The Subaltern Can Roar: An Introspection on Adiga's "The White Tiger"

The White Tiger is the debut novel of Indian journalist turned novelist Aravind Adiga, published in 2008 and also received the prestigious Booker prize in the same year. This is a captivating story of an underdog and his adventure of becoming a master from a servant. Adiga attacks societal stratification and caste system in Indian social order with an arrow sharpened with scathing criticism. In the novel, the protagonist cum narrator explains about entrepreneurship in India to Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier, who is about to pay a visit to India in order to know about the entrepreneurship in modern India. The protagonist of this novel is Balram Halwai, son of a poor rikshaw puller, representative of the downtrodden people. But some characteristic traits make him unique that is why his school inspector named him the white tiger. He is driven by unyielding spirit and vaulting ambition that led him to surpass all the societal obstacles and to claim his status as a successful entrepreneur. Destiny puts him in a situation where there was no escape. He decides to kill his master and run away with his money to evade the life of eternal slavery. Eventually, he established himself as a rising entrepreneur based in Bangalore. Balram is the spokesperson, the voice of underclass, explores Adiga’s point of view about the power dynamics and social relationship between the elite class and marginalized people in our society. This article is a social critique that shows wealth and power are the determining factors of all social disparities and how the marginalized class has been affected since ages by all these factors. Balram Halwai, the voice of underdog, declares war against the age old oppression of upper class through his ruthless venture of becoming a successful entrepreneur by shattering the shackle of lifelong slavery.