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Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University Unit 17: Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger—Theme

Unit 17: Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger—Theme Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
17.1 Themes
17.2 Summary
17.3 Key-Words
17.4 Review Questions
17.5 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to:
• Discuss about the novel The White Tiger.
• Understand the various themes of the novel.

Introduction

The White Tiger provides a darkly humorous perspective of India's class struggle in a globalized
world as told through a retrospective narration from Balram Halwai, a village boy. In detailing
Balram's journey first to Delhi, where he works as a chauffeur to a rich landlord, and then to
Bangalore, the place to which he flees after killing his master and stealing his money, the novel
examines issues of religion, caste, loyalty, corruption and poverty in India. Ultimately, Balram
transcends his sweet-maker caste and becomes a successful entrepreneur, establishing his own
taxi service. In a nation proudly shedding a history of poverty and underdevelopment, he represents,
as he himself says, "tomorrow."
The novel has been well-received, making the New York Times bestseller list in addition to winning
the Man Booker Prize and holds the rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 . Aravind Adiga, 33 at the time, was
the second youngest writer as well as the fourth debut writer to win the prize in 2008. Adiga says
his novel "attempt[s] to catch the voice of the men you meet as you travel through India - the voice
of the colossal underclass." According to Adiga, the exigence for The White Tiger was to capture
the unspoken voice of people from "the Darkness" - the impoverished areas of rural India, and he
"wanted to do so without sentimentality or portraying them as mirthless humorless weaklings as
they are usually.
I found it ironic that Balram goes through such trouble to break out of the coop (which is something
he claims only a White Tiger can do) but in actuality all he was doing was moving from the group
of people associated with the darkness to the group of people associated with the light.
He goes through many names in the novel and finally once he "breaks out of the coop" he ends up
using the name Ashok. Ashok was the man so wrapped up in the coop he had no idea he was
even in it and that was Balram very reason for killing him. Balram never actually breaks OUT of
the coop, to me it seemed as if he had dug himself further into it, and taking on this name
symbolized that.
So Personally I saw that the theme was more: "don't play into societies views, remain an individual"
(the white tiger, rare, his true alias, the only name that fits the main character throughout the
novel, ace in a generation).

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 131