Page 148 - DENG503_INDIAN_WRITINGS_IN_LITERATURE

Indian Writings in Literature Digvijay Pandya, Lovely Professional University

Notes
Unit 19: Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger—
Critical Appreciation

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
19.1 The White Tiger—Critical Appreciation
19.2 Summary
19.3 Key-Words
19.4 Review Questions
19.5 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to:
• Understand the novel White Tiger.
• Make a critical analysis of the novel.

Introduction

The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga’s debut novel, won the 2008 Man Booker Prize and has received
much critical acclaim. The White Tiger tells the story of a young entrepreneur in India whose
childhood nickname was the white tiger. This novel is an original and compelling story about
modern India.
The White Tiger won critical praise for its author, first time novelist Aravind Adiga, who won the
2008 Man Booker Prize for his novel. The White Tiger tells the story of a young man, Balram
Halwai, who grows up in “the Darkness” of rural India and moves to Delhi as an adult, working
as the chauffeur for a wealthy man from his village. The novel is structured as a letter Balram is
writing to the Premier of China, explaining how he came to be an entrepreneur in Bangalore.
One remarkable aspect of The White Tiger is how Adiga weaves such a broad spectrum of aspects
of life in India—from local democracy to caste to religion to family duty to the rising technology
centers and culture of entrepreneurism. The novel contains multitudes without being a sprawling
epic or losing its tight focus. The White Tiger is a moving story and an eye-opening portrait of
Indian society.
The White Tiger is presented as an epistolary novel, a series of letters written over the period of
seven nights. It’s just an excuse, of course, for the narrator, Balram Halwai, to tell his story — a
supposedly creative approach that, at least initially certainly gets the reader’s attention. The person
Balram is writing to is the premier of China, Wen Jiabao, due to visit the city Balram is living in
— Bangalore, India — in a week’s time. What, one wonders, could possess an Indian entrepreneur
living in Bangalore to write at such length to the premier of China ? Balram does have a story to
tell, but unfortunately the connection to his ostensible audience (the Chinese premier) is barely
made. Sure, Balram explains that he can tell the premier all about Indian entrepreneurship —
something he hears China is missing — and he makes the occasional comparisons between India
and China, but it ultimately proves to be a feeble excuse for him to unburden himself, and because
the premise is so poorly utilised undermines much of the novel.

142 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY