The White Tiger: A Novel by Aravind Adiga
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I found The White Tiger to be a truly magnanimous novel. I’d never read a book about India by an Indian author. I love Ha Jin and Khaled Housseini, so this author’s style wasn’t too much of a jump for me.
The story starts out by introducing us to the main character and his quirky sense of purpose and self. He writes the Premier of China telling him how he has become a successful entrepeneur, offering to unfold his tale to him as a sign of goodwill. This strange narrative tool helps those unfamiliar with India to realize the differences between the two countries. It sets up a lot of comparison done in the book, and might even have a larger social message.
In the telling of Balram’s story, you come to care for this comical character. His perspective is saturated with witty and classic lines to make you want to keep reading. He tells how he strove to learn a new trade and break out of his caste of sweet makers. You follow his early days as an outcast during school to his subsequent days as a driver of a rich master. Of course this is where the real story begins.
Balram has the capacity to describe his world with a type of detached insight. He claims India is separate into light and darkness. The darkness is the lies, governmental deceit, and repressed nature of the poor country. He delights in showing how various bits of the darkness can take over the soul. He pointedly remarks on the dichotomy that presents itself everywhere in India, especially when he arrives in the city. The scenes in the novel actually take place largely at night, or in the darkness of a basement dwelling or otherwise gray and dark time. When Balram was a boy he had to break coal in front of a shop, so even though it was daytime in the telling, the black of the coal separates one’s mind from that reality.
The telling of the novel’s story happens through the letters to the Premier. Balram writes them in the evenings/late at night, under the sparkling light of chandeliers. It’s a message of his success and another reference to the light.
In the novel, you’ll uncover delights about Balram, but in the end you’ll likely discard him, knowing too much about his misdeeds.
Reading and Discussion
What did you think the juxtaposition of light and darkness meant?
Did you feel compassion for Balram at the end?
Would you consider this a realistic impression of India?
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