Defining literature in the context of The White Tiger

THE WHITE TIGER BY ARAVIND ADIGA:-

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Generally we apply various theories to evaluate the texts, for example Psycho-analysis, gender studies etc.

But here my focus is on "Redefining literature in context of The White Tiger"-"whatever definition we try to give to literature where this text falls in" ??

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In literature, there is no totality of truth, but there are grains of truth. Sometimes book shows us mirror image or/ & sometimes an X- ray image of society. Reading literature  is also a quest for the self. We've to identify where am  i in literature ?

Apart from this, there is age old debate since time of Plato & Aristotle that poetry should be banned, because it makes people emotional. so we've to study also from this angle that whether literature makes us emotional or rational.

Another point is that of Art for art's sake and art for life's sake. where this book falls in?

It would be appropriate to put here views of Bertolt Brecht- "Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer to shape it."

It is said in Sanskrit that "Sa vidya ya vimuktaye". so we have to look from this point that Is Reading literature leads us from darkness to light ?? Are we becoming free from shackles of narrow  minded mentality after reading book / literature ?? What happen to us ?? Does it make any difference after reading it ??

So, I have try to ponder this questions into The White Tiger.

"I was looking for the keys for years, but the door was always open"-The White Tiger.

If you want to break the "MYTH OF SHINING INDIA" &"MERA BHARAT MAHAN" read The White Tiger. There is not a single object left out by Adiga. Whatever has come to his way, he has bluntly criticized it.

→ Corruption in politics & education, pollution, prostitution, Hit & run, failure of governmental institution, Rich V/s poor conflict,Religion, Capitalism V/s Marxism, Business model of India(entrepreneurs), Globalization and changing morality,two sides of India-Darkness and Light beautifully merged into single plot in humorous and satirical way.

From the beginning Balram satirizes various institutions of India. He says ....."And our nation, though it has no drinking water, electricity, sewage system, public transportation, sense of hygiene, discipline, courtesy or punctuality, does have entrepreneurs."(P-4)

Then he criticizes gods of all the religion or we can say he makes fun of habit of people to kiss arses of god or to pray god before beginning of movie or starting other work. More than that he compares god with politicians. Lets quote original lines :- "It's true that all these gods seems to do awfully little work-much like our politicians-and yet keep winning re election to their golden thrones, years after years. (P-8)

And more than that he says "....You will find an image of a saffron coloured creature, half man half monkey: This is Hanuman, everybody's favourite god in darkness. Do you know about Hanuman sir ? He was the faithful servant of the god Rama, and we worship him in our temples because he is a shining example of how to serve your masters with absolute fidelity, love and devotion. These are the gods they have foisted on us, Mr Jiabao. Understand, now, how hard it is for a man to win his freedom in India. (P-19)

Lets quote here words of Franz Kafka- "I think we ought to read only the kinds of books that WOUND and STAB us. If the book we are reading doesn't wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for?..... we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like a suicide. A book MUST BE THE AXE FOR THE FROZEN SEA INSIDE US".

-Franz Kafka- Letter to Oskar Pollak ( 27 Jan. 1904)

This portion is exactly like an axe.

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The White Tiger is an X- Ray image of a diseased body (Nation). Even after taking X - Ray, if everything is fine within the body, then its no problem. But here unfortunately, it is not the case. Everything is rotten, decayed inside. And people are singing song of Shining India. But the truth is that large number of people are left behind. This success story that are told again and again are of very limited people.

Lets quote Adiga here....

"Well, this is the reality for a lot of Indian people and it's important that it gets written about, rather than just hearing about the 5% of people in my country who are doing well. In somewhere like Bihar there will be no doctors in the hospital. In northern India politics is so corrupt that it makes a mockery of democracy. This is a country where the poor fear tuberculosis, which kills 1,000 Indians a day, but people like me - middle- class people with access to health services that are probably better than England's - don't fear it at all. It's an unglamorous disease, like so much of the things that the poor of India endure.

Here it is appropriate to compare with lines of Hamlet, "........rotten state of Denmark"

BECAUSE...

Here in school teachers are selling uniform of students given by government. why teachers do this ?? Because govt. dont pay them their salary on time. and more shocking thing is that people sympathise them, they dont have problem with it. so, when people see corruption happening around them and then even if they remain silent? keep mum is even greater problem.

Lines about our school is very ironical that-"If the Indian village is a paradise, then the school is a paradise within a paradise"(p-32).

"There was supposed to be a free food at my school- a government programme gave every boy three rotis, yellow daal, and pickles at lunchtime. But we never saw rotis, or yellow daal or pickles, and everybody knew why: the schoolteacher had stolen our lunch money.(p-32/33).

The similar thing happens with hospitals also that there is no doctor in hospital, he is in his own clinic or private hospitals. he can run clinic by bribing officers.

"No!- Mr Jiabao, i urge you not to dip in the Ganga, unless you want your mouth full of faeces, straw, soggy parts of human bodies, buffalo carrion and seven different kinds of industrial acids. (p-15)

......in village buses were never late more than an hour or two!!!!(p.-23).

Inspector scolds teacher that- "There is no duster in this class; there are no chairs; there are no uniforms for the boys. How much money have you stolen from school funds ????(p-34)

So he says "Stories of rottenness and corruption are always the best stories, arent they???(P-50) Because now people dont have problem with it. We've naturalized it. accepted it. And this naturalization of corruption is big problem.

At the same time he presents the picture of private hospitals  in Delhi that, "When i peeped in from outside, the hospital's lobby looked as clean as the inside of the five star hotel."(P-180). Failure of governmental institutions due to corruption or lack of political will and widespread of privatization are also significant in the novel.

Mirror image is selective. Are we doing this?

HOW Far this image is true ??

Example of Gujarati cinema. lasvicious dialogue, witty repartee etc in comedy of manners. The same in our cinema.

Lets discuss the example of Gujarati movie "Chello Divas". This movie is praised a  lot as a revival of Gujarati cinema. But at the same time harshly criticized by many- they argue that whatever is shown in the movie is not reality. All the students are not such the way they have presented in the movie.

MY POINT IS THAT, ART IS (HAS TO BE) SELECTIVE. Whatever presented / narrated that may be half truth. But there is always other side of coin. One cant generalize this as the only truth.

For example, so many experiences and observations about India are ponder in The White Tiger. But India itself is so large and full of diversity. Balram laughs at Democracy because of his experiences. that can be true to that state or region. But it may not be the case is Gujrat or other states of country.

As a reader, while reading the novel i felt that "Novel looks like tale about india of 1970-80(Even though it is 21st century text published in 2008). Because i am born and brought up in Gujrat.And Gujrat is comparatively developed state state then Bihar, U.P. or Jharkhand etc.Similarly the kind of traffic jam or pollution which is in Delhi may not be in other parts of India. So i have not seen the picture like this which books speaks about. But when we watch news or read about other states of India it may have few similarities with the narrative of the novel.

So, my point is that this mirror image is also sometimes problematic. But at the same time one cant neglect it also.

Here we can apply Homi. K. Bhabha's - "Nation and Naration".

Nation - the Modern Janus.(Greek god with 2 face-looking forward and backward). when one speaks other remains hidden.

Bhabha observes how other is created for Nation building. Other is always fear in National identity. Story of shining India is one face of the Nation, where as Balram's story of rottenness , of Darkness is the hidden face of the same Nation.

When entire world was looking with hope towards India as a rising super power nation, and  critics like Thomas Friedman were praising India, at that time this novel came as a shock.

I may not believe the representation of India, unless it is proved. The major incident in novel takes place in Delhi - capital of India. While working as  a driver Balram many time refers to traffic jam and air pollution. is it true ? Do we have any scientific proof proving it as truth?

In last Nov-Dec (2015), There was a summit about climate change in France. According to agency's report, most 150 polluted cities were identified from all over the world. 15 cities of India were also mentioned there, and surprisingly Delhi was top in list. This report came in 2015, but this problem discussed much earlier novel in 2008.

Right now Odd & Even formula started by Delhi govt. to control traffic and pollution. This step also proves narrative as right.

Another significant point is India of light & India of Darkness. In rural area people had no work at all. People roam here &  there for work. Where as , as Balram mentions In Banglore there are hoardings for job. Well qualified people are not available who can satisfy the need of market.

Another interesting point to observe is "Balram's metamorphosis from Edenic innocence to coldblooded murderer. He was a good, loyal servant. But everywhere he saw evil and corruption around him. Generally we saw that for example newly elected person in government job are more honest and sincere but environment, work culture and atmosphere is such that one has to sucumb to the situation. And later on he transforms into corrupt officer ( as narrated  in most of Hindi movies). Similarly this reality is also presented in the novel, which can be read as x-ray  image of society. Balram as a driver was living in very poor condition. Other drivers around him were also busy in cheap magazines, prostitution, stealing petrol or black mailing their masters, selling bottles of empty wine etc. This is bitter but reality.

When Ashok's wife left him, he visited Ukranian girl with the Minister. This is the point where Balram thinks "They corrupted him"(P-217). In Aristotelian term this can be said as "Hamartia" -(Fatal flow:- A personality trait or other characteristic of a real or fictional individual which is immoral, destructive and which leads to the ruin or profound suffering of that individual.) For the character of Mr. Ashok.This gave strength to Balram that i am morally better than my master. This is the strong cause for Balram to slit the throat of master.

while this incident, there is a beautiful line that ".........India has progressed, hasn't it ?.  She's (Ukranian girl student who is prostitute) speaking in Hindi".

This passage attacks like an axe on frozen snow. Actually, it laughs, makes mockery or fun of so called progress and development.

She is a student, came to study. But what is she doing???!!! What kind of education students are getting??  And she is visited by minsters and businessman, the rich-super class people of India. If they are like this then what can we expect from laymen???From Drivers to politicians this rottenness is spread like net everywhere.

Thats why i mentioned this novel as a X- ray image of a diseased body (Nation). Nothing is well within. It needs to cure as soon as possible.

Thats why it is said that "sa vidya ya vimuktaye". So, i would like to categorize this novel under category of "Art for Life's sake". Lets take example of "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. When we read the novel we favor Hester Prynne, even though she has commited adultery. Because literature always stands for humanity.But imagine once, what will happen if everybody start doing what was done by Hester ? There will be chaos, anarchy in society. similarly as a reader we may feel sympathy for Balram, but if everybody start doing like Balram then it will disturb the balance of society. Because Adiga's vision is dystopic. Utopian society cant be created with the dystopic vision like this. and this is what we've to learn from literature.After studying text like this we've to learn that i shoudnt do this. Evil is not answer to evil. Reading literature makes us free from shackles of narrowmindedness. It gives vision to understand world in a better way.

Balram is not a hero for me, but he is just Mouthpiece or representative of Majority of people living in the era of Globalization , Capitalism and Privatization. As a writer Aravind captures this under currunt of society. Slowly and steadily we are moving to become society like this, where everybody wants success, richness, power. No matter what cost one has to pay for it. Sliting Ashok's throat is example of it.

The demage which was not done by hundreds of years of British raj, that damage is now being done by Neo Colonialism.

Balram was innocent in village but transforms into murderer after entering into metro city.Cities stands for (or is Metaphor for) L. P.G., Capitalism, MNC. it means he bacame murdere because of all these things. Even more surprising / shocking thing is that he has no regret for what he has done.

This is the morality with which every child is growing in India that money is everything, and for success you have to flow blood, whether yours or someone else's. There are only two destinies-to eat or to be eaten up.

So, Adiga by capturing the under currunt warning us against the direction towards which we are moving as a society. So, again text is art for life's sake.

Balram says "I'm man of action and change" (p-5).This point proves this book as it makes more rational. Balram is a thinking man, but he thinks rationally. The way he reads god Hanuman as a symbol of slavery is cleaarly anti dogmatic. He is not even emotionally attached with his family. He dont sent money to his family on time. When he killed Mr. Ashok in Delhi and ran away to Banglore, he knew very well that his family would be killed by them, but he even dont care to inform the family member about the possible danger.

And The White Tiger is also not a fantasy but a critical and deep thinking about the India. It makes us rational to think who we are ? What are our limitations and pitfalls as a society?

Rather than believing into political speeches of "India is shining" and swaying with the flow it makes us rational to question and doubt it.

it makes us rational to ask why some one is so rich, living luxurious life in big houses, moving in cars , at the same time other is so poor that they dont have even food to eat, home to live, school to study or hospitals for basic health concerns ?

"Che garib na ghar ma tel nu tipuy dohlyu, ane amiro ni kabar par ghee na diva bale che".

In Democratic society where equality should prevail, Why this inequality, descrimination and class conflicts????

Someone is rich not only because he is working hard but because other's share is stolen by them.

With the character of Ram Persad- a driver who actually was muslim fellow but changed his name only to get job, and Pinky madam- Ashok's wife who was christian, whom Balram calls a lady with conscience- novel makes us rational to think that what is more important Religion or humanity??? Why should we judge someone on the basis of religion?

Balram himself confesses that Ram Persad was far better driver than him in every respect. Then even he has to leave the job. Pinky was not accepted by Ashok's family because she belongs to different religion.

As a reader we have to think, what should be the criteria to judge the person?

*Conclusion:-

Thus, in an attempt to redefining literature, i would like to conclude that the novel is an x- ray image, it breaks the frozen snow within, it makes us rational and after all it is Art for life's sake.

Work cited:-

Adiga, Arvind. The White Tiger. New Delhi: Harper collins, 2008.

www.theguardian.com. The gardian. 2008. 10 01 2016 <www/theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/16/booker-prize>.

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