RICH-POOR DISCRIMINATION IN ‘THE WHITE TIGER’

          The White Tiger is the debut novel of Aravind Adiga, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2008. The novel is written in the epistolary form as a seven part letter to the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao about corruption and poverty in India. The epistolary novel is an interesting literary technique because it allows a writer to include multiple narrators in his or her story. This means the story can be told and interpreted from numerous viewpoints. The novel is a witty parable of India’s changing scenario. The novel is about the protagonist, Balram, who is born on the dark heart of India.

         The White Tiger has set the backdrop of the economic boon in India that has widened the gulf between the poor and the rich. On one hand the rich is gaining all the benefits like education, health care, justice, hope etc. But on the other hand the poor people struggle hard to get their basic needs. The author through his novel brings to light the darkness of the society. The dialectic conflict is between the polar opposites to the haves and have nots. Balram is conscious of the perpetual conflict between the rich and the poor. Through the character of Balram, the novelist tries to show that the poor is always exploited because of their weak financial strength. The rich people mock at the poor by seeing their appearance. The rich do not understand that the poor are filthy and shabby because of the lack of money. As a servant, Balram has to obey all the rules laid by his master. Theys beat him on his head if he does any mistake. Balram is literally beaten by his master Mukesh, whom he calls as Mongoose. Balram realizes that discrimination between the rich and the poor is not only in the village but it is also seen in the developed cities in India. Such inhuman treatment in the hands of the rich society renders the heart of a poor man. In the metropolitan cities like Delhi, the poor people are not allowed to enter the malls only the rich are allowed to enter the mall. To the poor people the mall is a like museum where they can only admire the things that are kept inside. Even after Balram changes himself by wearing new clothes and chappals he is not allowed to enter the mall. The masters use their servants whenever they need them. To carry huge objects they use their servants. The poor always becomes the scapegoat for the atrocities committed by the upper sector. In the novel, when Pinky madam kills a child while driving, Balram is asked to take the responsibility of the crime committed by his master’s wife. The innocence of poor is taken for granted and the rich victimizes them just to protect their family’s reputation. The author points out that,

               “The jails of Delhi are full of drivers who are there behind bars because they are taking the blame for their good, solid middle-class masters”.(169)

          Rich people appoint servants to do their petty works like car drivers, cooks, watchmen, laundry etc. These servants are made to do all the works in the house. In the novel, though Balram is appointed as a car driver, he is asked to do all kinds of household chores like sweeping, cleaning and washing the dogs etc. Adiga remarks in The White Tiger, “Now, I say they took me as their ‘driver’. I don’t exactly know how you organize your servants in China. But in India – or, at least, in the darkness- the rich don’t have drivers, cooks, barbers and tailors. They simply have servants”.(68)

        It is not only the rich who discriminate the poor but the poor itself discriminate the poor. The tea shop in the novel has benches is only for the rich. The poor is not allowed to sit on the bench even if there are no rich people around them. In the same way, in Mr.Ashok’s house, Ram Bahadur, who is also one of the servants does not respect Balram. Ram demands Balram to address him with respect and call him as ‘sir’. The modern society is inescapably in the grip of the menace of division between the marginalized and the privileged and the mighty and the weak. Even the educated people don’t treat their servants like their fellow human being. They humiliate their servants and treat them like their slaves.

           

                     SUBMITTED BY,

               J. BERIN SANTRA