Name: Trivedi Disha HiteshbhaiPaper no: 13 (The New Literature)Topic: Use of symbols in ‘The White Tiger’.Year: 2015-2017M.A.Sem=4Submitted to: Smt. S.b.gardi department of

English M. K. Bhavnagar University

About Author: Aravind Adiga was born in

madras in 1974 and was raised party in Australia.

Winner of the Man Booker prize in 2008 for this novel.

Adiga began his career as a financial journalist.

His Works:- The White Tiger- Last man in Tower- Between the Assassinations- Outcast Breed- Selection Day

Introduction: Balram Halwai narrates his life in a letter, written in

seven consecutive nights and addressed to the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao. In his letter, Balram explains how he, the son of a rickshaw puller, escaped a life of servitude to become a successful businessman, describing himself as an entrepreneur.

Balram was born in the rural village of Laxmangarh, where he lived with his grandmother, parents, brother and extended family. He is a smart child but is forced to leave school in order to help pay for his cousin's dowry and begins to work in a teashop with his brother in Dhanbad. While working there he begins to learn about India's government and economy from the customers' conversations. Balram describes himself as a bad servant but a good listener and decides to become a driver.

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Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant, Philosopher, Entrepreneur, Murderer Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life having nothing but his own wits helps him along.

Use of symbols in novel: The White Tiger The Darkness The Black Fort The Chandelier Honda Citizen The Rooster Coop

The White Tiger: Balram’s natural intelligence and integrity set him apart from his peers from an early age. On one occasion, his academic prowess so impresses a visiting school inspector that he officially calls him a “White Tiger”: the most noble and intelligent animal in the jungle. Throughout his life, Balram’s concept of himself as a

White Tiger and as an exceptional person motivates him to advocate for himself and fight for his own advancement. His conviction that he is somehow special also causes him to feel exempt from traditional moral and legal standards, empowered to live life on his own terms.

“The Darkness”: The poverty-

stricken, rural area of India where Balram's village, Laxmangarh is located. It is fed by The Ganges, “The River of Death”, where millions of India's dead are cremated.

The Black Fort: The Black Fort was the only

thing of beauty in Balram’s impoverished ancestral village. The fort is a grand old building on a hill above town, constructed by foreign occupiers years ago, which both fascinated and frightened Balram throughout his youth. He claims that his ability to appreciate its beauty marked him early on as different from his fellow villagers and showed his destiny not to remain a slave.

The Chandelier: Vintage chandelier

Hanging in Balram’s Bangalore office. He frequently looks to it for “inspiration,” confessing to “staring” for long periods of time. The chandelier comes to symbolize the “Light” of Bangalore and Balram’s new life.

Honda Citizen:   This is the more

luxurious of the 2 cars owned by the Stork's family. When Balram is 1st hired as a driver, he is never allowed to drive this car. When he is promoted and able to drive the Honda, he feels like he has “made it” in life. Later in the story, Balram secretly takes the car out at night on his own, pretending to be wealthy.

The Rooster Coop:   A metaphor Balram

employs to describe the Indian servant/master system. One day in the marketplace, Balram sees roosters being slaughtered next to other live, caged roosters. The roosters know they are next, but they do not rebel. Balram observes that servants in India remain trapped in servitude – but no one breaks out of the “Rooster Coop” because of family honour.

References: • www.google.com.in• http://images.google.com