...The White Tiger Summary The entire novel is narrated through letters by Balram Halwai to the Premier of China, who will soon be visiting India. Balram is an Indian man from an impoverished background, born in the village of Laxmangarh. Early on, he describes his basic story: he transcended his humble beginnings to become a successful entrepreneur in Bangalore, largely through the murder Mr. Ashok, who had been his employer. Balram also makes clear that because of the murder, it is likely that his own family has been massacred in retribution. In Laxmangarh, Balram was raised in a large, poor family from the Halwai caste, a caste that indicates sweet-makers. The village is dominated and oppressed by the “Four Animals,” four landlords known as the Wild Boar, the Stork, the Buffalo, and the Raven. Balram's father is a struggling rickshaw driver, and his mother died when he is young. The alpha figure of his family was his pushy grandmother, Kusum. Balram was initially referred to simply as “Munna,” meaning “boy," since his family had not bothered to name him. He did not have another name until his schoolteacher dubbed him Balram. The boy proved himself intelligent and talented, and was praised one day as a rare “White Tiger” by a visiting school inspector. Unfortunately, Balram was removed from school after only a few years, to work in a tea shop with his brother, Kishan. There, he furthered his education by eavesdropping on the conversations of shop customers. Balram feels that...
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...In The White Tiger, written by Aravind Adiga, tells the story of how the protagonist, Balram Halwai, managed to find success, becoming an entrepreneur in India, through the narrations in his letters to Wen Jiabao, the premier of China. Through the use of several literary devices such as characterization, setting, and imagery, the author illustrated how a simple man who grew up in an impoverished city as a lowly peasant was able to find success despite having known many whom were faced with the same struggles in life that remained in the slums of their nation that was ran by corrupt government officials. Balram grew up the town of Laxmangarh, a town home to many who live in poverty and unemployment where the opportunity to find work was highly...
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...The White Tiger 1) The rooster coop is cages in the Delhi markets, with hundreds of hens and roosters stuffed in them. They can barely breath, and they emit a smell of terrified flesh. On top of the cage sits a butcher, showing of the organs of there recently murdered brothers. They smell the blood, and they see the bodies. They know they're next, but yet they don't do anything about it. The narrator tells that the exact same thing is done with humans in india. He compares the chickens living in a miserable condition, with the poor class in India. Ther're masters and there're servants. 99,9 percent of the Indian population is a member of the rooster coop. They are oppressed by the masters. They often get the chance to steal a black suitcase full of money, or something else full of value, and then they could just disappear and have a good life while being wealthy, but nobody ever does it. 2) The narrator doesn't describe the indians as honest people, but they are trustworthy because most of them are caught in the rooster coop, and nobody dare to break out of it. 3) The narrator indirectly tells that the police isn't credible. It is certainly not sure that they would give back the suitcase with the money to the right owners if it were in their custody. 4) The narrator doesn't sound very fond of the Chinese system. He has a bad attitude towards dictatorship, and describes China as a unpleasant place to live by saying: “(if you had something like the rooster...
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...The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga The White Tiger, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2008, talks about the life of Balram Halwai, set against the backdrop of present-day globalised India, his struggle to reach the highest rung of the society and become a successful entrepreneur. Summary of The White Tiger Balram’s story unfolds over seven consecutive days and nights in Bangalore in the form of a letter addressed to the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Having not had much formal education, Balram takes up a job as a driver for the local landlord in his village in Bihar, accompanies his son to New Delhi where he is mesmerised by the world of the affluent. What did he have to do to escape India’s’ “Rooster Coop”? To achieve his own dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur? Was freedom and monetary success worth the price he had to pay? The White Tiger explores Balram’s struggle to reach the highest rung in the society. The novel could actually be seen as a social commentary – it brings to light issues of inequality, caste, poverty and corruption in India. It portrays the narrators’ agitation at how the poor are victimised by the rich. He talks of how the country is being run by corrupt government officials and how even the national elections are rigged. The White Tiger was widely –read and it made Aravind Adiga, The Galaxy British Book Awards for Author of the Year, PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize finalist (2009) and John Llewellyn Rhys Prize Nominee (2008). It was announced...
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...technicalities; nothing for us to worry about. It's not like we live there. India has become the call centre to the world it seems. Whenever you phone a company for technical support these days, no matter what country you're calling from, you're likely to end up talking to someone in Mumbai or Bangalore. Call centres and a burgeoning IT class doesn’t hide the inequities that still exist in Indian society or that huge numbers of people still live in poverty so abject that we wouldn't even begin to comprehend its depth. The only place you're liable to read about the reality of life in India today is on the pages of one of the many books making their way out of India to the shelves of book stores in North America. Joining those ranks is The White Tiger, written by first time novelist Aravind Adiga, published by Simon & Schuster, and just recently released in North America. In his book, Adiga not only peels back the gloss of the economic miracle to expose the rot beneath, he instructs us in the...
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...Outline – White Tigers Alejandro Raigosa Vargas Universidad del Valle de Mexico, Campus Torreon I. Introduction A. Current Problem: White Bengal Tigers in nature have disappeared because the hunting and capture. B. Population/Area of Focus: Asia (Indian subcontinent) C. Key Terms: Tigers, Hunting, India, Capture Thesis Statement: Hunting White Tigers has become a problem that has made these animals disappear(White Tiger, a-z-animals.com) from nature. In the past 50 years none have been seen in the wild(indiantiger.org) II. Background A. Historical Overview: Even though that the range of the White Tiger is truly very large, these animal are really rare. In the last two centuries this animal has become even rarer because the hunting and capture. In the past 50 years none have been seen in the wild. B. Historical Habitat Overview: The White Tiger have been found in the most part of India and surrounding countries. C. Current White tiger Distribution: Today, the White Tiger can still be found in a handful of zoos and animal sanctuaries around the world with these large and beautiful felines often being the star attraction. III. Major Point 1: Number of White Tiger in the wild A. Minor Point 1: During the last 100 years, merely 12 white tigers have been spotted in the wild in India; giving an approximate proportion of 1 white tiger for every 10,000 normal pigmented (orange) tigers. B. Minor point 2: The recent spotting of a white Bengal tiger in the wild...
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...Escaping the Darkness Balram, a mistreated servant portrays his need for release by relating to Iqbal's poem. From Balram’s point of view, living in India isn’t all it’s talked up to be. However, Balram knew he was different, even as a small child. He was considered to be a "White Tiger", hence the title of the book. Aware of his greater destiny, he was determined to leave his life in India and never look back. Balram summarizes Iqbal’s poem, in which he sees himself as an underdog, ascending up a black fort: “I think of a little black figure in a wet khaki uniform who is climbing up the entranceway to a black fort. There he stands now, one foot on the ramparts of the black fort surrounded by a group of amazed monkeys.”(75) Balram yearns to leave his oppressing profession, yet his servitude keeps him at the bottom of the social ladder. The amazed monkeys are in awe because they see something no one has ever achieved, no human has ever climbed that high out of the “darkness”, or Laxmangarh. Balram, similar to the little black man is defying the odds against him in order reach the next level of greatness. In the poem God asks the little black man, “Isn’t it wonderful, isn’t it grand? aren’t you glad to be my servant?” The little black man becomes furious with God’s question, “I see the little man in the khaki uniform spitting at God again, and again,” This explains Balram’s rejection of India’s rules and society. He looks around at India’s culture...
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...Do you know how tigers are like sergeants in the army? It is simple they both wear stripes, or do they. Tigers can have a mutation that causes albinism, and the stripes stay the same black shade or almost all the stripes disappear. This happens when two Bengal tigers who mate, both have a recessive gene that controls the color of their coat. I find it fascinating, how they look, the genetics that cause it, and some of the genetic defects that occur while inbreeding. White tigers have snow white fur or a very pale tan that almost looks white, with the usual black, are rare. Their fur allows them to hide in snow, or light tan, or hide in tall grass and be harder to spot by their prey. The most common eye color for these tigers are varying shades...
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...Tigers can live in almost any climate Tigers that kill and eat people are most often sick or wounded animals.A normal colored tigress can give birth to a lit which some of the cubs Some tigers have chalk white fur with chocolate brown or black stripe these tigers called white tigers are also distinctive because they have blue eyes all of the Tigers have yellow eyes white tigers are rare in the wild more than a hundred white tigers live in the world zoos they are all descendants of a white cub cart in India in 1951 and normal colored cigarettes can give birth to a little. Into a letter in which some of the Cubs are white tigers and lions look similar except for the color and length of their hair the two species have even made it in zoos and produce Offspring called Lakers and tickets how it tiger hunts tigers hunt large mammals such as a deer Antelope wild cattle and while they may even attack young run a rhinoceros and elephant they also catch such small animals and peace out monkeys and frogs at times Tigers attack porcupines but the porcupines called me sick in the Tiger's face and body causing painful wounds in many parts of Asia Asia Tigers prey on domestic cattle and water butter Buffalo that's actually where Hunters have a greatly reduced the...
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...The White Tiger (2008) written by Aravind Adiga describes the life protagonist is Balram Halwai in his own words. To feel equal parts admiration and disgust towards Balram would be fair however to say that this is dissimilar to many other protagonists in Literature would be untrue. Born into Indian poverty in a rural village he desires to be a successful entrepreneur but he cannot achieve upward mobility due to his class and caste. He gradually realizes that the only way to achieve social and economic mobility is through the murder of his boss, Mr. Ashok. Balram is a prime example of the continuing effects of the caste system in India today; however, it is noteworthy that Balram uses violence to reach his objective. Balram’s use of violence...
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...Extended Essay ------------------------------------------------- Research Question ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Is Balram Halwai a rounded character or is ------------------------------------------------- he a mouthpiece of the author? Balram Halwai- Protagonist or Mouthpiece? Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger’ is an epistolary novel consisting of a series of letters written by Balram Halwai, an entrepreneur who owns a taxi driving company, for the Chinese Premier, when he visits Bangalore. Balram Halwai is a man who has freed himself from the Darkness and now lives in the Light (The two India’s living side by side). The novel shows us the large gap between the rich and the poor, the struggle of the deprived-class and feudalism in the smaller villages. It also highlights the individual’s aspiration to get out of the Darkness of his life. As Balram is the only narrator in the novel, the question arises as to whether his thoughts are his own or is he representing the views of the author. In order to explore this issue further, the following research question is framed- “Is Balram Halwai is a rounded character or is he the mouthpiece of the author?” In an attempt to answer this question an in depth analysis of the novel was done. As the novel is a comparatively new novel, not much secondary data was available. With the limited references available...
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...The White Tiger Crisis: caste system The caste system in India classifies citizens into different castes representing their wealth and social status. The caste determines the type of occupation a person can obtain, and because of the hierarchical characteristic of the system those of a higher rank often have power and control over those from a lower caste. It is almost impossible for an individual to climb up this hierarchy, which limits economic progress. Setting: India The protagonist Balram views India as two separate countries: "Light", where the rich live in comfort, and "Darkness", where the people from lowest castes live in poverty. The novel details his journey from the Darkness to the Light, and shows the extreme contrast between the two. Issues: • Corruption One of the issues of this novel is the corruption of the rich. When Balram was still in the Darkness, he witnessed the corruption of the adults as votes are casted for the poor without permission and as his father died of tuberculosis when no doctor was sent to the village. He stops sending any money back to his family after a few months of being away, as he slowly realizes that in a corrupt society money was the only thing that mattered. Rich families sent bribes to the government to bypass taxes. As the people...
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...The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga The White Tiger is an engrossing novel that highlights the struggles of ordinary class in an economically progressive India. Summary of The White Tiger Aravind Adiga’s first novel revolves around the protagonist Balram Halwai, a self-made man who rises to success in the backdrop of a rising Indian economy. He faces lot of challenges and readers are kept in wondering whether he shall succumb to demands of bribe-seeking corrupt political set-up in India. The hope of better tomorrow is beautifully etched through the world of Balram. Rising from the position of a driver of an obnoxious feudal landlord to an entrepreneur of car rental business in Bangalore, Aravind Adiga’s Balram has seen fortunes rise and ebb. Sticking true to his philosophy of never being self-righteous, he manages to live a life of deceit and murder. The world according to his eyes resembles a long struggle where ideals give way to dark ambitions. The seemingly roguish touch to Balram’s character is justified under the oft-repeated formula of class struggle. This struggle, he suggests, prevents the poor from receiving their dues from the other class, rich. He uses this rationale to defend the murder of his master as a mark of struggle of a poor against the rich. India of The White Tiger is presented as an increasingly progressive state which sadly stills lives among inequalities. Harbouring on being slightly monotonous, the book presents a sordid mixture of injustice, corruption...
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...Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you here? The perplexity of the protagonists caused by the binary opposition results in identity crisis. Arvind Adiga, a contemporary Indian English novelist who poured in his novel The White Tiger, the extraordinary heartrending feelings for the downtrodden section of the Indian society delineating the two contradictory opposite sides of India: the India of underdogs and the India of elites, India of light and India of darkness. Adiga in his debut novel realistically paints on the one hand the nation as the dark, the corrupt, the wasteland, the Subaltern and the illiterate on the other hand the nation is seasoned with affluent luxury, extravagant lifestyle and as an emerging and booming India. Like Charles Dickens’s novels of the Victorian age, Adiga’s novel The White Tiger also portrays the real India, the incredible India as well as the India of “Big Bellies and the Small Bellies” (64). Arvind Adiga’s the Man Booker prize winning novel The White Tiger (2008) depicts the Balaram Hawai as a post modern hero and a subaltern protagonist who raises his voice and proves that subaltern can speak. I want to prove in this paper the dictum that the subaltern can speak. And the protagonist of the novel The White Tiger, Balaram Hawai a low caste downtrodden counterpart of the society is a real example of the subaltern who in the novel raises his voice and proves subaltern can speak. Subalternism is a postcolonial project which had been gained...
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...The White Tiger A Novel Aravind Adiga Free Press New York London Toronto Sydney FREE PRESS A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2008 by Aravind Adiga All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Free Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 FREE PRESS and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Adiga, Aravind. The white tiger: a novel / Aravind Adiga. p. cm. 1. Chauffeurs—India—Bangalore—Fiction. 2. Poor—India— Bangalore—Fiction. 3. Ambition—Fiction. 4. Business people— India—Bangalore—Fiction. 5. Bangalore (India)—Fiction. I. Title. PR9619.4.A35W47 2008 2007045527 823'.92—dc22 ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-6273-3 ISBN-10: 1-4165-6273-7 Visit us on the World Wide Web: http://www.SimonSays.com The First Night For the Desk of: His Excellency Wen Jiabao The Premier's Office Beijing Capital of the Freedom-loving Nation of China From the Desk of: "The White Tiger" A Thinking Man And an Entrepreneur Living in the world's center of Technology and Outsourcing Electronics City Phase 1 (just off Hosur...
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