The White Tiger - Book Review

 

The White Tiger

by Avarind Adiga

 

I immediately started on another book of which I’d seen the movie and liked, The White Tiger. This book is a wonderful read. Although I know the story from the movie, the book gives so much more feel for the main character and his lowly class culture he emerged from. The book gives readers the bigger picture of the main character’s dilemma, and I’m sure it makes the shocking murder of blank just a little bit more palatable.

I’m about halfway through The White Tiger and every time I return to its pages the dialogue welcomes me back without resentment, like a longtime friend. I expect the book to be as fulfilling as the one before it.

 

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Finished reading The White Tiger. It was so much more than a servant/master, poor man/rich man culture clash. Off the top I give it a six-star billing (five being the most).

I caught myself becoming Balram the servant, seeing the wealthy life from a poor-poor man’s view. I learned as he learned what it meant to be at the bottom of Indian society and what it would take to climb out.

Of all that Balram had to endure as a servant, I would think living with the thought of being responsible for the assassination of possibly his entire family (grandparents, mother, siblings, cousins, babies) would turn him into a madman or a monster. Who but a mad/monster can live with something as haunting as that on their conscience.

Is it poverty that drives a man to madness or is it seeing the corruption of powerful and wealthy citizens you once thought honorable who disturbed your peace and influenced your murderous thoughts.

So, what was it I liked about Balram and the story itself? I like how he took the reader on a journey of his life. He showed exactly who he was and where he came from, showed the cause and effects of his transformation, and summarized exactly how he viewed the newly made Balram; he was The White Tiger. One who comes along, every once in a while, and seizes the opportunity to lift himself out of the jungle of poverty by any means necessary.

The story is not one for the faint of heart. It shows the ugly underbelly of how things are done in countries like India. Money is the language of power and success. Having money and knowing whose political palm to grease to continue making more money.

I also like how the story showed no difference in one political party in power versus the other. Whoever is in power will require their palm greased by those with money seeking favor. As for the poor and the working man, the politician keeps making promises until elected or re-elected into office. Then nothing changes accept possibly the politician whose palm needs greasing.

Far from this book being depressing or sad, it is an eye-opener to those who think poverty in India a social problem. It is a political problem. And it is acceptable to those in poverty and those in power. It's just how things work in a country like India.

I suppose the powerful know the age-old adage “there is no wealthy class without a poor class.”

And its why the wealthy fear Socialism so much. Who but a wealthy man would see his brother dying in the gutter of a slum so that he can live in comfort. Capitalism!

 

The White Tiger is an engaging, educational read. To have a narrator like Balram lead you through his growing pains from servant to master is stimulating. Not only is it engaging to hear how he accomplishes it, its disturbingly mesmerizing to hear him tell it. Murder!

 

I’m sure that many who have read this book couldn’t get into the narration and thoughts of a lowly servant. They probably had a tough time seeing the forest from the trees. I recommend when reading The White Tiger, one envisions what it is to live in total poverty. Then, when reading about the murderous actions Balram has planned, think of what it is to escape such a lowly and filthy place as poverty. There is where the rubber meets the road, and one chooses how he wishes to live life. In India, there is but one choice for a White Tiger. He must feed, as the jungle requires, in order to survive and thrive.

 

The Jungle Creed

Is that the Strongest Feed

On any Prey it can

And I was Branded Beast

At every Feast

Before I ever became a Man

- Deep Cover, Lawrence Fishburn

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