Hello Readers...
Name: - Sejal N. Solanki
Roll no. :- 25
Class :- M.A. Sem :- 4
Year. :- 2019 - 2021
Email. :- sejal.solanki3107@gmail.com
Paper. :- The New Literature
Topic. :- Symbolism in The White Tiger.
Submitted :- Dr. Prof. Dilip Barad Sir.
:- Department of English
:- MKB University.
The White Tiger
Introduction :-
Introduction about the Author Arvind Adiga
Today I am going to write about the white tiger novel written by Aravind Adiga. This is my assignment. This task is given by Dilip barad sir from Department of English Bhavnagar University. The White Tiger is a Man Booker Prize winning text by Arvind Adiga. The novel is both- praised and criticized. The White Tiger is the debut novel by Indian author Aravind Adiga. Aravind Adiga is an Indian-Australian writer and journalist. He was born on 23 October 1974 in Madras. It was first published in 2008 and won the 40th Man Booker Prize in the same year.
Introduction about the Book
The novel 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.Praised because of its literary quality and criticized for its ruthless portrayal of India. As Indians we have always been taught to be patriotic for our nation, and from childhood we grew up hearing big stories about India. But the reality is far away from this. Our mind is culturally so shaped that we can not see anything beyond 'our' religion and nation. There are innumerable examples of stories and narration which sing the glory of India, that is also true but perhaps it is only one side of the nation. We live in the country of largest democracy where the people who are in power will decide what should be said and shown to the world about our nation.
Indian writing in English holds the sway and continues to make waves on the international scene. We see that Indian writing in English as a form of Indian writing or from Diaspora literature. As we know, The Postcolonial creative writers from Third World countries, including India, have been waging intellectual war in the form of literary cult. And how do they use English language? The writers of this movement are characterized by their defiance of the imposed Western aesthetics, coining of indigenous aesthetics and asserting their voice through their own brand of English. At that time in Indian writer like Aravind Adiga wrote “The White Tiger” and won the Man booker Prize in 2008. We see in this time many Indian novelists like Arundhati Roy, Aravind Adiga, Salman Rushdie's, Anita Desai and Vikas Swarup wrote such things into Indian people. They are written something that should not be in western countries.
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga is a social commentary on the effects of the huge gap between the wealthy and the poor in India. This large gap creates instability that often leads to morality being compromised for individual gain. The poor are so desperate that they are willing to do almost anything to make it out of poverty. At the same time, the rich are so far removed from the plight of the poor that they become desensitized and corrupt. The point of view from which the story is told, the use of humor, the patterns of imagery, and the end of the novel emphasize the disparity in wealth and the immorality that results.
We live in a country where you can not say anything which is controversial about our nation. But literature always tries to raise voice and become the voice of voiceless people. The representation of India is advanced; it is also poor, corrupt, acting, and cheating. Surprisingly, I agree, not only India, but all the countries in the world have this kind of bad problem. But that doesn’t make it all bad. Adiga is clinging to the ghats of India. The novel was short-lived in the years 2008, then progressing strongly.
But even after that, the fulfillment of that talk is the destruction of poverty, corruption, and corruption in India. The India which is represented by Adiga is poor, corrupt, uneducated, and cheater also. Well I do agree that not only India but all countries in the world do have these bad kinds of problems in it. But it doesn’t make them all bad. Adiga has represented the darker side of India. This novel was written in 2008, after that India has progressed in many ways. But then even we cannot fully deny that poverty, corruption, and illiteracy have vanished from India.
Still in some remote place there are landlords who ruled over town people. Still there are many people who are not educated properly. So, we can not deny the India which is represented in “The White Tiger '' by Adiga, but we can say that India is not only what is represented by Adiga. Landlords who live far away from some places rule over the people of the city. Many people are also not properly educated. So, not allowed by India, but introduced by Adiga, introduced by “White Tiger '', but that’s not what we’re talking about.
But literature always tries to raise voice and become the voice of voiceless people. However we live in an era of darkness where power controls everything. Hence there are texts which speak about the dark side of India. For example Q and A by Vikas Swarup, Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, Train to Pakistan by Khushvant Singh etc. There are innumerable examples of texts like this. And yes probably that is the real side of India. The White Tiger is one of these texts.
India is two countries in one: an India of Light, and an India of Darkness.
~Arvind Adiga (The White Tiger)
We can see that at the end of the stories depicting the poor as the central character makes the poor rich. We can see a lot of people who are like Balaram. Belonging to a poor and extended family, who has not completed their studies, who goes to work from an early age and who has insulted the rich.
Balram’s story becomes the archetype of all stories but We can say only 30 to 40 percent of people can follow the same thing as Balram did especially in the era of Post-truth. People can take as new morality like Balram said. But others can also become a good and well-known person in society through hard work, thinking out of the box, intelligence and sometimes luck. For an ex-In slumdog millionaire movie, Jamal became rich. Because people of India want to become rich anyway and that’s why they used lottery tickets or this kind of shows also.
Such stories depict the struggle of the poor to achieve their dream and to become rich. Ways to reach the goal of wealth may be different in each story but suffering is always the same. So, in this way, we can say that Balram's story is the wonder of all the stories of 'Ragathi Reaches'.
Man booker prize winner novel The White Tiger is a debut novel by an Indian English author Arvind Adiga. The novel is a deep satire on politics, education, religion, business, democracy, ideas of Gandhi and Buddha. He understands things with the limited power of analysis. He allocates deep shallow philosophies to his shallow thoughts and thinking.
For example, he compares the idea of killing his master to gaining freedom with the knowledge of the Buddha.We can deconstruct it with the help of Derrida's notion of the meaning of free play. To break the language we need to find its loose stone. The yellow stone of "The White Tiger" is that Balram himself says that he is "semi-supported". This word breaks the philosophy and all the ideals that Balram gives by giving his own example. Because he is not fully educated. He understands things with the limited power of analysis. He allocates deep shallow philosophies to his shallow thoughts and thinking. For example, he compares the idea of killing his master to gaining freedom with the knowledge of the Buddha.
The main character of this novel Balram Halwai, a young man born and brought up in a remote village of Bihar, who narrates his story of life in the form of a letter to a foreign dignitary, the Chinese Prime-Minister who is on his visit to Bangalore on an official assignment. In his talk Halwai begins, tell the Chinese Premier the story of his life. We are introduced to the poverty of rural Bihar, and the evil of the feudal landlords. Halwai’s voice sounds like a curious mix of an American teen and a middle-aged Indian essayist. Here we can all over Plot story around with draw by Arvind Adiga’s like as:
In this Novel the central image of the novel is White Tiger that expresses the character of the protagonist, Balram, who believes that he is different and a “genetic anomaly”5 like the white tiger. Aravind Adiga allows Balram to embark on an enduring journey from a jungle-like village of darkness into a coop-like city of light, and shatters the deftly fabricated image of India, making conspicuous of a hypocritical and a haphazard nation, established on a new class system of discrimination: "In the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India," says Balram. "These days there are two castes: Men with Big Bellies and Men with Small Bellies.”
Symbolism in The Novel
The White Tiger emphasizes the immorality that results from vast disparity in wealth but also hints that things will improve. Balram murdered, stole, and sacrificed his family to break out of the servant class. He also bribed the police to help him set up his new chauffeuring business for call center workers in Bangalore. In many ways Balram acted just like his former master Mr. Ashok as symbolized by Balram taking the name “Ashok” when he moved to Bangalore. However, Balram changed when he moved to Bangalore and became a member of the upper class himself.
When one of Balram’s drivers, Mohammad Asif, accidentally killed a poor young boy while driving, Balram called the police. The police then cleared Mohammad Asif of any charges because of Balram’s bribes, but Balram himself assumed responsibility for the accident and went to the family of the boy. He offered them money and a job for their older son at his company. Though Balram participated in corruption and certainly founded his company immorally, he tried to compensate the family of the boy and assumed responsibility for the accident. Balram also says, “Once I was a driver to a master, but now I am a master of drivers. I don’t treat them like servants—I don’t slap, or bully, or mock anyone. I don’t insult any of them by calling them my ‘family,’ either. They’re my employees, I’m their boss, that’s all”.
Though the ending is not a perfectly happy ending, it seems hopeful. Balram makes it out of poverty, but he does not become desensitised and distanced from where he came from, and this allows him to act morally more often. He says, “Now, despite my amazing success story, I don’t want to lose contact with the places where I got my real education in life.
The difference between the rich and the poor, Balram explains, is that the poor have no choice but to be immoral while the rich do have a choice. “Allow me to illustrate the differences between Bangalore and Laxmangarh. Understand...it is not as if you come to Bangalore and find that everyone is moral and upright here. This city has its share of thugs and politicians. It’s just that here, if a man wants to be good, he can be good. In Laxmangarh, he doesn’t even have this choice”
The last lines of the novel accentuate again the justification of immorality through desperation. Balram says “I’ll never say I made a mistake that night in Delhi when I slit my master’s throat...It was worthwhile to know, just for a day, just for an hour, just for a minute, what it means not to be a servant”
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga is a darkly humorous social commentary on modern India. In his novel, Adiga shows how a large disparity in wealth can move people to make immoral choices whether they are wealthy or poor. However, the novel ends on an optimistic note, with Balram both making it out of poverty and being able to make more moral choices. As Balram would say, ha!
Symbolism is everywhere; symbolism exists whenever something is meant to represent something else.
“Symbolism means use of symbol like object, characters, figures or colour to represent abstract ideas, concept or qualities”.There are many symbols in this novel like,
· White Tiger,
· Lizard,
· Black fort,
· Delhi,
· Chandelier,
· The Rooster coop,
These all symbols are signifying something so let's know about it.
1) White Tiger:
There are several symbols and imagery patterns in Adiga’s “The White Tiger”. It emphasize the huge difference between the Class (the rich and the poor). Adiga projects the real image of Laxmangarh by using symbolism and the darker side of India by shifting center the character of Balram Halwai who murdered his boss Mr. Ashok and he became the entrepreneur.
— Symbols presented in The White Tiger are:
According to Chinese Myth Yang and Yean are energies. one show positivity whiles other for darker. As same in novel the character of Balram Halwai is like that. White Tiger is a rarest animal in the forest as same Balram is rare in his village.
Here in the below Dialogues from the white tiger we can understand how Balram Halwai got the name white tiger. And he gave the answer of all questions which asked by the inspector. The White Tiger is symbolised for both Wild and rare in the jungle. And the character of Balram Halwai in the novel is like white tiger. Because he committed murder and he is only one who got success in his life.
In The White Tiger Aravind Adiga prefers using animal motifs as impressive means to delineate dehumanized genre of people, both the dominant rich and the servile deprived. His artistic interpretation deserves appreciation when he attributes animal characteristics to their cravings and exposes their follies.
Similarly the title of the novel The White Tiger attempts to suggest a good deal of symbolical values in the book. The White Tiger is associated with many experiences of the Protagonist. First it was the school inspector who spotted Balram Halwai as the brightest boy in the school for having answered all his questions and he called him the white tiger. All his close friends and associates always addressed him as the white tiger, particularly at moments of great crisis in life.
The inspector pointed his cane straight at me. "You, young man, are an intelligent, honest,
vivacious fellow in this crowd of thugs and idiots.
In any jungle, what is the rarest of animals—
the creature that comes along only once in a generation?"
I thought about it and said:
"The white tiger."
"That's what you are, in this jungle."
Before he left, the inspector said, "I'll write to Patna asking them to send you a scholarship.
You need to go to a real school—somewhere far away from here. You need a real uniform, and a real education"
2) Lizard:
Lizard is symbolized darkness, fear and phobia. It is afraid of light and love for darkness as same Balram also doing like that. When Balram Halwai killed his Master at that time he had fear and he find dark place where he hide himself.
Balram is bothering phobia from a small insect Lizard. It also symbolizes the darkness. The lizard represents the fears, cultural values, and superstitions that trapped Balram in the Darkness, many of which he seems to still fear hold him back.
Introduced in the opening chapter lizard symbolizes the darkness, phobia and fear.Lizards are the predators which scurvier on smaller insects and moths.
Lizards are afraid of light so it signifies their love for darkness. Balram’s actions are similar to lizards because he murders his own boss which is a darker act.So Balram is also like Lizard because his actions are similar to Lizard. In the below given dialogue of text the White Tiger we can find that how lizard afraid of chandeliers.
It makes me happy to see a chandelier. Why not, I'm a free man; let me buy all the chandeliers I want.
For one thing, they keep the lizards away from this room. It's the truth, sir. Lizards don't like the light, so as soon as they see a chandelier, they stay away.
3) Black fort:
It is centrepiece of his village, it symbolized extreme poverty and it is main issue in the novel. It is also symbolised as darkness and fear. We find that it is connected with our freedom movement in 1947 when British left but they built the black fort and thought that we are free.
The Black Fort stands on the crest of a hill overlooking the village. People who have been to other countries have told me that this fort is as beautiful as anything seen in Europe.
The Turks, or the Afghans, or the English, or whichever foreigners were then ruling India, must have built the fort centuries ago.
(For this land, India has never been free. First the Muslims, then the British bossed us around. In 1947 the British left, but only a moron would think that we became free then.)
Now the foreigners have long abandoned the Black Fort, and a tribe of monkeys occupy it. No one else goes up, except for a goatherd taking his flock to graze there.
4) Delhi:
It is symbolized difference between rich and poor. We can see both the situations in Delhi. Arvind Adiga has describe the condition of drivers in the Delhi, how driver do all the works which given by their masters. In Delhi we find that people live on rods side, under bridges and these homeless people are becoming problems for drivers. Delhi also symbolised as problem of Environmental, social, cultural and moral drawbacks.
Delhi is the place where all the roads look the same, all of them go around and around grassy circle’ where men are sleeping, or playing cards, and then four more roads go off from it. So people ‘just keep getting lost and lost, and lost in Delhi.
Environmental, Soial, Cultural, Political and Moral drawbacks. Traffic Jam, Corruption and Pollution are such problems which are chiefly tackled by Adiga. Adiga Observation imagery prolongs with Balram‟s Safari from jungle to Delhi, a city with shopping malls and IT offices. Balram is astonished to see egg shaped cars scampering with bullock carts carrying chandeliers on Delhi streets with heavy traffic. Balram realizes that the peripheral appearance of Delhi with its high economic boom and posh life style of Delhites is only an explicit layer concealing the cankers infecting the society-
"Thanks to all those politicians in Delhi"
They are men mighty, clever and crafty who could outperform their village counterparts.
All roads look similar in Delhi. People keep getting lost in Delhi. It symbolises Rich v/s. Poor in the novel. People live on Road side, under large bridges and these homeless people are a particular problem for drivers and people drive precious cars in Delhi.
What I am describing to you here is what happens to drivers in Delhi every day, sir. You don't believe me—you think I'm making all this up, Mr. Jiabao?
When you're in Delhi, repeat the story I've told you to some good, solid middle-class man of the city. Tell him you heard this wild, extravagant, impossible story from some driver about being framed for a murder his master committed on the road. And watch as your good, solid middle-class friend's face blanches. Watch how he swallows hard—how he turns away to the window—watch how he changes the topic at once.
The jails of Delhi are full of drivers who are there behind bars because they are taking the blame for their good, solid middle-class masters. We have left the villages, but the masters still own us, body, soul, and arse.Yes, that's right: we all live in the world's greatest democracy. What fucking joke.
5) Chandelier:
Chandelier is the symbol for light in darkness. It is also symbolised for rich class people. The chandelier is full of small diamond shaped galas pieces. After becoming entrepreneur Balram wants to buy all the Chandeliers because they keep the lizard away from his office.
Chandelier is symbol utilised for ‘light’ in ‘darkness’. It symbolises the richness richness and victorious of life. Balram was a poor man and he became rich after murdering his boss, Mr. Ashok. The Chandelier is full of small diamond-shaped glass pieces.It shows Balram’s struggle to get out from Poverty.
Hanging in Balram’s Bangalore office is a vintage chandelier. He frequently looks to it for “inspiration,” confessing to “staring” for long periods of time. The chandelier comes to symbolize the “Light” of Bangalore and Balram’s new life. It shows Balram’s struggle to get out from poverty and slavery. As same Balram is like that type of character. According to himself he is like chandelier and rich entrepreneur.
It makes me happy to see a chandelier. Why not, I'm a free man; let me buy all the chandeliers I want.
For one thing, they keep the lizards away from this room.
6) The Rooster Coop:
The Rooster Coop is Balram’s metaphor for describing the oppression of India’s poor. Rooster feels uncomfortable when they are together. Here we can find meaning of Adiga Rooster Coop is connected with master-slave relationship. All Roosters are trapped in the Coop. When Roosters are together they feel uncomfortable. When one rooster is taken away to slaughter other roosters become happy. But the roosters in the coop don’t know that their turn is the next one.
When one rooster is taken away to slaughter other roosters become happy. But rooster in the coop doesn’t know that their turn is next one. And they are unable or unwilling to rebel and break out of the coop. As same, these things happened with poor people in India. They are cursed by rich and wealthy people. They are unable to escape from the rooster coop. The character of Balram Halwai is also one of them but he break the rooster coop and come out from this rooster coop.
No. It's because 99.9 percent of us are caught in the Rooster Coop just like those poor guys in the poultry market.
The Rooster Coop doesn't always work with minuscule sums of money. Don't test your chauffeur with a rupee coin or two—he may well steal that much. But leave a million dollars in front of a servant and he won't touch a penny.
Try it: leave a black bag with a million dollars in a Mumbai taxi. The taxi driver will call the police and return the money by the day's end. I guarantee it.
Whether the police will give it to you or not is another story, sir! Masters trust their servants with diamonds in this country! It's true. Every evening on the train out of Surat, where they run the world's biggest diamond-cutting and-polishing business, the servants of diamond merchants
Are carrying suitcases full of cut diamonds that they have to give to someone in Mumbai?
Why doesn't that servant take the suitcase full of diamonds? He's no Gandhi, he's human, he's you and me. But he's in the Rooster Coop. The trustworthiness of servants is the basis of the entire Indian economy.
Conclusion:
These are some symbols in the novel White Tiger. And it is big satire on India. These symbols signifying something and helps us to understand novel in the deep Way.
“I was looking for the key for years
but the door was always open”
- Aravind Adiga
In conclusion, Balram's story is relevant to India's current state of affairs and its hierarchical society despite attempts to institute change. It is unclear what, exactly, Balram would like the Chinese premier to do. However, we gain awareness of a lost people with great potential to change Indian culture: the relevance of Adiga's The White Tiger and its narration of Balram's lack of education and his story or the same in the film Slumdog Millionaire or that of rural peasants in Sijie's novel is that
the lack of education paired with entrenched social hierarchy holds large numbers back from becoming dynamic individuals.
"The doors were always open but we were searching for the key."
It is allegorically lien a deeper meaning of few words then prove that Arvind Adiga was symbolically use of language is master key of writing.
Works Cited :-
Abrahm, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Ed. James McDonald. Vol. 7. United States of America.: Earl McPeek, 1999.
Adiga Arvind. (n.d.). LitCharts . Retrieved from LitCharts : http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-white-tiger/symbols
Adiga, Arvind. The White Tiger. India, 2008.
Arvind, A. ( 2008). The White tiger . UK: Atlantic Books.
