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The White Tiger

Aravind Adiga

Discussion: January/February 2009

Discussion leader: Lisa Hickman

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January/February 2009

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What Members Thought

Oct 01, 2009 Sally rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'm a little stumped about how to review this book. I found it very interesting and provocative, but I often felt uncomfortable that the characters were a bit caricature-ish. The overall picture of India presented in this novel is very negative, with no honorable characters. Mahatma Gandhi is mocked as an irrelevant icon in today's India. Certainly India is a complicated country, undergoing rapid change. My depth of knowledge about India is limited, for sure. So I enjoyed getting an inside view ...more

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Mar 26, 2010 Suzanne Moore rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: east-texas-library-friends, 1001-2010, ashe-fall-challenge

This book carries its reader into the world of lower class India, the lowest of the low, through the eyes and actions of Balram Halwai. Balram, servant/chauffeur to a wealthy businessman, tells his story in a series of letters. Throughout he makes comparisons between the affluent and misfortunate classes of society, while elaborating on the desire to climb out of “the darkness” (slums) and become a rich entrepreneur. The letters are addressed to a Chinese Premier who is going to be visiting Bang This book carries its reader into the world of lower class India, the lowest of the low, through the eyes and actions of Balram Halwai. Balram, servant/chauffeur to a wealthy businessman, tells his story in a series of letters. Throughout he makes comparisons between the affluent and misfortunate classes of society, while elaborating on the desire to climb out of “the darkness” (slums) and become a rich entrepreneur. The letters are addressed to a Chinese Premier who is going to be visiting Bangalore. It is obvious he admires China's industrialized success when he asks the Premier how to beat poverty and corruption. Maybe his admiration of the Premier played into the reason for his confession and need to unload his conscience.

Balram is caught in a trap where he can never earn enough to run his own chauffeur company and will always be a subservient driver for the rich. I think he compares himself to a “white tiger” because they are so rare and despite of the rat race and societal caste he and his peers belong to, he knows he will rise above his raising … so to speak. He contemplates the violence he must resort to in order break free of his confining life. Balram's story is to explain his motive while justifying the deadly deed of killing his master and stealing money he needs to begin a new life.

When Balram's mistress insists on driving after a night on the town and his master indulges her against Balram's better judgment (which he knows he cannot voice). I was reminded of the hit and run scene in The Great Gatsby. Knowing he would take the blame if the boy was discovered dead, and seeing how light-minded his master was about the victim's fate was probably the turning point in Balram's mind, turning the idea of murderous fantasy into reality. Critics have also compared The White Tiger to Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment as well as Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.

When considering the Invisible Man comparison I remember how Balram described Indians as being honest … that everyday servants were trusted with large sums of money, or to care for children of their masters. Yet those who had power were so corrupt and full of greed. Two extremes and the question of why so honest … possibly survival instincts fueled by fear as with the protagonist in Ellison's novel. And like Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment, Balram remains haunted by his own transgression. ...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Michelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-audio-books, man-booker-winners

I don't even know how to begin to review this book. I listened to it on audio as it is in my Man Booker prize winner reading list and it was buy one get one free on Audible.com.

So, lets just say it is a whack book - slightly off kilter. It is about a man, Balram, from a small village in India becoming a driver for a wealthy man in New Deli. The narrator is fantastic with his Indie accent. Balram is telling his life story in letter format to the Prime Minister of China. There are parts that are ...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Elle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, india

While this book captures India, has beautiful prose and flows effortlessly, I didn't feel any empathy at all for the main character Balram. I think without knowing it, I must have expected too much due to it being a Booker Prize winner and all the hype. Still, an enjoyable read that I am glad I read.
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