In the past it was believed that literature achieved its importance due to its ability to

show people the way to goodness and virtue. To what extent can this can be said of the

importance of the two works you have studied?

Historically, literature has often explored themes which pushed the widely-held belief

that the road to morality is heavily connected to religious faith and its practices––however, in

recent times, literature has become a powerful medium to criticize this very same belief, with

many authors suggesting that the relationship between morality and religion is complex, and

perhaps even irreconcilable. Clear examples of this thematic progression in literature over

time is displayed, firstly, in the third play of Sophocles' Theban trilogy entitled Antigone,

which follows the story of Oedipus’ daughter Antigone as she faces the legal ramifications of

burying her shunned brother on the basis of her religious beliefs; secondly, it is displayed in

Aravind Adiga’s 2008 satirical novel entitled The White Tiger, where the main, morally-gray

and impoverished character Balram struggles with the presence of religion and its ties to

oppression in modern-day India. Specifically, in Antigone, Sophocles suggests that the way to

virtue and goodness is shown through abiding by religious laws; in The White Tiger, on the

other hand, Adiga insinuates that both man-made laws and religious laws are equally

oppressive, and therefore neither can pave the way to goodness and virtue. In each text, this is

explored in the author’s treatment of death, both in terms of the way the killing of others is,

or is not, justified, as well as in the presentation of the funeral as a symbol of religion.

Firstly, in Antigone, Sophocles portrays the burial as a justified religious obligation

which grants freedom to the spirits of the dead and allows equality amongst humans, thus

pushing the narrative that religious laws show the path to goodness and virtue. For example,

in the prologue, Antigone attempts to make her sister Ismene fee l guilty so that she joins her

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to bury Polyneices. Antigone states: “It is the dead / Not the living, who make the longest

demands: / We die forever…” Here lineation in the dialogue isolates, and thus emphasizes,

this thematically profound statement. Furthermore, the emphasis on the word “not” creates a

dichotomy between “the dead” and “the living,” thereby elevating the dead and justifying the

religious obligation of a burial imposed on the living due to natural human empathy.

Moreover, Sophocles initially portrays the concept of putting the dead to rest as a justified

moral obligation all persons must fulfill to be considered good and virtuous by the gods. This

is evident during the prologue where Antigone and her sister, Ismenê, exit from the double

doors of the palace. Here, Antigone explains the decree Creon delivered regarding the burial

of their brother Polyneicês. She states that they must bury Polyneicês in the same way that

“Creon buried our brother Eteoclês” because he “fought as bravely and died as miserably.”

The use of the word “as” conveys equality between her deceased brothers and suggests that

Antigone believes that all persons have the right to a funeral without discrimination.

Therefore, Sophocoles intentionally portrays Antigone’s beleif as a justified religious

obligation which is also morally correct through the implication of human equality. The

notable implication of freedom and equality for the dead is significant as the way Sophocles

develops this idea in the play suggests that the path to goodness and morality (as defined by

the values of freedom and equality) is based on following religious practices, such as a burial,

which is implied to be a justified belief. The climax of the play, which sees Creon regretting

his stance, reinforces the idea that the path Antigone takes, while full of suffering and

tragedy, was morally correct.

Contrastingly, in The White Tiger, Adiga conveys the idea that religious laws can be

as oppressive as man-made laws. He does this early in the novel by portraying a traumatic

funeral experience for the protagonist Balram. As a part of Balram’s first letter to Wen

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Jiabao, he recouts his mother’s funeral in the Ganga River, starting the story by stating

“...when I was six or seven or eight years old…” Adiga emphasizes Balram’s young age by

repeating the word “or”, creating empathy for Balram amongst the readers due to his young

age and his inability to locate the moment more precisely. This is unlike Sophocles, who

gains empathy by portraying Antigone as a strong and brave martyr. Furthermore, this young

age also adds more tragedy to the traumatic experience Balram has when his mother is being

put to rest at the Ganga River. The Ganga River is described by Adiga as “Mother Ganga,

daughter of the Vedas,” implying a god-like personification by alluding to Hinduism’s

religious beliefs, only for Adiga to use amplification to describe the holy site as a place “full

of feces, straw, soggy parts of human bodies, buffalo carrion, and seven different kinds of

industrial acids.” The amplification reflects the satirical tone of The White Tiger, which is

notably different from Antigone’s genre of Greek tragedy. Moreover, unlike Sophocole’s

portrayal of a religious burial, in which some sort of love is found, Adiga utilizes repulsive

language to convey to the reader that pollution exists in the holy place where Balram’s

mother’s body may be put to rest––and therefore, suggests that following the traditions of the

gods doesn’t lead to virtue and goodness, but rather to pollution. This idea is built upon when

he describes his mother becoming “part of the black mound” where “the pale-skinned dog

would start licking her.” At this moment Balram understands that the “real god” was the

“black mud of the ganga into which everything died, and decomposed, and was reborn from,

and died into again.” Balram faints at this realisation, underlying its importance in the

satirical intent of the novel.

Like Sophocles, Adiga uses vivid imagery, specifically of Balram’s mother being

consumed by the elements; however, the imagery is far more vivid, extensive and arguably

hyperbolic, which once again reflects the satirical tone. This contrasts with Sophocles’

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description of Polyneicês, who is described as being “ a sweet treasure / For carrion birds to

find as they search for food” due to a lack of burial, while Balram mother’s decomposed

body is portrayed as “fighting” against the place she would be buried. Adiga does this to

emphasize the trauma Balram experiences by watching his mother's perceived suffering as a

result of this holy ritual. Moreover, through metaphor, Adiga compares the “real” God of

Benaras to the black mud where death always returned, and where liberty cannot exist. This

implies that the gods—and thus their decreed traditions—is not where goodness as virtue

exists; rather, it is where “black”-ness, death and suffering exist. Finally, through the use of

the choppy, isolated sentences recounting Balram’s fainting, Adiga stresses the traumatic

experience the young child went through, supposedly because of religion, thus insinuating

that the gods cannot show a way towards goodness. Rather, it implies that the gods can only

show the way towards subjugation and suffering.

Furthermore, in Antigone, through the usage of character foils, Sophocles raises

Antigone for defending her religious practices of burial by martyrizing her, whereas he

penalizes Creon for his ungodly decisions—this creates a character foil through which

Sophocles suggests that Antigone was shown the path to goodness due to her faith, and Creon

therefore suffered due to his lack of faith. Antigone states to Ismenê: “I am not afraid of the

danger; if it means death / It will not be the worst of deaths––death without honor.” Through

the use of hyperbaton, Sophocoles emphasizes Antigone’s characterization as a brave, moral

woman who believes in the laws of the gods; this causes the audience to support her,

particularly during the time-period in which the play was written, where religious laws and

figures were held to especially high esteem. Sophocles likely wanted such a reaction from the

audience, as an admirable protagonist who abides by the laws of religion and defies the

injustices of men implies that the way to virtue is through following religious codes and

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traditions. This also allows her to become a martyr, as her soon-to-be-husband Haimon

explains to his father Creon. He elaborates upon the perspective of the public regarding

Antigone’s death sentence by stating: “‘She covered her brother’s body. Is this indecent? /

She kept him from dogs and vultures. Is this a crime? / Death? ––She should have all the

honor that we can give her!’” The rhetorical and ironic use of the word indecent, as well as

the emphasis on honor due to death implies that Antigone will become a martyr, therefore be

seen as good and virtuous by the public due to her defense of the religious obligation of

burying a loved one. This is evident in the emotional impact and change-of-heart imposed

upon Creon as he is left in her wake. He is unable to prevent Antigone from killing herself

and loses his son to suicide as a direct result of his stubborn disregard of religious decree.

Through this complex character foil and the fates of Antigone and Creon, where Creon has

the arguably more tragic ending, Sophocles suggests that the path to goodness and virtue is

based on following God’s laws, via the symbol of religious burial.

This is very different to The White Tiger, where Balram gains a higher social status

due to his lack of respect for religious decree and the accepted laws, man-made or religious;

he is characterized as a man who lives a life of crime, including the murder of his master, and

ultimately doesn’t redeem himself but does achieve some success. There is no suggestion - in

the world of the novel at least - that Balram has done anything wrong, especially in the

context of the way Adiga potrays the brutality of the caste system, the corruption of the

politicians and the overwhelming oppression and lack of opportunity for those born into the

“darkness” of India. The conclusion of the novel, with Balram happily recounting how he

paid his way out of a hit and run incident and sending the Chinese premier his web address,

underlines Adiga’s satirical intent. Balram is an anti-hero in an inverted world where there is

no “goodness and virtue.” The only thing that matters is to be independent and self-sufficient

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– an entrepeneur – and the novel’s conclusion shows that in such a world any means

necessary to achieve this can be justified.

To conclude, through the use of the funeral as a symbol, Sophocles in Antigone

portrays the road to morality as being heavily interconnected to religion, whereas Adiga in

The White Tiger portrays death as insignificant and religion as oppressive, and therefore

insinuates that faith cannot show the way to goodness and virtue. Both texts are complex in

their own right, and are clear case-studies displaying the changes in literature as a medium

overtime regarding the subjects of death, religion and moraltiy.

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