The Dark Secret of India

Adiga’s story begins with out narrator, Balram, who writes to the premier of China and explains how the world of India is not what is advertised to the world. India is separated between the light and dark, the few rich, and the very poor. India’s Caste system, although outlawed, still carries power throughout the country, locking many residents in with no upward mobility. The metaphor of the “Rooster Coop” shows us the power of the light over the dark; the poor know their place under the might of the rich, and any dissention results in the banishment, or death, of the dissenter’s family. The rich are oblivious to the needs of the poor, yet our narrator, Balram, is able to use his skills as an entrepreneur to achieve his status, even in the rejection of his own familial tradition, as he relives his tale of escaping the darkness into the light. Balram shows the premier how the country of India is not just the peaceful place of Gandhi that many believe, but a country run by a corrupt government with a powerful rich, and in order to escape the darkness, you must be willing to risk everything.

Like many before him, Balram grew up in the dark in the small town Laxmangarh, owned by the rich, and attended a miserable school with a teacher that stole money for clothing and lunches. However, during a visit from a government inspector, Balram is labeled as a “White Tiger” one who comes along only once in a generation, for his academic skills (30). This is the beginning of Balram’s aspiration for success, as an entrepreneur, as he begins to truly “listen” to learn from his surroundings.

Our next example of corruption in India and marginalization of the poor is when Balram’s father dies of TB after years of pulling a rickshaw for a livi...

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...or for directions. Many of the poor literally live on the side of the rode breathing in the exhaust of the polluted air. The shopping malls, guarded by the poor against the poor, are only allowed for the rich who safety move from their homes, and in their cars to their malls, without ever noticing the world around them. This is the country of India in a nutshell; the rich that ignore the poor every chance they are given; yet the poor are always aware and must tend to the rich. The government plays a large role in using, yet containing the poor. Murder Weekly, a magazine published by the government and sold cheap, describes stories of servants who wish to kill their masters in revenge of poor treatment, only there’s a twist; the murderer always gets caught as it is meant to keep the servants at bay for when they feel they are going defy their social status (104).