of their friends are from the Punjabi community, they both work in the factory and don't speak very good English.

Manny's parents

Manny doesn't get along very well with his parents. His mother doesn't play a very big role in the story, any more than in Manny's life. But when Manny refuses to agree to the wedding, she begins to blackmail him, making him feel that if he does not agree, she will kill herself. The family man is a drinker and regularly beats his son. He doesn't understand Manny's desire to be a normal English boy. He is a Punjabi and proud of it. Every now and then he acts as religious, but he is not a really devout Sikh . It seems more like an accessory for him.

Ady

Ady is Manny's best friend and is brought to illegal actions by him more and more until he is finally thrown from school for truancy. Manny's dad doesn't like seeing Ady because Ady is black and his dad has a lot of prejudice against black people. Ady's family is everything Manny's isn't. His parents and brothers support him and give him a lot of freedom. Ady helps Manny carry out his plan to escape the wedding.

Lisa

Lisa gets along with Manny throughout the story. She and her parents listen to him and try to help him cope with his many problems.

Uncle Jag

Uncle Jag is the black sheep of Manny's family. When he meets him in India, he is amazed how little this corresponds to the image his parents gave him of him. He becomes Manny's role model as he evaded an arranged marriage and now works for the Australian government. He helps Manny flee India and shares Manny's view of the family servants. But at the same time he shows Manny how he will be treated by the family if he really tries to lead his own life.

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