In Kipling’s "The Jungle Story", the war between the wolf boy Mogli and the tiger Sher Khan is thrilling. In the eyes of Mogli, who maintains and believes in the “Law of the Jungle”, Sher who cannibalizes the rules and breaks the rules. Khan is undoubtedly a representative of barbaric ignorance. Kipling regarded Sher Khan as a sinner blindly following the old order. They did not understand the meaning of democracy and freedom, and rejected the forces of progress. In colonial India, Kipling’s story innuendally criticized a series of ignorant "mutations" against British rule in India since the mid-nineteenth century. The tiger is a symbol of old India, and the killing of humans by the tiger is the "atrocities" of the native Indians against the British. What about Mogli? He is a man and a wolf. He brings the "fire" of civilization (Sher Khan died in the fire) to the jungle. He connects the two worlds, but for human society and the jungle world, he is an outsider. The jungle of Mogli and India under British rule became a weird combination in Kipling, but this kind of colonial empire dream had already become the most perfect and stable historical expression in the heart of the young Kipling.
Adiga's "White Tiger" belongs to the "Jungle Tale" of the new era of India, which conveys echoes from the depths of history. It seems that contemporary India is still sleeping in Kipling's imperial dream, and still not awake.
The key concept in "White Tiger" is the "cage". Those poor, ugly, evil, and greedy souls are wailing in the cage. This debut novel by Adiga presents the darkest side of Indian society, the gap between the rich and the poor, and political corruption. , Religious controversy, human greed, the war between the two classes, loss of identity and value, a lot of details are rich and heavy, in the epistolary storytelling tone, readers seem to have come to a dark hell, but the "dark place" is Seeing to be the place of salvation, old and new India, China and the West, the confused contemporary Indian society, all living beings are living like animals, losing their dignity and dreams, letting them be slaughtered and squeezed, who wants to find the key to open the "cage"? But the door is always open, and the short book has exhausted the dilemma struggling in the quagmire of India. The characters appear on the paper as if they appear in front of your eyes, but India is able to transition between such tragedies and comedies. It Dirty and poor, full of mysteries to be solved.
Adiga's status as a journalist allows him to analyze the current society with the eyes of a journalist. In the book, Adiga’s summary of Indian history is "zoo": "India was like a big zoo when she was at its strongest, a self-sufficient, hierarchical, and orderly zoo, where everyone performs their own duties. It’s no doubt that Kipling’s symbolism echoes Kipling’s symbolism. In "The Jungle Story", we see Kipling divide the animal world. Those domesticated animals who wish to obey civilization and order abide by the laws of the jungle. Wild animals and beasts that break the order and take advantage of the rules. Barram, the protagonist of "White Tiger", was born in Bihar, the poorest state in India, but was praised as a rare white tiger when he was smart and smart when he was studying. Barram's story undoubtedly implies the transformation of the two roles and the connection of the two worlds. Like most Bihar people, he fled his hometown due to poverty and came to the metropolis of Delhi, struggling at the bottom of society, living like a mouse, gradually forgetting his identity as a "tiger", and his final awakening and revenge were more like a tiger breaking through. The resistance of the fence. "In the past, there were thousands of castes and thousands of destinies in India. Now there are only two: big belly and flat belly. There are also only two fates: cannibalism or being eaten." Adiga said to Kipling's Sher Khan made an interpretation of modern sociology. Barram, who suffered from injustice and oppression in Delhi, seemed to have some spiritual compatibility with the Indians who rose up against the British colonization more than a hundred years ago.
Balram's Delhi life was portrayed vividly and directly by Adiga. To be a driver for the rich in Delhi, Barram must learn all the skills of flattery and sloppy. He lives in a dark basement. The boss lives in the high-end apartment above. The boss pulls the bell and he must be there on call. He couldn't enter the shopping center, and he relied on reading pornographic books for entertainment. At the corner of the department store, there are slums. The lower class people urinate and defecate at the junction as if the dividing line between the two worlds. Barram looks down on those who sit on the streets of Delhi all day long. They are his fellows in the "dark place", but they are "weak and dirty" living under the overpass like animals. There is a gene of resistance in Barram's blood. It stands to reason that you should be content to meet a "good boss" like Ashok. Ashok's experience of studying abroad made him unsuitable for the corruption of the upper class in India, but gradually changed, he also became a representative of the indifferent and rude Indian upper class. This is also one of the main reasons Barram killed him in the end.
Adiga's creation of "White Tiger" in the framework of a letter to the Chinese Premier has obvious implications. First of all, for India, the development at this stage cannot fail to overlap with China. The two neighboring big countries are also ancient civilizations. There are too many reasons for comparison. On the other hand, the letter to the Chinese Prime Minister is the new Balram-Ashok Sharma, from Delhi to Bangalore. This is a leap between the old India and the new India. It is a mouse from the lower class to the upper class. With the leap of the tiger, Ashok Sharma’s voice is exactly what New India wants to say.
Adiga pulls away the emotional connection between people, and what we see is the evil of human nature that uses and hurts each other. Balram’s feelings for his hometown are complicated and contradictory. While working in Delhi, he was used as a cash machine for the family. His illiterate grandma asked him to write letters just to urge him to send money as soon as possible. Relatives depended on him. The relationship of money is maintained. Like many Indian villages, Barram’s hometown has ruined castles and temples standing abruptly on the hillside, as if looking back from distant history, recording the glorious past, and also hinting at the current ruin and decadence. Balram likes to climb up the hillside to watch the sunset at dusk, but the spectacular sunset makes Balram spit. His hatred of his hometown is so strong that he will finally escape at the expense of his family. When Ashok returned from abroad, he gave more respect and freedom to his servants than other directors, but this land was so absurd that it changed a person like a poison. Ashok’s final killing was the inevitable result of his fall. The confrontation between master and servant is more like the destruction and revenge of the new Ashok order by the traditional values represented by Balram.
In the short story collection "Between Two Assassinations" created by Adiga and "White Tiger", we can see his description of current Indian society more comprehensively. The two assassinations refer to the Indian society between the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. This is also India's "strongman age". "Iron Lady" Indira Gandhi was a topic that could not be avoided in India in the late Cold War. Her "Emergency Policy Act" and centralized management were both highly controversial. Adiga puts all the stories in the fictional place of Kitul on the southwest coast of India. Kitul is located between the states of Goa and Kerala. This is one of the most beautiful places in India with the most natural scenery, and it is also a per capita life. The highest level. In the sketches of different characters of various classes, religions, and surnames of Kitur society, we can see the division and reorganization of Indian society in the early 1990s. Many of these stories can be compared with the "White Tiger" created afterwards. Intertextuality.
The first story of "Between the Two Assassinations" is about immigrants from the north. Like Barram, Ziadin came from the impoverished areas of the north and began to live as a messenger. There are many Muslim immigrants in northern Kerala. The story highlights the contradictions and prejudices between the integration of Hindus and Muslims. "Between Two Assassinations" has more political allusions than "White Tiger". The teacher who died on the day of Gandhi’s death is like a victim of patriotism and commercial waves. "India was once ruled by three countries: Britain, France and Portugal are now replaced by three native scourges: betrayal and misconduct. "The secret behind the scenes" has changed. The students have changed. The movie theater is full of pornographic posters. No one is watching Tagore seriously. In the "Protecting the Tiger" film, the teacher Feeling tired, he couldn't adapt to this chaotic and noisy era.
Like "White Tiger", the businessman who kept dealing with corrupt tax officials described in "Between Two Assassinations" and Ashok who went to the Delhi Parliament to send money to bribe officials had the same predicament. They wanted to realize their ambitions. However, he was trapped by the times. The mosquito killer George was employed by a hostess who did not seem to care about caste, but the seemingly equal behavior on weekdays was finally revealed as cruel discrimination. The truth that George saw was not fundamentally different from that of Barram. "We are in Their eyes are just rubbish. A rich woman will never treat a poor boy as a man, but only as a servant." Then there was a natural resistance.
In "Between Two Assassinations", the father of Sinkhla is a Brahmin caste, and his mother is Hoyka. He is the child born of a marriage of high and low castes. His father regards this marriage as a revenge against the traditional caste system. But the reality is so cruel. Sinkar himself is caught between the two castes and can’t move. “You will be a bastard.” He can’t find any sense of belonging. Instead, he sees his mother’s compromise and suffocation every day, seemingly justified. should. Xinkara's resistance is undoubtedly the same as that of Barram. They both tried to break the old social order to achieve liberation. Their self-confidence and dignity will soon be destroyed. If they do not resist, they will become rats crossing the street. Sinkara's bomb fables the accumulation and outbreak of contradictions, but what about the disillusionment after the defense?
Barram gained dignity and status through murder, but lost his family, he finally felt a kind of reincarnation, the fate that he could never escape, his nephew would become him, and he would become the next Ashok. Those who rebelled were finally swallowed up by the resistance, and Indian society could not escape the fate of a thousand years. When entering a new era of history, the resistance of the Barrams at least revealed the most authentic aspects of Indians. We saw entrepreneurs, journalists, and migrant workers. People of all colors and teachers, they all face different frustrations, whether it is from a decent villa or a dirty street corner, the rift is deepening.
Barram saw a white tiger in a cage at the zoo. When they looked at each other, Barram suddenly fainted. The tiger walked from side to side in the cage, and then walked back at the same rhythm. It's like being caught in an evil". Adyga’s tigers are more real than Kipling’s tigers with oriental mystery and colonial features. There is a sense of reflection and the courage to look directly at it. Adyga hopes that this is only a brief faint, and there are more magical realities in this country. The legend of doctrine is waiting to be continued.
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