What is the true meaning of laissez-faire? The French phrase literally meaning “let do” has been the basis of several economical ideologies and systems both today and back in the day. Basically, it means that the government should not interfere, place limitations on, or play any roles in the market economy of a nation. There have been several variations of this interpretation, and capitalism, which most people are familiar with, is one of them. However, neoliberalism is a relatively new ideology that has emerged in the past two or three decades and has been the subject of discussion, especially in Aravind Adiga’s debut book, The White Tiger. According to the dictionary, neoliberalism is a type of liberalism that favors the free market capitalism …show more content…
It rips off the rose-eyed lenses that people look at India through, and it exposes the corruption and darkness that occurs within its borders. The character, Balram, is a sort of anti-hero who climbs his way to the top by adopting the methods of those he once and still possibly detested. Through every wrongdoing he does, he is constantly struggling for self-justification in order to have a healthy conscience and enjoy being at the top (Kapur). I think this narrative was successful because the protagonist wasn’t necessarily the “the good guy”. It depicts how good people must resort to bad things because of the limitations placed upon them, and that surpassing those limitations by indulging in questionable practices is the only way to find success in such a situation. Adiga critiques the potential downfalls of a neoliberalist society, for while it benefits those who are successful, it harshly punishes those who struggle to be. By telling the tale of a man who was still technically morally good become the necessary evil that he hated in order to become successful, that Adiga was able to effectively portray the cons of such a free market
The laissez- faire policy refers to the lack of government intervention and regulation of the economy, the ideology lies in the belief that the government would not aid nor hinder businesses (“Business of America. Laissez-Faire Capitalism and Government”). Presidents and a vast number of Americans before the 20th century supported the absence of the government in the economy, since it promoted competition and economic growth. For instance, during the late 19th century the U.S economy prospered from the lack of government intervention, resulting in a 400 percent increase in the economy ("Laissez-Faire.”). Although, the laissez-faire policy expands the economy; a lack of government interference and regulation of the economy grants companies with an opportunity to take advantage. Consequently, it enables for companies to control an entire industry and increase prices that hinder the consumer and eliminate
In laissez-faire capitalism, there are no restrictions on business so the enterprising capitalists were able to obtain monopolies by combining with other companies or simply buying them out. By doing this, the owners could raise the price of their goods or services to an intolerable amount so that they could gain even more money. This often put the common working people out of a job because the owners could get children and poor European and Asian immigrants to do the same menial factory jobs for pennies a day. This angered the Unions of America because their livelihood depended on the American working class. The Unions then persuaded the government to regulate the business giants and control the amount of money the companies could take in by disallowing monopolies and child labor. The "Kings of Capitalism" disregarded the impact their actions had on the lives of the working class men and their families. Many went hungry because of the lack of jobs available and were forced to go into debt to the companies that was impossible to be repaid. The Robber Barons would do almost anything to gain more money and more power even putting hard working people out of their houses.
Balram attributes this to the corruption in the government, which allows it’s government facility to not function, causing his father’s death. His father’s death pains him but to all the others in his family, treated as a almost normal occurrence. To avoid any further of empathy, Balram hides behind euphemisms to describe acts that would require a genuine connection to be worthwhile. Having been hurt before he doesn’t want to be hurt again, which influences his opinions; and even the description of his life in India when he compares his life to the darkness and what he aspires to be––the light––is a euphemism based on how connected to others he must be. In the darkness, Balram’s family must all work together to survive––something that requires trust; which has been absent Balram’s entire life. The government is corrupt, the police have been bribed, hospitals don’t help the people and the schools don’t teach anything all because of the light. The light is corrupting the darkness (how ironic) and as a result, the world Balram is part of is corrupt, solely because of those who rule over it. Those that live in the light don’t allow all those that live in the darkness to rise up and become better. Balram never trusts his master: constantly believing that he would be replaced. To be able to see the world from a different perspective, you need to understand them; and this requires
With all this character development, it’s hard to know who to trust. Balram is a prisoner of the Rooster coop, and ends up a murderer in order to get out. In a way, he finally got out of the Darkness of the Rooster Coop and came into the entrepreneur's light. The morality in the story shows the good and bad of the characters and show us, the reader, who these characters really are. Overall, Balram is a fair person, who works hard to succeed. It isn’t right to kill a man, but it did serve as judgement and a key. Balram and Mr. Ashok will never be as they seemed to be, but Balram can be trusted as a first hand source, and also shows others opinions, which show trust and how much he has changed since the beginning to the end. He has finally left the darkness for the
Alan Greenspan has been reported to be a laissez-faire economist. The point of view of being this type of
... world that Balram lives in is harsh and cruel, mainly because of the Rooster Coop. The Rooster Coop kept Balram from discovering his own potential in life, until finally he realized that he could leave the Coop. The fear and hatred the poor felt kept them in line, and kept others around them from becoming White Tigers. If the people of India were to realize that they were in a Rooster Coop, India’s slums would most likely disappear, and the poor of India would finally realize their true potential. The government would be forced to fulfill its promises and the rich would no longer rule India. Adiga has a lot of agility. Balram was a very dutiful servant. Balram repulsed the whore. He went through a period of florescence. This is an odd genre. Balram was their chaperon. Mrs. Pinky was quite in fashion. Balram uses a lot of sarcasm. In Mythology there are Centaurs.
Social groups involve two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics and collectively have a sense of unity or objective similarity. In the case of Aravind Adiga’s ‘The White Tiger,’ the vast numbers of different social groups are represented in several different ways. Drivers in India are an example of a social group mentioned throughout the novel. Adiga’s interpretation of each driver or group of drivers in the novel are viewed though the eyes of Balram Halwai, the main character of the novel, who goes from living on the streets, to becoming a driver, to developing into an entrepreneur of his own driving company. In the first section of the novel, which takes place in the ‘Darkness ’ (the poorer districts of India), Balram is introduced to driving as an occupation and was intrigued by the amount of money drivers were being paid. Already here, it is evident that Balram is motivated by money and wishes to do more than work at a teashop for the rest of his life. To Balram drivers are something of a higher significance and worthiness.
Though Balram grew up in a household where tradition, family, and morals were extremely important he completely disregards his upbringing. Despite the fact that the main character grew up with the advice that he will stay in the social standing he was born in, he began his escape from his destiny of being an uneducated and poor servant. He began to work for Mr. Ashok as a driver and his ego and determination grows. Eventually, he loses all sense of his standards and attributes his actions as those of an upcoming entrepreneur which leads to his main focus becoming only
Neo-liberalism is a mixture of free-market policies and global-market-liberalism. The neoliberal model consists of reducing the state intervention in the economy. Franko describes “New political economy suggests that people make their own best choices” (Franko 2007 page 151). The model gives each individual the opportunity to make the most adequate choices for the economy without the interference of the government. It is believe that the state intervention will distort the market signals required to make the most precise decision making (pg. 151 Franko 2007).
Neoliberalism is a policy model of social studies and economics that transfers control of economic factors to the private sector from the public sector. ... Neoliberal policies aim for a laissez-faire approach to economic
(Adiga 103) Balram tells the reader on how easily Indian police can be a bribe. This is an example of corruption as police are being dishonest to the safety of others. It highlights the idea of Balram starting to become corrupt as Police are rotten. The quote demonstrates that corruption is very common in the place where Balram is living in.
Neoliberalism has changed its meaning and definition over the years, but as of right now the Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as “a liberal who de-emphasizes traditional liberal doctrines in order to seek progress by more pragmatic methods.” This all means that the economics aspects of society are much more closed off and in favor of big businesses that tend to exploit consumers and those that work for them. It wants privatize business and allow for there to be free trade. Neoliberalism is also about reducing government involvement and reduce spending to the point where it can open up privatized sectors in the economy. Behind the Seams, Fruits of Injustice, and Maquilapolis all show the evilness of neoliberalism and what it does for
Although the story bounces between these two main "insinuations", it is never clear to me what or who the story is about and I found this to be an unfulfilling reading. In retrospect my previous readings of literature have been more of the atypical writing style. One that leaves you comfortable and secure and without guesswork "The Indian Uprising" avoids this style at all cost. The author's intent on writing in the style of a collage, although fascinating, is very confusing. I will be the first to admit I'm not the most avid of readers, but having to read a story two or even three times and still not fully perceiving its meaning made it an even more arduous read.
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 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.