From an early age, Balram realises that he is something special: he is the White Tiger, a name given to him by a school inspector who, impressed with his intelligence, praises him as “the rarest of animals – the creature that only comes along once in a generation”. Balram’s particular jungle is the village of Laxmangarh, a place in India “full of rice fields and wheat fields and ponds”, and dismissed by the young Balram as part of “the Darkness”. His aim is to escape, to travel to “the Light”, and lose the servant mentality so common to those in his position.
Delhi - "the Light"
His big chance comes when he is hired by a rich landlord of the village to act as a driver for his son Ashok and daughter-in-law – the wonderfully named Pinky Madam - in Delhi. This opportunity is no accident – Balram has manoeuvred himself into pole position through a perceptive piece of blackmail, and this is typical of the way he remains in control of his own destiny throughout. Indeed, he regards himself as such an extraordinarily good example of an entrepreneur that he feels the need to write to the Chinese Prime Minister, who will soon be visiting India, and tell him the truth about India.
Thus the novel takes the form of a series of letters – completely one-sided – from Balram to the Prime Minister, all written at night under the chandelier that Balram cherishes as a symbol of his success. As well as revealing the truth about India, with its cockroach-ridden basements and corrupt politicians, he also reveals much about himself, telling the reader early in the novel that “eight months later, I slit Mr Ashok’s throat”.
The Great Indian Rooster Coop
The murder comes as the culmination of a largely unhappy time in Delhi for Balram. He is teased by the other drivers and rudely treated by his masters most of the time, and gradually comes to realise that although he has a comparatively well-paid job, he is still imprisoned by “The Great Indian Rooster Coop”, just like the chickens crammed into cages in Old Delhi, waiting to be slaughtered. Encouraged by copies of the Murder Weekly magazine popular among the other drivers, he is ultimately led to “spill a little blood” on his way to independence.
The final section of the novel brings us up to date with Balram; having escaped his past, he is now the owner of a successful taxi company, and employing many of the same sharp practices that he has seen used by his former masters. There is an interesting parallel in the novel between two different road accidents that indicates how much Balram now resembles those he used to serve; he doesn’t mourn the man he has killed, and doesn’t even know if his own family is alive or, as is more likely, dead in revenge attack.
Balram's Character and Narration
Despite all of this, Balram remains a charming and sympathetic character. Whatever he has done, he has done from a twisted sense of right: as he tells the Chinese Prime Minister, “the future of the world lies with the yellow man and the brown man now that our erstwhile master, the white-skinned man, has wasted himself through buggery, mobile phone usage and drug abuse”. He is a witty and captivating narrator, and although the novel does start to flag a little towards the end, Balram is a character whose voice will remain with the reader long after the book is finished.
White Tiger by Aravind Adiga is published in the UK by Atlantic Books (2008), 321 pages, ISBN 978-1-84354-720-4.
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