2022 IB Diploma Extended Essays

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Cultural Expectations and Perceptions of Taboo Caswell and Adiga stress the consequences of various social pressures and expectations on identity. In Amnesty , Adiga presents this focussing on familial guilt and cultural taboo, applying this to indicate Danny’s lack of control over his life and identity. Caswell similarly discusses generational expectations yet employs this to highlight the identity impact of cultural ideology shift. Ultimately, both highlight the effects of immigration-induced cultural loss and hybridisation on sense of self. Amnesty reflects upon the ability of social expectations to dictate one’s life, and consequential lack of personal control over identity. Throughout the text, Adiga employs various means to discuss how immigrational trauma has impacted Danny’s perception of others. The extended personification of pedestrian crossings represents social structures; Adiga recounts Danny exiting the train station to reach the “bright street beyond” (46). He urges himself to “cross the black line” (46), yet becomes trapped, recalling that there is a second black line he crossed to reach Australia. Thus, Adiga creates a connection between the steps Danny takes to reach Sydney and the journey he came on to reach Australia, emphasising the taboo surrounding both. By leaving Sri Lanka, Danny broke cultural rules which demanded he stay and care for family. Similarly, Danny feels that by leaving Glebe, a “place that every illegal… knew well” (19), he would break social expectations requiring him to stay with fellow immigrants and the rules he has created for himself designed to ensure safety. Adiga highlights that in both stages of life, as a legal in Sri Lanka and as an illegal in Australia, Danny finds himself bound by expectations. He constantly perceives “black lines” (116), highlighting the control of social laws; moreover, these rules are a constant focus of the text, mirroring the power Danny grants to them, emphasising their dictatorship over his life. Adiga again demonstrates the power of taboo through further personalisation of pedestrian crossings. Danny recalls the crossing button demanding he “cross the road now ” (124), “throwing its mouth wide