Slumdog Millionaire

In the movie Slumdog Millionaire, Salim and Jamal made many choices that affected them very differently even though they were both presented the same obstacles. In fact, the decisions that Jamal has made throughout his life helped him to acquire all the answers to the questions presented to him on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”. The choices that they made were sculpted by their poverty and surroundings. Larry Ervin, the author of Slumdog Millionaire's Artful Dodge - Film Review, states “From the same mother, nurtured by most of the same harrowing experiences, Jamal and Salim follow different paths. The older brother is seduced down the path of money and power, employing his stolen gun in service of a local gangster, yet kneeling on his prayer rug to pray forgiveness before he goes out on a hit.” In the end, Jamal chooses the ethical path, gets the girl, and the money while Salim gets a chance to do a last ditch noble act to atone for his life of unsatisfactory choices before he dies. Danny Boyle, the director of Slum Dog Millionaire, vividly portrays his characters’ choices and the effects these choices will have on their lives. As they grow, these choices will decide what paths they take, how they form relationships, and whether or not these relationships make them stronger or weaker. Have the characters’ lives already been written before them, or do they influence their own destiny? Boyle’s film making and storytelling take us through these choices and consequences one by one. Jamal and Salim’s childhood was very harsh and difficult; they were consistently presented with types of hard decisions that young children should never have to make. Yet, even though growing up in poverty and coming from the same conditions, they chose to go different paths. Salim and Jamal joined Maman’s “orphanage” as a way to get out of the trash heap in which they were living. As the authors of Gang Violence and Prevention reported, “Young people living in