The White Tiger is the debut novel by Indian
author Aravind Adiga. It was first published in 2008 and won the
Man Booker Prize for the same year.
[1]
The novel studies the contrast between India's rise as a modern
global economy and the main character, who comes from crushing
rural poverty.
[2]
The White
Tiger by Aravind Adiga
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Plot summary
Balram Halwai is the White Tiger of the book's title - a
title he earns by virtue of being deemed the smartest boy in his
village, a community deep in the "Darkness" of rural India.
Balram is the son of a rickshaw-puller; his family is too poor
for him to be able to finish school, and instead he has to work
in a teashop, breaking coals and wiping tables. Through these
experiences, Balram learns much about the world and later states
that the streets of India provided him with all the education he
needed. Later, Balram gets his break when a rich man hires him
as a chauffeur, and takes him to live in Delhi. The city is a
revelation.
As he drives his master to shopping malls and call centres,
Balram becomes increasingly aware of immense wealth and
opportunity all around him, while knowing that he will never be
able to gain access to that world. As Balram broods over his
situation, he realizes that there is only one way he can become
part of this glamorous new India.
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