Hind Swaraj and Beyond a Boundary

Danielle Marie Herrera
Prof. Maira
ASA 4
27 April 2017

The excerpt from Gandhi's Hind Swaraj is written in the form of an interview in which he urges Indians to free themselves from English rule. He also holds the belief that India is partially at fault for its colonization, claiming their conformity to the English is what allows them to continue to stay. Later in the excerpt, Gandhi discusses the dangerous implications of machinery - for example, its exploitation of female workers in mills. Although I understand that Gandhi is calling for a gradual end to the use of machinery, I am still confused about how he suggests doing this. His answers seem to lack strength; in response to the reader asking "Is it a good point or bad one that all you are saying will be printed through machinery?" he says, "Sometimes poison is used to kill poison." This response does not seem to offer enough insight into the abolition of machinery usage.

In the excerpt from C.L.R. James' Beyond a Boundary, James battles with rebellion against his father while simultaneously allowing himself to be subjected to racial prejudice in a predominantly white sport, cricket. He recounts lying to his father about his whereabouts in order to play cricket while being oblivious or even complicit in the racism of his fellow players. This battle manifests itself even outside the context of Asian-American studies, such as lying to one's parents to go to a party with acquaintances rather than true friends. In addition, oftentimes Asian-Americans have particularly strict parents and have to rebel in order to assimilate to the culture of other U.S. children.