The White Tiger - a Review.
The White Tiger – A Review “Neither you nor I speak English, but there are some things that can be said only in English.” - Aravind Adiga
Aravind Adiga was born in Chennai during the mid-1970s to parents who hailed from a small city in Karnataka. He was welcomed into a very well educated and well-connected family. He kept the name of his family flying high when he ranked 1st in the State of Karnataka in the SSLC exams in 1990. He also went on to add Columbia University and University of Oxford to his Alma Mater [1]. He began his career as a financial journalist in New York City but he soon moved into the world of literary fiction. On today’s date Adiga has 4 short stories along with three novels to his name. Most of his short stories got published around the same time as his first novel. “Between the Assassinations” and “Last Man in Tower” are his two lesser known but still widely read novels. The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga’s first novel, made him the fourth Indian born winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2008[2], and the following account justifies just why he did.
The novel tells the riveting tale of Balram Halwai, “servant, philosopher, entrepreneur, murderer”, (Harper Collins, Back Cover) (the mere synopsis glaring out of the dark paperback covers of the book are enough to draw the attention of every avid book lover), illustrating his rise from tea boy to the toast of modern India’s entrepreneurship world.
The title refers to a rare breed of white tigers occasionally spotted in the North - Eastern parts of India. The white tiger is a vivid example of the potent animal imagery used extensively by Adiga. The title is significant, owing to the inherent distinctions that the two breeds, humans, and animals share. The tiger's rarity hints at its exclusive nature, whilst Balram's unabated intelligence, causes even his school teacher to draw parallels between the two, who remarks, "The white tiger,
Aravind Adiga was born in Chennai during the mid-1970s to parents who hailed from a small city in Karnataka. He was welcomed into a very well educated and well-connected family. He kept the name of his family flying high when he ranked 1st in the State of Karnataka in the SSLC exams in 1990. He also went on to add Columbia University and University of Oxford to his Alma Mater [1]. He began his career as a financial journalist in New York City but he soon moved into the world of literary fiction. On today’s date Adiga has 4 short stories along with three novels to his name. Most of his short stories got published around the same time as his first novel. “Between the Assassinations” and “Last Man in Tower” are his two lesser known but still widely read novels. The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga’s first novel, made him the fourth Indian born winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2008[2], and the following account justifies just why he did.
The novel tells the riveting tale of Balram Halwai, “servant, philosopher, entrepreneur, murderer”, (Harper Collins, Back Cover) (the mere synopsis glaring out of the dark paperback covers of the book are enough to draw the attention of every avid book lover), illustrating his rise from tea boy to the toast of modern India’s entrepreneurship world.
The title refers to a rare breed of white tigers occasionally spotted in the North - Eastern parts of India. The white tiger is a vivid example of the potent animal imagery used extensively by Adiga. The title is significant, owing to the inherent distinctions that the two breeds, humans, and animals share. The tiger's rarity hints at its exclusive nature, whilst Balram's unabated intelligence, causes even his school teacher to draw parallels between the two, who remarks, "The white tiger,