‘The White Tiger’ depiction of the grime reality
Kumari Lama
Kathmandu
I
was so much curious to know about The White Tiger as it won the Pulitzer Prize
of 2008. So, to quench my thirst of knowing it, I started going through the
lines, paragraphs and pages and eventually could go through it. Lastly I am
convinced why this book won the most renowned prize for literature. The writer
Arvindh Adiga is successful to unfold the prevailing great gap between rich and
poor, the visible and invisible corruption inside politics and bureaucracy as
well as the rotten and spoiled mentality of all the power holding people. He has
also marvelously traced out the human instinct and desire through the character
Balram Halwali.
Balram Halwali, an innocent, poor and helpless man of Laxmangarh turns to be a
corrupt man and a murderer along with the changing time and his growing
ambition. His father, a rickshaw driver dies vomiting blood. He is compelled to
work in a teashop leaving his school in Dhanbad. This ambitious man, Balram gets
chance to be a driver in Ashok’s family. Adhiga has honestly presented the
reality that poor people are dying of hunger on the one hand but the rich people
like Ashok’s family is enjoying their time with imported whiskey every evening.
This disparity in the society makes Balram to be more ambitious and reach in the
position of his master. His ambition to be a man and live a good life leads him
to kill his own master Ashok who was really kind and generous towards him. His
hands don’t tremble while breaking his kind employer Ashok’s skull as he was
overpowered by the desire of getting red bag filled with money. Balram accepts
that he remained no more innocent Country Mouse after entering Delhi. He goes to
Red-light area and also starts drinking. He throws all his self-respect
somewhere at the corner of his filthy room and he turns to a spiritually decayed
person. His courage of carrying the risk of killing his own master leads him to
live a very successful life in Banglore.
This novel not only deals with human instinct but at the same time traces out
the layers of corruption going on inside politics and police force. Rich people
are after politicians for their vested interest. Ashok’s family is giving lots
of money for the election. In this world money is power. Ashok’s wife Pinky
kills a child when she drives in intoxicated condition but nothing happens.
Later Balram’s driver kills a boy but the victim poor family could do nothing as
the commissioner himself is with him. Writer is successful to give us the
reality around us. But in the name of dealing with truth how much it is sensible
to use the word which is difficult to digest? Adiga has used a very vulgar word
time and again which may not give good impression about a world famous writer
like him. And on the other hand he has particularly pointed out the Nepali woman
as prostitute. Whenever he talks about Red-light area he talks of Nepali women.
Why has he presented Nepali Women in this way? This is really astonishing. A
writer like him should be more conscious of writing something as his saying may
hurt other.
Leaving this little tit bits, the novel White Tiger is really worth-reading for
its novel way of presentation. The writer has written in a form of letter. The
language he has used so simple but refined. More than that the scenario he has
visualized in the novel is exactly the today’s world where no body is far from
corruption and greedy desire.
2nd February 2009