International Indexed & Refferred Research Journal, October 2012, ISSN 0975-3486, RNI- RAJBAL 2009/30097: VoL IV *ISSUE- 37

Research PaperEnglish

Treatment of master servant relationship in Aravind Adiga's 'The White Tiger'

October,2012

* Karan Sharma

* Research Scholar, Singhania University, Reg. No. 1050103933 Aravind Adiga, who was awarded Man Booker Prize for temple tower, the market, the glistening line of sewage, his debut and all in one novel The White Tiger. In this the landlords' mansion - and my own house, with that masterpiece he has dealt with so many current issues dark little cloud outside - the water buffalo. It looked among those one is master servant relationship. This like the most beautiful sight on earth. I leaned out from novel which is a portrayal of the relationship between the edge of the fort in the direction of my village - and master and servant means between Mr. Ashok and then I did something too disgusting to describe to you. Balram. The story depicts the idea that how Balram kills Well actually, I spat. Again and again. And then, whishis master just for the sake of money, and from the tling and humming, I went back down the hill. Eight character of Balram, Adiga has presented the realistic months later, I slit Mr Ashok's throat. (Adiga, p-41-2) His job was also to carry all the bags as they picture by depicting the condition of the working class. The class-consciousness is an old concept that still came out of the shopping malls and to face insult and exists in the Indian society. Balram who kills his master humiliation. The cheap and inhuman behaviour of the even justifies the murder by giving it the name of social rich is shown through the lost coin episode where injustice. Speaking on the master-servant relationship, Mongoose insults Balram for not having retrieved a rupee coin he lost while getting out of the car. He was Adiga says: so bothered about a rupee coin after bribing someone The servant-master system implies two things: one is that the servants are far poorer than the with a million rupees: rich- a servant has no possibility of ever catching up 'Get down on your knees. Look for it on the floor of the to the master. And secondly, he has access to the car.' I got down on my knees. I sniffed in between the master- the master's money, the master's physical per- mats like a dog, all in search of that one rupee. son. Yet crime rates in India are very low. Even though 'What do you mean, it's not there? Don't think you can the middle class- who often have three or four servants steal from us just because you're in the city. I want that - are paranoid about crime, the reality is master getting rupee.' 'We've just paid half a million rupees in a bribe, killed by his servants is rare You need two things [for crime to occur] - a divide and a conscious ideology of Mukesh, and now we're screwing this man over for a resentment. We don't have resentment in India. The single rupee. Let's go up and have a scotch.' 'That's poor just assume that the rich are a fact of life But I how you corrupt servants. It starts with one rupee. think we're seeing what I believe is a class based resent- Don't bring your American ways here.' Where that rupee coin went remains a mystery to me to this day, Mr ment for the first time. (Sawhney, 2008) Balram Halwai who represents modern India Premier. Finally, I took a rupee coin out of my shirt in the mid of economic prosperity. His crime of killing pocket, dropped it on the floor of the car, picked it up, his master was the revenge from a class to another and gave it to the Mongoose. (Adiga, p-139) class, the revenge which was not sudden out burst but It is just one example of insult which he has to face. it was the reaction of inhuman behaviour and insult on Such mean behaviour of the masters continues when the hands of his master. He recalls and follows what they instruct the servants about does and don'ts. Balram is told never to switch on the AC or poet Mirza Ghalib wrote about slaves: "They remain slaves because they can't see what is beautiful in the play music when he is alone. English education was world" (Adiga, p-40). His yearning for his freedom also great fun for Ashok and Pinky Madam. It patched came to the surface when he visited his native village up their quarrels. When he mispronounced 'Maal' for with his master Mr. Ashok and wife Pinky:It was a 'mall' they had their ironic laughter. The pizza episode very important trip for me while Mr. Ashok and Pinky is similar in nature. On Pinky Madam's birthday, Balram Madam were relaxingI swam through the pond, walked was made to dress up like a maharaja with a red turban up the hilland entered the Black Fort for the first and dark cooling glasses and serve them food. The lady timePutting my foot on the wall, I looked down on the to amuse herself trapped Balram to repeat PiZZa as village from there. My little Laxmangarh. I saw the Balram always pronounced it piJJA. The same situa-

RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

International Indexed & Refferred Research Journal, October 2012, ISSN 0975-3486, RNI- RAJBAL 2009/30097: VoL IV *ISSUE- 37

tion occurs when Balram is blackmailed when Pinky hits a man on the road in drunken driving. He was forced by Mr. Ashok to sign a forge statement for accepting full responsibility of the accident: To Whom It May Concern, I, Balram Hawai, son of Vikram Halwai, of Laxmangarh village in the district of Gaya, do make the following statement of my own free will and intention: That I drove the car that hit an unidentified person, or persons, or person and objects, on the night of January

23rd of this year...I swear by almighty God that I make this statement under no duress and under instruction from no one. (Adiga, p-168) So the idea of killing his master was just the vengeance of a class from the another because of years long slavery and Balram's vengeance from his master was just the result of his humiliation and insult which ends on the murder with his words "I'm tomorrow" (Adiga, p-6).

R E F E R E N C E
1 2 3 4 5 Adiga, Aravind. The White Tiger. Harper Collins Pub. India: 2008. Print. Sebastian, A. J. "Poor-Rich Divide in Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger". Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Science. Vol.1, No.2. 2009. p-229-245. Sawhney, Hirish. (2008). " India: A View from Below." Sep. p-6. http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/09/express/india-a-view-from-below.

RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION