The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

The White Tiger

       - Aravind Adiga

                   

Introduction:

The White Tiger is the debut novel by Indian author Aravind Adiga. It is won the Man Booker Prize in the year 2008. This novel is about the dark reality of India. This story told by the central character Balram Halwai who move from rags to riches.

 The India represented in the novel The White Tiger:

Literature is the reflection of the society. It reflects the matters which are happen behind the curtain. It shows the undercurrent movements. Moreover literature not only shows the x-ray image of disease body but it provides the remedy also. Literature is fracturing the things which are already rotten in a way.

The White Tiger is the x-ray image of diseased body. The diseased body of India is presented here by Aravind Adiga. Only the skeleton remains there and the body eaten up by insect like politician and so on. In this novel India presented in two ways:

An India of light, and one of darkness

The darkness of India is capture the life of village people or in a ways it is about the darkness of village while an India of light capture the life of city people. In the darkness there is no choice but in the light there is choice to be good rather bad but the important thing is that the journey of India goes faster darkness to the light and Balram Halwai is one of them who moving towards darkness to the light.

The facts and figures shown by Adiga at the very beginning that-

“And our nation, though it has no drinking water, electricity, sewage system, public transportation, sense of hygiene, discipline, courtesy, or punctuality, does have entrepreneurs.”

Second is Indian system of time management. He makes satire on the mentality of Indian people that they are not punctual in time through showing the exact time by Balram.

“That was at 11:37 P.M. Five minutes ago.

I don’t just swear and curse. I’m a man of action and change.”

The representation of religion in India:

Third is that why India is the country of darkness? It is because first of all darkness is responsible because of the religion. Village people are superstitious in these matters. Balram satirizes on the religion first. Also he makes fun on the God and Goddesses of India. One of the reasons of regression of India is religion. The day of Indian people start with remembering Gods and Goddesses and end with that ceremony but the thing is that what new and gorgeous happen in the life of people after remembering God and Goddesses.

“It is an ancient and venerated custom of people in my country to start a story by praying to a Higher Power.

I guess, Your Excellency, that I too should start off by kissing some god’s arse.

Which god’s arse, though? There are so many choices.

See, the Muslims have one god.

The Christians have three gods.

And we Hindus have 36,000,000 gods.

Making a grand total of 36,000,004 divine arses for me to choose from.

How quickly do you think you could kiss 36,000,004 arses?”

Not capitalizing the word god it shows to not give respect moreover satirizes on that. Further the reference of the God Hanuman- the Indian God came. No doubt that the representation of God Hanuman is in satirical way but the fact is that he is serving his master. Every mythical story teach something so if this story taken by people so the hidden agenda or background reading may told the same story as Adiga tries to told us.

“The temple. Inside, you will find an image of a saffron-coloured creature, half man half monkey: this is Hanuman, everyone’s favourite god in the Darkness. Do you know about Hanuman, sir? He was the faithful servant of the god Rama, and we worshiping him in our temples because he is a shining example of how to serve your masters with absolute fidelity, love, and devotion.

These are the kinds of gods they have foisted on us, Mr Jjiabao. Understand, now, how hard it is for a man to win his freedom in India.”

The reference of divine goddesses Ganga in the form of river also presented here in this novel.

“But the river brings darkness to India- the black river.

Which black river am I talking of – which river of Death, whose banks are full of rich, dark, sticky mud whose grip traps everything that is planted in it, suffocating and choking and stunting it?

Why, I am talking of Mother Ganga, daughter of the Vedas, river of illumination, protector of us all, breaker of the chain of birth and rebirth. Everywhere this river flows, that area is the Darkness.”

Representation of social structure:

E. V. Ramakrishnan:

Indian literature is in the context of caste, gender, religion, etc. Moreover “the struggle against hegemonic structures of power defines the nature of lower caste subjectivity”. These are the things also capture in the novel so the idea give by Ramakrishnan very applicable here.

 Indian social structure captures the things like superstitions, (bribe prize) dowry, education system, cast system and what not.

“Halwai…’ he turned to the small dark man. ‘What caste is that, top or bottom?’

And I knew that my future depended on the answer to this question.

I should explain a thing or two about caste. Even Indians get confused about this word, especially educated Indians in the cities.

To sum up- in the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies.

And only two destinies: eat –or get eaten up.”

About the education of India especially in the government, it is in ill position. It is on Pg no. 13 that how the education system works. It is all about that how Balram got entry with new name and exit with new name but afterward he understands that his real education done at the tea shop. It is not the only the education of Balram but it is the story of children like Balram who left out because of their weak condition. It is the real picture of India and the growing generation.

“If the Indian village is a paradise, then the school is a paradise within a paradise.”

Representation of political system in India:

In the political system of India it is covers police system socialist movements, election or voting system, corruption and what not.

It is start with the first sentence –O, democracy!

“These are the three main diseases of this country, sir: typhoid, cholera, and election fever.

Do you want good roads, clean water, good hospitals? Then vote out the great socialist!

This is India, not America. There’s always a way out here. I told you, we have someone here who works for us – Ramanathan. He’s a good fixer.”

The great socialist very good in speech in when time came for doing something they are disappearing. This is the reality of India. And the matter about the corruption is everywhere. Then how one can think about doing the work with full of honesty because the roots are now become weak or distasteful.

Indians invented everything:

“We Indians invented everything from the internet to hard-boiled egges to spaceship before the British stole it all from us.”

It is true that Indian has or we have the mentality to telling the like in this way. One way it is showing the superiority from other but when the time came for showing reality nothing happens accept pupating ourselves.

Indians are honest because of Rooster Coop- Perpetual servitude. Or in a way they are very fear to do such work. Moreover they are fear to catch by “Karma”. But stolen is stole than if it is big or small what makes it effect.

Homi K. Bhabha’s idea of “Nation and Narration” also applicable in this novel. Nation is the modern Janus-looking forward and backward. Adiga shows both the side of India here in this Novel.

Balram's story is the archetype of all stories of 'rags to riches':

Yes, Balram’s story is the archetype of all stories of ‘rags to riches’ because it is all about the dream or in the words of Balram how big can you think? He also gives the example of Rooster Coop- perpetual servitude. He believes that if someone wants to be rich there wasn’t any hard work for them.

The Rooster Coop and God Hanuman these are the things that he doesn’t like whereas he wants to be like Buddha, imagine himself as a Krishna and desire to ride the Honda city car and chandeliers make him more affection towards to become the rich.

“An Indian revolution?

Every man must make his own Benaras.

I was looking for the key for years

But the door was always open.”

This all line indicates that if one wants to be something they must not wait for someone else but do as how they want. Or in a way it is for those who doing something great they are always path founder instead of path follower.

And the last one which support him to be like rich and think like rich is society itself and his masters are also felt him to be rich and killed someone there is no problem.

To conclude this point – there is one statement given by Rousseau’s belief that “man was essentially good and was corrupted by the influence of society.”

"Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique, deconstructive criticism aims to show that any text inevitably undermines its own claims to have a determinate meaning, and licences the reader to produce his own meanings out of it by an activity of semantic 'freeplay' (Derrida, 1978, in Lodge, 1988, p. 108). Is it possible to do deconstructive reading of The White Tiger.

It is the story of Balram or it is the story of murderer. The story can be told or narrated by the murderer or criminal also, this idea is given by Agatha Christie. This narration narrated by one murderer who is central character of this novel. The White Tiger can be deconstructive on the basis of how Balram narrate the story.

“He’s half-baked. The country is full of people like him.

He was right, sir-I didn’t like the way he had spoken about me, but he was right.

‘The Autobiography of a Half-Baked Indian.’ That’s what I ought to call my life’s story.”

So, in a way how one can rely on his narration if he himself called him half baked Indian? How one can believe in his narration which is based on half reality or truth? At the very beginning the story told by those who win the battle and here Balram also winner. Authentic history is that which was told by victories people. The one who is in position, his or her story is only right. Here Balram narrate his own story. He is at the center. So but obvious one should doubt on his narration because ultimately he got the position and become the entrepreneur. So, it can be considered as a “META-NARRATIVE”.

Conclusion:

No doubt that this novel is also satisfied the ego of capital country like America as M. Q. Khan noted but this is the fact of India. How India is represented in this novel is very real picture of India.