LAURA BAZÁN GARCÍA

The White Tiger Seminar topics

[1]Discuss how Adiga portrays the caste system in India and how this marks who you
are?

Because it depicts India's brutal reality, this novel is realistic. The story's protagonist,
Balram, is the narrator who shares details of his own life with the Chinese prime
minister.
Adiga gives the case system, which divides people into various social classes based on
their income and occupation and establishes each person's place in society, a
significant role throughout the book. Because of his caste, Balram is supposed to
become a cook because his family makes sweets. We see how the characters in the
book are compelled to live in accordance with their castes. This implies that the Indian
people's fate is set in stone. Due of their affluence, those from lower caste systems are
most likely not given much respect. As a result, the caste system unfairly targets
impoverished individuals who are perpetually in a position of slavery. Your identity is
marked by the caste system because you are bound to that fate. The main character is
doomed to spend the rest of his life making sweets because he is a born Halwai.
Indians have come to terms with the idea that there are two classes, and that it is
nearly hard for the impoverished to provide a decent living for themselves and their
family.

[2] Does the caste system function in the same way in the cities as it does in rural
India. Give examples.

No, it doesn't; compared to rural areas, people in cities are less judgmental about
caste. Discrimination between castes exists in rural areas, while in cities, castes coexist
peacefully without concern for one another's identities. One possible explanation for
this could be that while people in rural India are somewhat mired in the past, those in
cities live in a more contemporary environment.
An example from the book would be when Ashok's brother asks Balram if he is from
the top caste or the bottom caste. This illustrates how people in cities view caste as
one or the other, either you are from the top or the bottom, in contrast to people in
rural areas who think there are different levels of caste. As a result, Balram discovers
that people in cities are not very knowledgeable about the caste system.

[3] Describe Balram’s relationship with his boss.

The dynamic between Ashok and Balram is that of a servant-master, wherein the latter
has access to his master's finances but the former is always richer than the latter and
will never be as wealthy as the former. Balram must endure Ashok and his wife's
disdain and humiliations because they are aware of their influence over him.
In the book, there's even a scene when they make him sign a statement acknowledging
that he killed someone, even though Pinky was the one who killed him. Balram
believes that the only way he can be a man is to kill his master and steal his money in
 LAURA BAZÁN GARCÍA

order to escape his impoverished state, which leads to them having a murderer-victim
relationship.

[4] How does the novel portray the corruption in India?

Balram portrays corruption in India as something that is prevalent in that country. The
Darkness and the Light are the two distinct groups that make up the social order.
The poor, who lack access to stable employment, healthcare, and education, are the
ones that create the dark side. Then there is the Light one, which is corrupt and has a
settled class of riches. Together with the wealthy, the crooked government, the Great
Socialist, and the four landlords—the Buffalo, the Stork, the Wild Boar, and the Raven
—we find this group.
Balram also explains the corruption that has tainted the institutions in his society. For
instance, he claimed that his teacher had not been paid for months when in fact, he
had stolen government funds intended for school lunches and uniforms. Another
instance is that, due to a corrupted system that allowed doctors to be paid so much in
private hospitals that they neglected the village hospital, his father passed away while
he was sick without ever seeing a doctor.

[5] Who is the ‘Pinky Madam’ in the novel? How is she portrayed? What is the
ambiguous relationship between her and Balram’s boss?

Pinky Madam is the boss's wife of Balram. She is described as a whimsical woman
while being described as a lovely woman. She is also quite nasty to Balram. In addition,
Ashok wants to leave India because she despises her life there and her American family
does not welcome her. They are not happy together as a result of everything. In the
end, she decides to leave her husband and return to New York.

[6]Discuss the incident where Pinky Madam is involved in a hit-and-run accident?

How does Balram fit into the scheme of things and what effects do you think the
accident and its consequences have on him?

Balram once drove Pinky Madam and Mr. Ashok to dinner, and when they got back,
they were so inebriated that Pinky Madam wanted to take the wheel. She thus
assumed control of the vehicle and, since she was intoxicated, failed to notice a child in
the path and ran him over. Balram was upset about what had happened, but Ashok
tried to console him by saying that the youngster was probably impoverished and that
no one would miss him. Balram accepted full responsibility for the crash in a
confession from the Mongoose. This demonstrates the realities of Indian slavery and
social stratification, where the wealthy make errors and their servants are forced to
pay the price.

Balram is enraged by the corrupted state of affairs in India, which forces servants to
bear the entire burden of their masters' transgressions. In addition, Balram develops
mental instability as a result of how awful all that has happened to him seems. If
people were aware of the accident, they might also view him as a murderer.
 LAURA BAZÁN GARCÍA

[7] Describe what you think are the most important themes of the book.

 Corruption in India: Balram alludes to the corruption that exists in Indian

institutions, such as hospitals and schools, throughout his book. In the Indian
culture, bribery and fraud are commonplace, and even the government is
corrupt.
 Globalization: Set in India, the novel explores how technological advancements
to meet the demands of a globalizing economy have changed the country.
Additionally, Balram's allusions to America must to be emphasized. "Succeeding
in this world requires a flurry of ethical and personal compromises," Adiga
suggests, alluding to the conflict between the old and modern India.
 Indian family: The Indian family plays a significant role in the environment of darkness,
which denotes poverty. Families appear to stand in the way of its members achieving personal
growth and independence. Balram's grandma is among the best illustrations of this unfavorable
perception of the family. She decrees that her grandsons have to drop out of school, and she
even want to plan their weddings. Rich people can have familial pressures overwhelm them at
times. Mr. Ashok, for instance, discusses how his father and brother tried to regulate his
personal life.
 Lightness and Darkness: This is one of the novel's most significant motifs since
it illustrates the dichotomy of light and dark. First, riches and the city are
symbols of the India of light. It's important to note that Balram says about
Delhi, "Delhi is full of grand hotels." Second, the impoverished village life and
the servitude inherent in the bond between servants and their owners
symbolize the India of darkness. I'm referring to an area of lush land in India
that makes up at least a third of the nation. It is covered in wheat and rice
fields, with ponds in the middle that are choked with water lilies and lotuses,
and water buffaloes that wade through the ponds and munch on the lotuses.
 The Caste System: It is conceivably among the novel's most recurring motifs. In
Indian civilization, each social class has a distinct role, hence the social
structure serves as a tool for structuring and forming a cohesive society. This
caste system's primary goal is to divide people into various social classes based
on their occupation and level of wealth. Balram aspires to be a prominent
figure in Indian society and to break free from the caste system. Adiga wants to
convey to the readers the harsh reality of India by drawing comparisons
between the magnificent life that the upper class can lead and the poverty,
"missing health care and educational systems in rural India," and other
situations.
 Freedom: Adiga utilizes Balram to illustrate his desire to abolish the caste
system, which makes this issue even more significant. Since caste is a factor in
destiny in India, he wants to spread the message that people can obtain
freedom by rebelling against the system. For this reason, after killing his
master, Balram claims that he must escape the Indian system in order to justify
the murder.
LAURA BAZÁN GARCÍA