The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga

The white Tiger

About Author

Brief Biography of Aravind Adiga

Brief Biography of Aravind Adiga

Aravind Adiga is a writer and journalist raised in India and Australia. He studied English literature at Columbia College and Oxford University. Before pursuing his career as a fiction writer, Adiga worked as both a correspondent for Time Magazine and a financial journalist for the Financial Times. His experience working as a business journalist caused him to mistrust business magazines and get-rich-quick literature, informing the tone with which he describes India’s economic boom in The White Tiger. He currently lives in Mumbai, India

How far do you agree with India represented in the novel The White Tiger?

I Agree, It can be seen that how India represented in this novel. This Novel has Multiperspective. In this movie we can see Historical background of Slums in Mumbai, About Dhanbad, Village to City, Darkness to Lightness etc. It is typical Indian Hero Novel. In Old time we could see in Amitabh Bachhans Movies like Agneepath, Deewar, Kaalia etc. These all films are based on story of Darkness to Lightness but in Wrong way. In this novel Balram who is Hero of the film who resist against the corruption in India, Poverty, Politics, Class, Caste etc. There where many symbols like Chandalier, Honda and Maruti Suzuki etc.

Do you believe that Balram's story is the archetype of all stories of 'rags to riches'?

 According to the general archetypal pattern, all poor boy's life turns out into rich. Same is the case with Balram Halwai who grows in a very poor family. He left his schooling and started working in a tea stall. Then he learns driving and becomes the driver of rich entrepreneur Ashok Sharma. His dreams are big therefore he decided to kill Mr Ashok to get his position. After killing his master he grabs his identity and become the same rich entrepreneur.

Examples of Success Story

Guru. Loosely based on the life of Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani, Mani Ratnam's Guru is a Bollywood mega-starrer with the now real-life couple Abhishek Bachch and Aishwarya Rai.

Bazaar Movie

In this Movie Rijwan who is came from lower class muslim family and he came in to Mumbai become Rich person but he face lots of struggle and many conspiracy happemd around him but the and of the movie he bcame the Rich peroson. In this movie Shakun Kothari roled play as Villain or We can say "Master".

"Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique, deconstructive criticism aims to show that any text inevitably undermines its own claims to have a determinate meaning, and licences the reader to produce his own meanings out of it by an activity of semantic 'Freeplay' (Derrida, 1978, in Lodge, 1988, p. 108). Is it possible to do a deconstructive reading of The White Tiger? How?

The written phrase, in Derrida's view, relies upon its meaning via the context in which it is embedded. Both signified and signifier, though, are related in such a way that, there is, with respect to the very structure of language, no proper context to provide proof of final meanings making any claim to 'truth' an impossibility; 'truth' is both relative and plural. In the context of the White Tiger characters are portraying harsh reality of truth which is connected with the common people. Nobody can deny this kind of truth and reality. Language bears within itself the writer or author present his own way and culture dynamic language whatever they used it. The writer or author writes their own way and perceptions, his method of style and thoughts are different than the reader. It depends upon the situation and criteria. The author writes his own or another inspiration. Accordingly, the reader read his own way and meaning. One author who is published his work and reader is read then the death of the author for the reader. Reader praised his work of art, not author.


With ref to a screening of select scenes of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire in today's class:

Write a blog on similarities between The White Tiger and Slumdog Millionaire. Include the following points:

=). Narrative structure - Wanted Poster # KBC show
 The novel and the movies both are in the parallel structure of narratives. In the novel, Balram is reading wanted poster scene and another side is remembering his past and crime which he has done. In the movie we can see that the KBC show is running questioning and answering, Jamaal is recalling his past and his flashback. In this way, two stories are working parallel.

=). Indianness
From the text and movie, images are highly connotation and speak deeply at many levels the sensuous, the intellectual. The tapestry of modern India has a close-knitted structure. Poverty, Corruption and exploitation that is highly depicted in the movie. Begging part of the movie the train, dog, dirty images of India. People are very poor and lived in bad condition. Indianess Is highly portrayed by Dany Boyle. He is an English director and he is noticed the harsh situations of India poverty and social-political exploitation.

=). List of the questions asked in the film 'Slumdog Millionaire'

1. Who was the star in the 1973 hit film "Zanzeer".
   a) Shah Rukh Khan
   b) Salman Khan
   c) Amitabh Bachhan
   d) Ranbir Kapoor

2. A picture of three lions is seen in the national emblem of India. What is written underneath it?
    a) The Truth alone triumphs
    b) Lies alone triumphs
    c) Fashion alone triumphs
    d) Money alone triumphs

3. In the depiction of God Rama, he is famously holding what in his right hand?
    a) A bow and arrow
    b)A sword
    d) A flower
    c) A child

4. The song " Darshan Do Ghanshyam" was written by which famous Indian poet?
    a) Surdas
    b) Tulsidas
    c) Mira bai
    d) Kabir

5. On the American One Hundred Dollar Bill, there is a portrait of which American Statesman?
    a) George Washington
    b) Franklin Roosevelt
    c) Benjamin Franklin
    d) Abraham Lincoln

6. Who invented the revolver?
    a) Samuel Colt
    b) Bruce Browning
    c) Dan Wesson
    d) James Revolver

7. Cambridge Circus is in which UK City?
    a) Oxford
    b) Leeds
    c) Cambridge
    d) London

8. Which cricketer has scored the most first-class centuries in history?
    a) Sachin Tendulkar
    b) Ricky Ponting
    c) Michael Slater
    d) Jack Hobbs

9. In Alexander Dumas' book, "The Three Musketeers", two of the musketeers are called Athos and Porthos. What was the name of the third Musketeer?
    a) Aramis
    b) Cardinal Richelieu
    c) D' Artagnan
    d) Planchet

10. While the police inspector was questioning Jamal's knowledge, he asked Jamal whose picture was on the Indian 1000-rupee note, and then showed him when Jamal claimed not to know. Whose picture was it?
       a) Mohandas Gandhi
       b) Muhammad Jinnah
       c) Jawaharlal Nehru
       d) Gopal Gokhale

=). On what grounds can u deconstruct the film with reference to postcolonial tools/theories.

The Slumdog Millinore is film directed by Danny Boyle, In this Movie we could see that how lower class people face so many problems they always leaving in fear. They exploited by Rich People. And also they are subaltern. In one scence we could see that how gangsters are used children for their business. This movie also presents that harsh Reality of Indai

=). Compare with Texture and Treatment of subject content in film and novel.
. Themes like corruption, poverty can be found in both. The show host, gangster, police, Salim everyone is corrupt in the film. Salim sells the autograph of Amitabh Bachhan to get money. However, it is his younger brother Jamal who get the autograph. From a very early age, Salim begins corruption. In the novel the character of the protagonist himself is corrupt. If someone did small corruption like taking more money from masters to repair a car or to get petrol, then keeping the remaining amount is also corruption. However big dealers corruption looks more problematic than workers of small hierarchy. Both present the same texture of India.