in the films of the 1970s” (Adiga 5). To Balram, the chandelier is reminiscent of commodities of the western world. He bases his opulence on gaudy tangible items, like the items he sees in western media. This highlights how western values have seeped into other countries and cultures. As a result of this globalization, Balram wants to achieve more items that attribute to his status and success.
Aravind Adiga’s novel, The White Tiger, discusses the life of entrepreneurial India, Balram. Moving from a weak frightened boy living in what he calls the ‘darkness’, a place of poverty and cruel leaders, he moves up the social hierarchy to the point were he becomes a CEO of a large business corporation. In a letter format to a Chinese minister he conveys his personal thoughts on India’s corruption, the difficulty of social mobility and the change in his own person identity during his life. The readers
people through their own life experiences. Writers have enough power to change the reader’s preconceived ideas by the writers sharing of their own perspective on their beliefs. Through analyzing different forms of literature such as White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Joseph Brodsky’s “A commencement Address,” and watching Chimamanda Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” I have realized that reading literature has the ability to change our thinking which in return affects the we judge different society.
after that there is more in the world than working for someone. He can be his own boss and he likes that idea more. Greed and the temptation of more takes over his mind and morphs him into a different character. In the novel, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Balram begins by having a sense of self and respect for others, but after realizing that higher success is also achievable it changes him into a darker character with no moralities what so ever, depicting how greed of success can take a man of
relationships etc. Lately Indian novelist has shifted from rural to metro India, which is the living soul of the country. The problems of urbanization and the problems faced by the people of metro India find a powerful expression in Indian English fiction. Aravind Adiga’s debut novel The White Tiger published in 2008, and a winner of Booker Prize examines the issues of religion, caste, loyalty, corruption, urbanization and poverty in India. The novel besides receiving critical acclaim was also lambasted by
Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger shares the debauchery, fraud and cancer-like corruption dominating Indian society. With constant references to the corrupt practices existing in schools, hospitals, elections and the entirety of the government; Adiga explores injustice is common amongst all characters. Corruption exists in similar aspects of India; a tainted education system leaves Indian’s ‘half baked’ and forced to work off endless debt landlords steal from their families. Politicians, police and
Society often tells us what to eat, drink, wear and even what social class we belong to. In the book The White Tiger written by Aravind Adiga, the situation is much similar. The book follows the life of Balram Halwai, a child born into poverty, yet he has the drive of one born into wealth and renown. During his time as a servant/driver for a wealthy Indian family the reader is exposed to the disadvantages of those born into darkness. Throughout the text the reader bears witness to numerous occasions
At the time of his freelance period, Adiga wrote The White Tiger which became the most read novels of the modern times and is also prescribed in various colleges as a novel in their syllabus. Aravind Adiga currently lives in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra in India. His debut novel which is The White Tiger even won the 2008 Booker Prize. Adiga is the fourth Indian author to win the Booker prize which was after Salman Rushdie, even Arundhati
One's greed and their viciousness can demoralize the human and transform them into someone completely different from what they originally were. In Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger, the main character, Balram, starts off as a caring and considerate young boy. After moving to Delhi, Balram's greed for money changes him into a disrespectful and vicious man. In other words, Balram's arrival to Delhi modifies him from an affectionate and respectful character into a vicious individual. Before moving to
Social groups involve two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics and collectively have a sense of unity or objective similarity. In the case of Aravind Adiga’s ‘The White Tiger,’ the vast numbers of different social groups are represented in several different ways. Drivers in India are an example of a social group mentioned throughout the novel. Adiga’s interpretation of each driver or group of drivers in the novel are viewed though the eyes of Balram Halwai,
Introduction Aravind Adiga in his debut novel The White Tiger, which won the Britain’s esteemed Booker Prize in 2008, highlights the suffering of a subaltern protagonist in the twenty first century known as materialism era. Through his subaltern protagonist Balram Halwai, he highlights the suffering of lower class people. This novel creates two different India in one “an India of Light and an India of Darkness” (Adiga, p. 14). The first one represents the prosperous India where everyone is able to
In the novel, The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga the main character, is Balram, one of the children in the “darkness” of India. Adiga sheds a new light on the poor of India, by writing from the point of view of a man who was at one time in the “darkness” or the slums of India and came into the “light” or rich point of view in India. Balram’s job as a driver allows him to see both sides of the poverty line in India. He sees that the poor are used and thrown away, while the rich are well off and have
In The white tiger, Aravind Adiga presents the act of a low-caste servant trying to escape from the situation of India's underclass, called the Rooster coop. Adigas’s character Balram Halwai writes a series of letters to the Chinese Premier, Mr. Wen Jiabao, proving Adiga’s point that although India pretends to be democratic country, there are many similarities with the repressive Chinese political system. Balram grew up in poor family in the village Laxmangarh in India. Despite his intelligence,
Indian Society and Balram in The White Tiger A society that a person lives in can affect the way he behaves. In The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, the Indian corrupted society has demonstrated how a society can change a person’s character and style of living. For instance, Ram Persad has to hide his true religion that he is a Muslim in order for him to work as a driver in Indian racist society. Balram has transformed from an obedient servant to an indifferent murderer who kills his own master because
The White Tiger written by Aravind Adiga is a bildungsroman telling the tale of how the peasant Balram rises to power. From a simple village boy, Balram becomes the founder of a corrupt and successful driving company. The majority of his journey he picked up small lessons from his master, Ashok on how he survives in the fast paced business world. Balram observes his masters actions and eventually becomes more successful than him, but consequently loses his innocence. Adiga uses corruption to explore
India is hugely due to the desire to get ahead and take advantage in society. Throughout Adiga's book, the prevalence of corruption in different Indian industries are greatly exposed. When Balram says, “the school teacher had stolen our lunch money”(Adiga 30) it shows that he has seen this dishonest behaviour from a very young age. Instead of trying to create a fairer and less corrupt nation, India and its leaders show no desire to do so. Growing up he gets to see more about how the society works and
Belram was nicknamed the “white tiger” in class when the school inspector came in a suit to ask Belram if he can read, write, and to answer a question about the prime master. Belram said everything correctly, and the inspector said “in any jungle, what it is the rarest of animals the creature that comes along only once in a generation?” (30). Belram said the “the white tiger” (30). The passage is talking about Balram's character of being a successful man and being the rare one in the group that is
Bangalore city. Against this backdrop, the paper analyses the protagonist’s ability to overcome the hardships and harsh realities of life, keeping his dreams alive and achieving global echelon. Keywords: Aravind Adiga; Class Division; Disempowerment; Global; Suppression The (Un)Changing India in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger
If You Got No Trust, Then What Do You Got? In The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga our protagonist struggles in his journey to adulthood. Born to a rickshaw puller who ends up dying of tuberculosis due to government corruption, Balram sets his sights to become somebody better than his father–– someone who wears the uniform–– as he’s a smart person and an entrepreneur. On his journey, he is confronted with many difficult decisions which help him discover the kind of person that he is; while also learning
complete. When I left you I was but the learner; now I am the master” (Skywalker). In nearly every great story, there is both a teacher and a student. At some point in the story, however, the student surpasses the teacher. The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga, Balram, an entrepreneur from the “darkness” rises from his caste of sweet maker to the driver of a wealthy businessman in Delhi and eventually to a (somewhat) respectable businessman in Bangalore. This journey would not have been possible if it