Exploring Servitude and Education in 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga, Study notes of Chinese Culture

Download Exploring Servitude and Education in 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga and more Study notes Chinese Culture in PDF only on Docsity! October 19, 2010 1 Oct. 19: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (2008) to p. 1 78 2 Style / servitude 3 > The style in which this novel is written is quite interesting. It is written as a series of letters to 4 the Chinese Premier. Balram, the narrator (person writing the letter), makes it seem like he is 5 being friendly and innocent in his writing, but much of it is politically incorrect and just 6 offensive. Some of what he says is amusing, but often I find myself taken aback in disgust. 7 There is crude humor and a bit of morbidity in Balram's writing. The idea of him writing to this 8 Chinese Premier is amusing in itself, but he is not as reserved as he should be. I think that if this 9 person were real and actually took the time to read his letters, which is improbable, he would 10 be very offended if he did not have a strong sense of humor. Balaram does a lot of mocking and 11 this might reflect the thoughts of the author, Aravind Adiga. 12 ¶In this novel, we are presented with different levels of servitude: untouchables in the caste 13 system, "drivers," system with the landlords. The conflict of education is also presented. Balram 14 has to abandon his schooling and work to support his family. This makes him a "Half-Baked 15 Indian" instead of the white tiger he is meant to be. 16 17 Gender 18 >I really like this book so far. I was certainly not expecting the curt dialogue, but, for me, it 19 really makes the story. Balram is just so brutally honest, so likeable, that I sympathize with 20 every word he says (even, for some reason, when he admits to being a murderer)! 21 ¶What's strange about this reading is how the Indian man is experiencing slavery. Usually, 22 Indian stories revolve around injustice to women: how they have to succumb to arranged 23 marriages, how they can only go out when their husbands allow them to leave (usually to 24 perform errands), and how they must shield their identity in order to stay out of trouble. 25 Instead, Balram is experiencing these things, in a subtly different manner. 26 ¶As a female, I don't want to say that this is refreshing because, for obvious reasons, it's not. It 27 is just wonderful to read about an enslaved Indian man because it lessened the bias I felt 28 previous to this reading. I just hope that Balram maintains his likeability so that this remains 29 true. 30 31 Animals / epistolary format 32 33 >The animal imagery was very intriguing; it seems that animals represent positions of power. 34 The family’s water buffalo is described as a “dictator,” and the landlords are given names of 35 October 19, 2010 2 animals that represent their personalities. The Stork would naturally be involved in the 36 marriages—if marriage and fertility destroys the men’s chance for education, then the Stork 37 represents, as the bringer of the children, the ultimate destruction of that opportunity—they 38 must labor for him (and for their families) instead of seeking to improve their minds and 39 advance in life. Lord Buddha is surrounded by harmless animals because he has essentially 40 subdued them through knowledge. The lizard is another animal that stands in the way of 41 education: Balram is so scared of it that he doesn’t want to return. Thus the destruction of the 42 beast: the lizard, and perhaps later the murder of his master, may symbolize freedom through 43 education. This may also be shown when Balram visits his family and they pay more attention 44 to him then to the buffalo for once. 45 I also wonder why he wrote the novel as letters...My guess thus far is that making it a first 46 person narrative makes everything personal but also subjective and unreliable, which works 47 perfectly with his trickster persona. However, I still can't make much of a connection with the 48 Chinese Premier. 49 50 Light / darkness 51 >The Light versus Dark theme struck me as, rather, intriguing. The narration allowed me to see 52 the perspective from the eyes of a person who knew what each side looked like. The abrupt 53 and, sometimes, vulgar attitude represented in the test allowed me to further compare the 54 narrator to the experiences he had described. From the river and his former village to the streets 55 of the city, every detail and description related, somehow, to the theme of Light and Dark. 56 Furthermore, the details allowed me to decipher the blur between his old life and his new life. 57 In other words, the change in lifestyle is so similar yet different that every detail and theme 58 helped me understand the concept behind the novel. 59 60 River 61 >I am really interested in the comparison you made between the river Ganga and the Ohio 62 River in America. I do not know what role the Ohio River plays as an emancipator in American 63 society, but I know that waterways do strike a special chord in the heart of American history. 64 When Balram began describing the Ganga I thought instantly of the Mississippi River and 65 started comparing the gory images Balram describes to images we have of our own formative 66 waterways. The Ganga is described as a river of death and disgust while we glorify the 67 Mississippi as the center of the delta with beautiful steamboats etc. What about the Mississippi 68 as a vehicle for trading slaves or the many horrid accidents that took place there? What do the 69 different descriptions say about glorified American history? 70 71 Frederick Douglass 72