This book is one of those kinds which expose the reader to some bitter truth, and does that by slapping the reality on the reader’s face. Magnificently written; it not only provides a fresh perspective on the problems which a developing country like India is facing in today’s world, but also shocks the reader by the depth of these problems.
The reader is taken by surprise (at least I was, since I had not read any reviews before reading the book, and thus had absolutely no idea about the storyline) by the mockery which is shown even in the first few paragraphs of the letter Balram wrote on the first night. That gave a general direction towards the issues the book was going to take up. I say issues, because a lot of them have been taken up, by this character Balram which has been drawn up with such precision by the author Adiga. But with such clarity and effect has the protagonist drawn the portrait of reality, that one naturally comes to appreciate the style of writing.
A very important thing which the author exemplifies using metaphors- the various sections of today’s society. The stork, the buffalo, the mongoose, and the lamb. These are the categories of people today. Painfully, one realizes that most of the population today in India belongs to that category of lambs which aspire to become the storks, and in the process, a lot of blood is shed and a lot of bribing is done.
Very painstakingly, the protagonist tries to come out of the viciousness of the rooster coop. And equally painstakingly has Adiga shown what the rooster coop is all about. How the trustworthiness of servants is the basis of the entire Indian economy.
The murder symbolizes the final act of desperateness by one to lead a “normal” life of a rich man. The irony is, when anyone who counts in this world has killed someone or the other on their way up to the top, then why does this man who murdered only one, who wanted a chance only to lead the life of a “normal” man, be called a murderer?
In itself, the “white tiger” symbolizes, in the author’s words, the ones who have woken up while the rest of the people are still sleeping.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteWell, though I haven’t read the book till now nor do I have any idea about the actual contents of the story but based on reading reviews like these could make out a few things:
Nor am I so sincere an analyst of situations/conditions/facts etc etc…but what all I can do based on my mere gut-feeling (which normally I use and listen to whenever I find myself clueless based on strong thoughtfulness…reasoning….logics etc etc)
My comments to be distributed in diff tangents:
a.) To appreciate his (Mr Adiga’s) efforts in terms of this brilliant outcome (The White Tiger) as an author/artist which brought yet another laurel to the country..of course a matter of proud to us all.
b.) His writing skills and his illustrations that he has used to visualize/put forth to all; some thing which every body is somewhere (back of their minds) aware of but not able to give words or bring out explicitly in terms of interwoven facts/issues
c.) To every problem there are few basic issues/facts associated, and the very first one is that at least the problem area is identified to all so that the resolver could actually hit it correctly and directly. Secondly, the root cause of the problem should be identified so that the solutions could be well thought of and executed. Thirdly, strategizing any contingency in case needed, to solve all the problems.
d.) Though as an author his job is more than done (by bringing out issues/problems at least) in a artistically sculptured manner but being so much deep an analyst of all such issues (which he obviously is else he won’t have been able to bring forth such a brilliant piece) if he could also bring forth, subsequently, any measures/suggestions which the society/communities could implement so that the so called problems are actually solved. This would further lead to a strong earn of respect to Mr. Adiga and far more than a mere writer his place will be secured as an actual thinker too.
Though in all…we all know that right now its all about continue riding the Tiger as the moment we will think of getting off… we are sure that’s its going to bite/tear us off and that one fear is the only root cause perhaps which is predominating everything else today and is growing day by day with n number of riders getting onto it day by day.
Spell/Vocab/Grammatical checks may plz not be applied ;-)
Regards
Ashish
Mr. Adiga has tried to portray a large section of Indian society at a international level through his 'white tiger'. But while doing this, he forgot that there are some positive things about Indian society as well. In this book he has bundled all the negative aspects of the Indian society which not all, but only a small number of people possess. So In my personal opinion this book is highly biased against India.
ReplyDelete@Pranks: True,the book does seem negative for India as a whole. But Adiga does not say that this is what the whole of India is like. Its just that this is also a part of the whole picture. And a very shocking one at that. Though I completely agree that he might have made this fact more clear to the reader.
ReplyDeleteYep...that exactly was my point. He didn't said it, but it was automatically implied. If he wanted otherwise he must have made it clear....otherwise he is just ruining the image of India and Indians(that is us) at an international level.
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