the white tiger creative project
TRANSCRIPT
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The White TigerBoard Game by Regina ZbarskayaText:The White Tigerby Aravind AdigaEssence: The corruption that occurs within an individuals moral code as a result of societys influence.
Brief Summary of Text: Balram is born into a poor family with little chance of receiving an education
and decently paid job. After being pulled away from the measly education he was receiving, he first
worked for a tea shop, but then convinced his grandmother to loan him money to buy driving lessons in
order to become a chauffeur. He began working for Mr. Ashok, not only as a chauffeur but also as a
servant before multiple complications ensued, Balram being blamed for the death of a person Pinky
Madam, Mr. Ashoks wife, ran over, his assistance in her escape back to America, his gaining money in
conning Mr. Ashok through his car before finally killing Mr. Ashoke himself and taking the money Mr.
Ashoke was going to use to pay off politicians. Balram decides to take his nephew, whom he had been
teaching how to be a chauffeur, and run away to start his own car rental service.
Prompt: 1976. The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the majority is the
recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays. Select the work of an essayist who is in opposition to
his or her society; or from a work of recognized literary merit, select a fictional character who is in
opposition to his or her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and discuss the moral and ethical
implications for both the individual and the society. Do not summarize the plot or action of the work you
choose.Thesis: In The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga, Balrams belief in the possibility of living a morally
correct life is shattered by the betrayal of Mr. Ashoke, his master, forcing Balram to succum to his
societys standards of living a debauched life.Creative Project: A board game based on the game of Sorry equipped with a design focused on a
jungle theme, advance cards that allow a player to move forward after making a decision involving a
moral dilemma, sorry cards that allow you to take the place of another player at the expense of that
player by sending them back to start, and white tiger player pieces; all wrapped up under the title Eat
or Be Eaten.
Explanation: As Balram begins his journey to his development of moral codes, he encounters an inspector that
says, You, young man, are an intelligent, honest, vivacious, fellow in this crowd of thugs and
idiots (30). He proceeds to ask him, In any jungle, what is the rarest of animals--the creature
that comes along only once in a generations? (30). And Balram answers, The white tiger. (30).
The inspector follows by claiming that that is what Balram is; the white tiger in the jungle that
represents India (30). I took the idea of a white tiger being honest and pure and incorporated it as
the pawns in the game. I decided to use them as the pawns because they represent Balram in his
initial phases; he was young, innocent and inexperienced. He was not yet corrupted by the society
around him. That is how the players begin in the game. They have not yet experienced tough
moral dilemmas, so they have not yet been corrupted either.
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Balram went on to describe the society he found himself in, describing India as a chicken coopwhere a handful of men... have trained the remaining 99.9 percent--as strong and as talented, as
intelligent in every way--to exist in perpetual servitude (147). This quote shows the effect of
society on individuals thoughts. Balrams society forces people into one set of thinking and does
not allow them leeway for their own thoughts. I took this idea of influencing individuals
thoughts through the number of spaces rewarded based on choice on the advance cards. Eachadvance card has two choices. Both choices allow the player to move forward; however, the
choice that contains more spaces represents the societys influence, while the other represents an
individuals actions. Each choice has consequences; these cards reflect the scruples game,
where it is up to the player to decide which choice he wants to make. The only difference is that
the society influence rewards the player by having a larger number of spaces to move forward;
therefore applying a stronger pressure on the decision of the player.
In the middle of the book, Balram describes the retelling of his story as a sorrowful tale of howhe was corrupted from a sweet, innocent village fool into a citified fellow full of debauchery,
depravity, and wickedness (167). I also took this idea into account as I made the game. I wanted
something that would make the players possibly resort to taking a less moral path to win the game
so I made the cards with moral dilemmas and with choices that were both immoral and moral.
The whole point of the game is to win without sacrificing morality, but in order to win the game,
the cards will force the people to take the less moral path, thereby corrupting them, as with
what happened in The White Tiger. Balram made the decision to win the game or become an
entrepreneur at the cost of his morality.
Balram finally decided to start stealing from Mr. Ashoke after feeling betrayed by him,remarking, the more I stole from him, the more I realized how much he had sto len from me. I
was growing a belly at last (196). I took this quote into consideration when making the sorry
cards. The sorry cards different from the cards in the actual Sorry game because the player no
longer has a choice of whether or not to send another player back to start. It is either player1
sends player2 back to start or player1 himself will go back to start. This creates a tenseatmosphere between players and creates an environment where revenge flourishes. One player
will begin to think that sending another player back to start is just revenge for what happened
earlier. It breeds the same kind of thought that Balram was thinking as he was stealing from Mr.
Ashoke.
As Balram was describing the country he was living in, he referred to it as a zoo , a clean, wellkept, orderly zoo that had its cages... let open; and the animals attacked and ripped each other
apart and jungle law replaced zoo law... eat--or get eaten up (54). I used this quote when
designing the theme of the board game. It is jungle themed, with the players having to go around
a jungle centered in the middle where all of the dilemma cards are. I also used this quote as
the title because it represent the main essence of the book and the game board; that an individual
eventually has to resort to immoral decisions in order to continue progressing down the path they
have chosen. In Balrams instance, it was his determination to be wealthy. In reference to the
board game, it would be each players determination to win the game.
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Eat or Be Eaten
For 2 to 4 playersObject of the Game
To be the first player to get your white tiger pawn from start to finish.Equipment
Eat or Be Eaten Game Board Deck of Cards 4 pawns
Setup Pick a pawn. They are numbered at the bottom. Remember your number. Place all pawns on the start block. Shuffle the deck. Pick a player to go first.
Game Play To start a pawn
To move a pawn from start onto the rest of the board, the player must draw an advancecard on their first turn. If they draw a sorry card, they forfeit their turn and must discard
the card into the discard pile.
Reading the card The player must read aloud the card they draw to the rest of the players and voice their
choice from the two choices provided.
Jumping and Bumping A player mayjump over another players pawn that is in the way, counting it as one
space. But, if a player lands on an already occupied space by an opponents pawn, the
must send the opponents pawn back to start.
Winning If a player is first to get back to the start square, they win!
Notes Two pawns can never occupy the same space. If the deck runs out of cards in the Draw pile, shuffle the Discards and reuse them.
The Cards Advance Cards
Advance cards contain a moral dilemma with two choice. Once choice allows the playerto advance further spaces but be immoral.
Sorry Cards Sorry cards allow a player to switch places with another player on the board, but then
bump them back to start. If the player decides not to bump another player to start, then
they must return their pawn to start.