In a world where one's social standing often determines dreams, there are many risks and difficulties in overcoming social barriers and achieving dreams. In “The White Tiger” by Aravind Adiga and “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, both authors explore how social hierarchy and inequality hinder marginalized individuals from achieving their dreams. Both main characters from these novels have critical perspectives on society and strive to break social norms. Each novel presents similar main characters, but they navigate and challenge social barriers in different ways, leading to varied outcomes. In both books, the authors depict the main characters as possessing a keen understanding of the social system. In “The White Tiger,” Balram Halwai expresses sarcasm and criticism of the wealthy by stating, …show more content…
It shows his recognition that the dreams of the poor are often about basic needs and survival, which vastly differ from the dreams of the rich which are focused on the luxury-driven. This disparity underscores the difficulty for the poor to become as successful as the rich do while following the rules. His awareness of the vastly different lives and aspirations of the rich and poor fuels his determination to break free from socioeconomic constraints. Similarly, Starr Carter from “The Hate U Give” also exemplifies a deep understanding of society and decides to change the world. Starr knows of numerous instances of black people being killed due to their race, and she always believes, “I would have the loudest voice, making sure the world knew what went down.” However, she admits, “Now I am that person, and I’m too afraid to speak.” After her friend Khalil is killed. Starr confidently says that she will actively inform society if someone around her dies unfairly. Nevertheless, when Khalil dies, despite being deeply affected by the
“The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other”- Mario Puzo, an American author. A loved one is someone who can be your best friend, your trusted ally, and who can help you through times where you are feeling the impacts of social injustice. Whether it is in school, at work, or in public, your beloved family and community members can be there for you. Social injustice is the discrimination against certain groups based on beliefs. When one experiences social injustice, they need support in order to overcome it. In the historical fiction book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, the realistic fiction book Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, and the young adult novel If You
In the process of compiling the literary works I intended to include in this project, I began to notice a common thread that connected the works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry that I generally choose to read. That common tie that binds these books together is that they all seem to center, in one form or another, around the theme of oppression. Perhaps this is because I have some deep psychological need to diffuse the power struggles I experience within myself by gleaning insight from the pages of someone else’s experience. Or, perhaps it is merely because I have a predisposition to “root for the underdog”. Regardless of the reason, be it simple or complex, almost everything I read seems to engage a “David and Goliath” scenario.
Racism is more than just blatant comments and police brutality. It is also found in the subtle things, like the lack of opportunities in education. Graduation by Maya Angelou and I Just Wanna Be Average by Mike Rose both address this issue of opportunities and race. In St. Louis, Missouri, Maya Angelou went to an all-black school during the 1930s and 40s, while Mike Rose is a second generation Italian immigrant in Los Angeles in the 1950s. Both wrote about their experiences with systemic racism in education. Both authors are given low expectations and have no power over their futures, which shows how systemic racism sets up a self-fulfilling prophecy of underachievement.
In conclusion, this book helps to understand what it is like to be someone who is different. Michaela kept working hard even when everything was against her and because of that she achieved her dreams. This book shows young people that they can do whatever they put the mind to no matter their race or
The subject of equality and inequality are a sensitive and controversial topic. Both equality and inequality were portrayed in the short story, “The Lesson.” In this short story by Toni Cade Bambara, Miss Moore, a well known woman in the neighborhood, gives the children in her local area a lesson about the brutal inequalities that are in existence within the socioeconomic status system. This leads the children to ponder about the equality and inequality that exists within society. Toni Cade Bambara uses her short story, “The Lesson” in order to shed light on the injustices and racial inequalities in society. The goal of the story is to not only fight for racial equalities, but socioeconomic equalities as well.
This power keeps the behavior of the oppressed well within the set guidelines of the oppressor (Freire, 2000, pg. 47). Critical Race Theory outlines this system of oppression as it relates to white and non-white races. By using the critical race theory coupled with the system of oppression described by Freire (2000), I propose that within the system of oppression, the oppressor must keep its own members in line with the prescribed guidelines by reinforcing the social norms from birth. Freire (2000) suggest that the interest of the oppressors lie in “changing the consciousness of the oppressed not the system” (pg.34). Identifying as white, therefore, starts at birth when members of the white class work to reinforce social norms that began with our founding fathers at Plymouth Rock. This long history of white privilege was taught to me and I continue to teach it to my children. As an educator of white affluent high school students, I believe we provide college and career counseling based on this white privilege system of oppression as well. Here, I journey even closer to unraveling the myth of white privilege as I encounter the intersection of an affluent white student choosing a career after high
Striving for success in an environment where a person is a minority and surrounded by their oppressors can have a large and negative impact on one’s identity and and sense of self. The journey to become successful is not only filled with achievements and attaining goals, but also a pressure and stress to remain great and to continue carrying a certain image of accomplishment. When race, class, and gender are added to the process of becoming successful, a unique type of pressure and stress is added, as well as a specific form of privilege. This specific type of stress, privilege, and pressure often leads to identity issues because of the burden of not wanting to fall into a stereotype or becoming a “statistic.”
Racism, stereotypes, and white privilege are all concepts that affect all of us, whether we believe it or not. If an adolescent of a minority can distinguish these concepts in his society, then we all should be aware of them. These concepts are all clearly demonstrated in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”. Anyone and everyone could clearly understand this novel, but the intended audience is middle school to college level students. The novel’s goal is to help white students understand the effects of white privilege in an easier, more understandable way.
The myth that “all men are equal” has created false hopes for the people of color, who continually seek opportunities to excel, that just aren’t there. They have been led to believe that intelligence and ambitions are key contributors to one’s success. Even if they do possess ambition and intelligence, the dominant majority of the white population oppresses them. This type of oppression points out that new methods of struggle are needed, such as whose employed by Martin Luther King, Jr., Franz Fanon and W.E.B. Du Bois.
As can be seen, the victories for individuals who are in a certain group or society are so difficult to achieve because there are a lot of stereotypes and limits that others put in place that prevent certain individuals from achieving and pushing through diversity. During High school, I remember being treated harshly when I became pregnant at the age of 16; during the 90’s this was not precisely common for most High school students.
In the novel, The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga the main character, is Balram, one of the children in the “darkness” of India. Adiga sheds a new light on the poor of India, by writing from the point of view of a man who was at one time in the “darkness” or the slums of India and came into the “light” or rich point of view in India. Balram’s job as a driver allows him to see both sides of the poverty line in India. He sees that the poor are used and thrown away, while the rich are well off and have no understanding of the problems the poor people must face. The servants are kept in a mental “Rooster Coop” by their masters. The government in India supposedly tries to help the poor, but if there is one thing Adiga proves in The White Tiger, it is that India’s government is corrupted. Despite the government promises in India designed to satisfy the poor, the extreme differences between the rich and the poor and the idea of the Rooster Coop cause the poor of India to remain in the slums.
In the story of “The Lady or the Tiger” there is a king that is semi-barbaric. The king has a daughter and she is a little barbaric herself and because they are a barbaric family they have a way of taking care of crime. They will have a lady and a tiger in two doors and if someone commits a crime or if the king doesn't like the person then the person will be put in the dome and will have to chose one of the doors. If they pick the door with the tiger in it that means that they are guilty of their crime and they will be eaten by the tiger and if they choose the door with the lady then it will mean that they get out scoot free. But there is a catch to it if they choose the lady then they will have to marry the lady even if they have a wife and family.
Aravind Adiga’s debut novel The White Tiger highlights his views of the injustice and poverty present in India’s class system. He does this through the perspective of Balram Halwai, a fictional village boy from Laxmangarh. In this epistolary novel, Balram narrates his life in the form of a seven-part letter addressed to Wen Jiabao, the premier of China. He describes how he escaped his caste, which was thought to be impossible, and became a successful entrepreneur after killing his own master. The inequality between rich and poor is an important motive of the story. This paper will go in depth into the representation of the poor, the motivation for it and the effects it has on the interpretation of the story.
Aravind Adiga in his psycho-social thriller, The White Tiger, explores issues that modern day India faces, ranging from social mobility to globalization, and morality to corruption. Adiga’s use of an epistolary novel allows his first person narrator to not only provide a commentary on the socio-political and geopolitical problems that India face, but also reflect on the effects of these problems on his own life. Adiga exploits the corruption in India and uses it as device to develop Balram’s character, as he journeys from “the darkness” to “the light”. It is true that Balram becomes increasingly corrupted, and at some points the reader may sympathise with him, however at other points, his actions cannot be justified. Growing up, Balram is tainted
Aravind Adiga in his debut novel The White Tiger, which won the Britain’s esteemed Booker Prize in 2008, highlights the suffering of a subaltern protagonist in the twenty first century known as materialism era. Through his subaltern protagonist Balram Halwai, he highlights the suffering of lower class people. This novel creates two different India in one “an India of Light and an India of Darkness” (Adiga, p. 14). The first one represents the prosperous India where everyone is able to dream a healthy and comfortable life. The life of this “Shining India” reflects through giant shopping malls, flyovers, fast and furious life style, neon lights, modern vehicles and a lot of opportunities which creates hallucination that India is competing with western countries and not far behind from them. But, on the other side, the life nurtures with poverty, scarcity of foods, life taking diseases, inferiority, unemployment, exploitation and humiliation, homelessness and environmental degradation in India of darkness.