Page 145 - DENG503_INDIAN_WRITINGS_IN_LITERATURE

Unit 18: Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger—Characterisation

life he worked very hard to nourish his family and now the only thing he wants is that his son has Notes
a better life as his life was.
Finally he contracts with tuberculosis. Balram and Kishna bring him to the Lohia Universal Free
Hospital on the other side of the river but there wasn't a doctor. After a life with hard work he
died of his illness.
Balram's mother
Balram’s mother is dead and considered as crazy by Balram’s grandmother, that's why Grandmother
Kusum is glad that Balram’s mother isn't alive anymore and can't influence the family.
Kusum
Balram's grandmother is called Kusum and the oldest member of the family. She has her own
opinion of the future of her grandsons and barges in the parenting of her son, the father of Balram
and his brother, f.e. "That night she told my father: 'He just stood there gaping at the fort - just the
way his mother used to. He is going to come to nothing good in life, I'll tell you that right now.'"
Another example is that she persuades his son to let Balram and his brother work in the teashop.
After the death of Balram’s parents she decides about his future. All in all she only wants the best
for her grandsons, although she calls Balram a "coward" because of his fright against lizards.
Kishan
Kishan is Balram’s older brother and works in the teashop for the stork as well. He began to work
there after the wedding of his cousin Meera to earn money for the family because the dowry tears
a hole in their budge and that's why he hasn't finished school. After the wedding of the second
cousin Reena, he retrieves his brother out of school to work in the teashop, too. Kishan is in
pursuance of the owner of the tea-shop an assiduous and dependable worker.
After the death of their father Kishan marries his wife and two weeks after the wedding he leaves
his home and travels to Dhanbad to work there. Balram and their cousin Dilip attend him.
He's a typical older brother and cares for his younger brother Balram.
Dharam
Dharam is Balram’s nephew. Balram takes this little boy along to Bangalore and Dharam considers
this journey as his first holidays. He had never left his home for holidays before. It seems like
Balram is a kind of archetype for his nephew, because Dharam trusts him blindly. Furthermore
Dharam is very observing and notices instantly that his uncle is thoughtful and not really happy
("One morning Dharam said: 'Uncle, you look so depressed'"). With his barefaced and childish
character he whips up a smile at Balram’s face. In the end of the story Dharam is the residue of
Balram's family ("Dharam, last of my family, and me.").

Cousins
• Dilip attends Balram and Kishan to Dhanbad.
• Meera is married and the dowry therefore is the reason why Kishan had to leave school and
begin to work.
• Reena is married with a boy from the next village and they celebrate a traditional wedding.
Because of the dowry for the family of the husband also Balram has to leave school and work
in the tea-shop.
Uncles
Balram’s uncles do backbreaking work to provide for the family.
Aunts
Balram’s aunts work with his cousins and his grandmother every day "in the courtyard". Every
woman has her own exercise to do and to care for the families well-being.

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