Hello friends
Here in this blog I am talking about the most famous novel The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. As we know it's a very useful novel to see the realistic picture of India. The White Tiger is an epistolary novel that begins with the protagonist Balram writing a letter to the Chinese Premier Jiabao because Balram, the protagonist of the novel, hears that Jiabao is coming to Bangalore. Balram Halwai narrates his life in a letter, written in seven consecutive nights, explaining how he, the son of a rickshaw puller, escaped a life of servitude to become a successful businessman, describing himself as an entrepreneur.
Representation of India in The novel The White Tiger :-
Whenever we see that portrayal of anything in a novel, we think that it is appropriate or not. One of the most important questions pop up in our mind is that How far do we agree with the representation of India in the novel the White Tiger.
So let's see how the representation of India was done by Arvind Adiga.
The White Tiger is a reflection upon contemporary India. It shows a real picture of India . As in the novel we finds dialogue that:
There is two type of India one is light and India of darkness.
Darkness suggests the corrupted Indian people. Corruption is also one of the cruel realities of the india.
" I will say it was worthwhile to know, just for a day, just for an hour , just for a minute, what it means not to be a servant ." (321)
Here we can see the Master and servants relationship in India. Balram has not a right to punish his corrupted master. In rural India we find ruthless landlords exploit the poor in one or other cases like Balram they take revenge on their masters. Indian government does little for such poor people. They die unknowingly, their children do not have proper education. Their school does not have basic facilities. Thai is the situation of India in these shining days also. Though this isn't a situation I'm all over India but , there are some of the places where that is happening.
" the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich. And what do the rich dream of?? Losing weight and looking like the poor."
From this quote we come to know the mental condition of the people. And almost that's the true picture of the Indian life.
" in the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies. And only two destinies: eat—or get eaten up.” ( p- 38 )
This is also one of the cruel realities of the Indian society. There is no space for poor people. There is also a caste system alive. But what is the main thing which divides people most is the richness of the people. That is also well said by Adiga that there are only two destinies to eat or to be eaten up.
So what I was thinking is that Arvind Adiga portrayal of India is almost a reality of the Indian life and people.
Do we believe that Balram's story is the archetype for all stories of "rags to riches" ?
Here in this question I don't have a particular answer like ' yes ' or 'No'. But what we can do is that we can predict things. It is possible that Balram was the archetype for all the people from rags to riches. But the question is that...
Is this the business model of India ?? Does Balram stand for all the successful businessmen of India?
It's not possible because each and every person is not ready to slot down anybody's throat for personal success. But some of them are like Balram Halwai. To become a successful businessman is a good idea but to kill somebody and live a life like a rich man it's quite showing for me.
Each and every person has their own ways to become rich and successful in their life. Is it not only the way that Balram is doing? If we say that Balram was the archetype for all rags to riches. Then it means we are telling that all the humans who get success in their life they all are murderers. Is it so ? And also it Should not happen.
Is it possible to do deconstructive reading of The White Tiger ? How ?
Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique, deconstructive criticism aims to show that any text inevitably undermines its own claims to have a determinate meaning, and licences the reader to produce his own meanings out of it by an activity of semantic 'freeplay' (Derrida, 1978, in Lodge, 1988, p. 108).
As we know Derrida talking about Binary opposition. Here in the novel the binary oppositions of Darkness versus Light, Master versus Servant and High versus Low castes are posited. In deconstruction we have to question the text and it's meaning itself. So here we can see Balram telling a story of himself. So to what extent we can believe in his story that is the question. And also..
Balram himself says, "It is an Autobiography of a Half- baked Indian".
So what was the meaning of the word 'Half-baked' . So the meaning is poorly developed or carried out, lacking adequate planning or forethought, lacking in judgment, intelligence, or common sense.
So the person who doesn't have enough common sense and who is telling the story of his life, then We can’t rely on his narrative that whatever spoken by him is true. This single line can falsify the entire narratives.
Write a review of the film adaption of The White Tiger :----
The White Tiger is a 2021 India based American drama film directed by Ramin Bahrani. The film stars Adarsh Gourav in his first leading role, along with Priyanka Chopra and Rajkummar Rao. The film was produced by Mukul Deora and Ramin Bahrani, and executive produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Prem Akkaraju, Ava DuVernay. A rich Indian family's ambitious driver uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and rise to the top as an entrepreneur.
Initial release: 13 January 2021
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Screenplay: Ramin Bahrani
Producers: Priyanka Chopra, Ramin Bahrani, Mukul Deora, Ava DuVernay
Languages: Hindi, English
When we talk about movie adaption from the book. Then we have to look at various aspects. Is this movie faithful to the novel or not ? What extent is the movie faithful ?
Have you identified any difference between the movie adaption and the novel ? Does it make any significant difference in the overall texture and the tone of the novel ?
Yes I have identified many differences between the movie adaption and the novel. First of all we can see the beginning of the movie and the beginning of the book. First of all let's see the beginning of the movie.
The movie begins with the scene of the statue of Gandhi and his followers at the night in Delhi when Balram is in Maharaja’s costumes. He sets back in the car and drunken Pinky madam drives the car, which leads to her striking and killing a small child.
But the novel we can see that how it was begins. You can also read the first page of the novel, which I have uploaded here. But what I am thinking is that this change does not affect the texture and the tone of the novel.
What are the most important things in the novel or that are not in the movie. That is about religion. Arvind Adiga brutally criticise the mythical characters like Hanuman, Krishna.
" you will find an image of a saffron-colored creature, half man half monkey: this is Hanuman, everyone's favorite god in the 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."
"One evening I went to the market and bought two dozen of the cheapest idols of Hanuman and
Ram "
" It was a scene to put you in mind
of that passage in the Bhagavad Gita, when our Lord Krishna—another of history's famous
chauffeurs—stops the chariot he is driving and gives his passenger some excellent advice on life
and death. Like Krishna I philosophized—I joked—I even sang a song—all to make Mr. Ashok
feel better. "
So this is the dialogue from the novel the white Tiger where we find the references of Indian mythical heroes in a derogatory way. But in the movie that is not there. We don't find any single references of Lord Hanuman and Krishna.
So That's the question why Ramin Behrani's hasn't portrayed these things in the movies.
So That's the question why Ramin Behrani's hasn't portrayed these things in the movies. So If we talk about the current scenario of the Cancel Culture or Call out culture. Then we can say that this is not a time to talk about any god publically. So to talk about negative aspects or critical points definitely should not be done. I think because of the climate of fear film makers don't talk about the god in that sense which Adiga was telling in the novel. But what I was thinking about is that there should be a healthy debut around religion.
There is a single difference that the poetry line " You were looking for a key for years but the door was always open " by Iqbal, which is in novel speak by Muslim shopkeeper. In the movie pinky madam speaks this dialogue. Is there any reason behind that ? If the shopkeeper spoke this sentence then what was the effect ? Is there any politics ?🤔
Yes , there is politics because these lines make notable changes in Balram's life. So this credit goes to Muslim poet which Adiga gives in his novel. But in the movie producer Priyanka chopara Jonas (Pinky madam ) speaks these lines. And it seems like that because of her words Balram awakened. But it's not true.
If In the movie Muslim shopkeeper spoke this lines then their is a new scope of thinking and new discourse happened. Then the beauty of Islamic language and tradition of aesthetics may be known to everybody in a different discourse.
David Ehrlich in his review wrote this " Ramin Behrani's Netflix thriller brutal corrective to Slumdog millionaire Why is it a corrective ? What was the error in Slumdog Millionaire that it was corrected ?
In a way the movie Slumdog millionaire is a good movie. The effect of the movie is very strong. So people don't think about the negative aspects or what is left in this movie. So what David Ehrlich is talking about is how this movie the white Tiger is corrective to the movie " Slumdog millionaire".
So the movie The White Tiger is more realistic then the movie Slumdog Millionaire. There is sudden change behaviour of the character. The character is protagonist Jamal's brother. At last who has changed completely and gave cellphone and car keys to Latika. And sacrifice his own life for the two lovers. It's not a believable thing. But Ramin Behrani's Netflix thriller is not needed to be correct because it is realistic.
Citation :-
Adiga, Aravind. The White Tiger. HarperCollins, 2008.
“Half-baked.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/half-baked. Accessed 2 Mar. 2021.
Thank you......
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