Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
M.A.Ed. Literature
From these thought processes, he develops a strong opinion about the Indian
government and religion in general, which he often shows in ironic and sarcastic
comments throughout the book. These comments are only one example for him being a
humorous man, who has a high self-esteem.
Even though he grew up where tradition, family and morals are highly important,
Balram loses interest in following what his father taught him as it inhibits him from
escaping his destiny as an uneducated, poor servant. The longer he works as Mr.
Ashoks driver the more he grows egoistic and solitary and determined to change his
life. By the end of the story he has almost forgotten all his standards and excuses his
actions with double morals and his intention of becoming an entrepreneur.
This particular form of repression is enhanced by his dreams and hallucinations
of his personal standards of living. In the novel, he would often see himself thinking
about the actual situation relating to his experienced poverty. To change his fate and to
escape the extremely harsh conditions of his reality, he would often end up in a trancelike state where he would imagine his self as a repressed individual and the only way to
get out of it is to act accordingly with traditionally evil motifs.
The Multiple Symbolisms in The White Tiger
There are many symbolisms in the novel. The concepts presented range from
the major character attributing himself as the white tiger to a lot of other metaphors that
suit the situations that he was in.
Balram earns the nickname White Tiger when he impresses a visiting school
official with his intelligence and reading skills. Its a symbol for rare talent only 1 in
10,000 Bengali tigers are white. Not only does this tokenistic identity symbolize him as a
unique creature but it also necessarily speaks about his personal outlook of his
environment. Balram Halwai sees himself as a jungle animal in the savage wild. Balram
sees himself equipped with the necessary tools for survival possessing a special skills
set plus an outstanding identity to be successful.
Being the white tiger also represents the hero in Balrams character. He sees
himself as this powerful creature that hides in the shadow and is ready to kill. His
likening himself to a very dangerous and unique predator also serves as a metaphor for
his hidden identity that uses his instincts and knowledge to succeed in the challenges
that have already existed from the moment that he was born.
This image of him being a predator speaks not only of his quest to establish
himself at the top of the jungle-like hierarchal food chain that is the Indian society but
also serves as a tormenting endeavour of a hero unlikely to succeed.
Perhaps Balrams favorite motif is the duality of Light and Dark. From the very
beginning, he attempts to navigate from his hometown in The Darkness to become a
2
member of urban society. Light, then, becomes a multifaceted symbol of time (the
future), wealth (lots of it), location (Bangalore), and obligation (none) while Darkness
represents the past, poverty, rural India and most importantly loyalty to family and
master.
These themes battle each other throughout the novel. Even after he has
established himself in Bangalore, he continues to seek ways to differentiate himself
from the Darkness. When one of his White Tiger drivers runs over a boy, he visits the
family and offers their surviving son a job. He realizes this decision may make him
appear weak, but he argues he has no choice. I cant live the way the Wild Boar and
the Buffalo and the River lived, and probably still live, back in Laxmangarh. I am in the
Light Now.
Other symbols that recur in the novel become secondary for they represent and
mirror ideas that are common in human nature. Aside from The Darkeness which aptly
refers to the poverty-stricken, rural area of India where Balram's village, Laxmangarh is
located, many other symbols represent some elements of Balrams reality.
Another symbol is the Black Fort. This architectural centerpiece of Balram's
village serves as his personal past. As a child he is afraid to go alone, but he conquers
this fear as he gets older. It later becomes his sanctuary, where he goes to contemplate
his misfortune. The fort is located high on a hill, and as he looks down on his village, he
vows to escape from The Rooster Coop and never to return.
Hanging in Balrams Bangalore office is a vintage chandelier. This chandelier
means so much more than being a simple light. He frequently looks to it for inspiration,
confessing to staring for long periods of time. The chandelier comes to symbolize the
Light of Bangalore and Balrams new life.
The most powerful of the minor symbolisms in the novel may be the rooster
coop. In the novel, Balram referred to it as a metaphor to describe the Indian
servant/master system. One day in the marketplace, Balram sees roosters being
slaughtered next to other live, caged roosters. The roosters know they are next, but they
do not rebel. Balram observes that servants in India remain trapped in servitude but
no one breaks out of the Rooster Coop because of family honor.
The novel as a whole speaks of the insightful life of an individual who considers
himself as a significant instrument in exposing of what life is like in a third world country
with all its troubling situations. Ultimately, the novel successfully presents a hero with
deep and provocative thought processes in a world where change is slow and progress
seems absent.