The Novel: The White Tiger, By Balram Halwai

This is a common belief that a white tiger, also known as white Bengal tiger appears once in a generation. Some zoologists opine that an improper blend of the genes of the white tiger’s parents determines the singularity of this predator. Therefore, a white tiger takes birth due to the certain genetic flaw. However, this flaw makes him a versatile predator. It fashions him stronger and more agile than a normal tiger. The white tiger weighs upto 300 kg, and attains a length of about 3 meters. He can outrun the normal tiger even on the soggy land, and can swim quicker in the deep waters. The white tiger is also distinguished for his incredible hearing capacity and curiosity. His farsightedness and stalking are the powerful tools, which make him

He commences his journey in the novel as a nursery school kid. He enacts several roles such as a “human spider” at the tea stall, a car driver of a landlord-cum-coal thief, the Stork, the homemaid and ends his journey as the big entrepreneur. Adiga portrays the protagonist as the man who does not succumb to the herd mentality. He explores a unique species in Balram, which made him distinct from the village herd. He attempts to revive Nietzsche’s Ubermensch in Balram, who is free spirited and never yields to the herd mentality; who is released from the chains of traditions and ideology; who breaks the rusted codes of the society and creates new values with a sense of uniqueness and passion for life. The present paper is an attempt to portray Balram as a moral

He bears hatred against those who have crippled the economy of the nation and paralyzed the citizens. It perturbs him to learn that a handful of the corrupt people have impoverished the nation. In addition, the people are too terrified to raise voice against these blacksheep. Adiga is of the opinion that poison kills poison; so a predator like the white tiger can destroy these devils. In the novel, he addresses such corrupt people as the Stork, the Wild Boar, the Raven and the Buffalo. He exposes cruelty of the Stork. This devil owns the river that flows outside of Laxmangarh, Balram’s village. The devil claims to be owner of the river; therefore, he levies charges on everyone who catches the fish, and on the boatman who ferries between the villages. The novelist expresses fatal greediness of the Stork’s brother who is presented as the Wild Boar. This devil owns “all the good agricultural land” of the village. He forces whoever approaches him for a piece of land to plough, bow down to his feet and touch “the dust under his slippers”1. The novelist grievously introduces the third devil brother of the Stork, defamed as the Raven. This human animal is the cruelest of the all. He claims to be owner of the coal area and the barren land. He collects tax from the herdsmen if they graze their cattle on this unfertile land. This devil steals the coal from the public coalmines, and the government observes this loot silently.