Balram Halwai,
the protagonist in the White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, uses manipulation and
criminal behavior to climb from Indian servant to businessman throughout the
novel, and because of that he looks at his acts as justifiable or “acts of
entrepreneurship” (9).In India, each
person is born into a certain caste, and Halwai felt the only way to grow along
with India was to commit criminal acts. The comparison of the life of an elite
and a servant are a constant theme in the novel.“These days, there are just two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men
with Small Bellies. And only two destinies: eat – or get eaten up“ (64). The only way to leave
those castes is to come into money, but those that come from the Darkness don’t
have money. Halwai is intrigued by the rapid growth of India and desperately
wants to be apart of it. As the novel goes on you see Halwai step out of his
role as servant and descend into a corrupt entrepeneur. He starts his decend
with blackmailing the other drivers to get his position as Mr. Ashok’s driver
in Dehli, along with no longer sending his family money despite his promotion
in salary. Halwai even knows and sees the change in himself,“The tale of how I was corrupted from a sweet, innocent village fool
into a citified fellow full of debauchery, depravity, and wickedness“ (189).
I feel this novel correlates with the phrase
“he sold his soul to the devil“, because without his evil actions Halwai would
still simply a servant to Mr. Ashok. Even once Halwai has killed Mr. Ashok and
began his life as an entrepeneur, he still uses manipulation and criminal acts
to continue moving up in the castes of India. He pays off the police to help
his business profit, and he accepts the demise of his family “ I have woken up,
and the rest of you are still sleeping, and that is the only difference between
us. I shouldn’t think of them at all. My family“ (271).Halwai shares a lot of similarities with the
character Salim in Slumdog Millionaire, both characters strive for money and
embrace the globalization of India. And through this both characters become as
corrupt, if not more than the people who they called boss. They both use
murder, lies, and corruption to get the things they want. And their lives most
as quickly as the cities they “run.“
Globalization in India
A major theme in The White Tiger is the globalization of India. With this globalization there has been major corruption, and huge lines drawn between the different classes. This is shown throughout the novel as Balram commits crimes to climb through the classes from the "darkness." I found an article about an Indian journalist, Siddhartha Deb, set out to explore the true impact of
globalization on his homeland by working undercover in an Indian call
center. Throughout his time undercover he uncovers the dark side of Indian Prosperity. Undercover in India-beautiful-and-damned
"You have at the very top end of the country ... something like 66 billionaires. And these numbers might be slightly old, but there are probably a few more billionaires since I last checked. But 66 billionaires who seem to have something like 30 percent of the country's wealth. On the other end, you have like 800 million people — over 800 million people — living on less than $2 a day. When you have a country where 40 percent of the children under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition, it seems to me that these contrasts aren't really healthy. They're not just differences. They are really like living different worlds within the same country."- This is a quote from Deb on the wealth disparity in India and I think that is really illustrates what Balrum is talking about throughout the novel.
This is a YouTube video of Former country director of ActionAid India on BBC Hard Talk discussing the effects of globalization on India.
In the book The Book of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, the
character Velutha embodies the god of small things for his small gifts of
kindness and his ability to sacrifice for others. To the twins Rahel and Estha,
Velutha offers them small kindnesses every day, and each gift makes him the god
of small things in their eyes. He is the father figure that they lack in their
childhood for example “It was Velutha who made Rahel her luckiest-ever fishing
rod and taught her and Estha how to fish.” (75) He helps Rahel and Estha
fulfill their childhood with happiness and memories that a father should give.
As Rahel and Estha play he never disrupts or downplays their games, instead he
embraces them and lets them enjoy their moments of fun and happiness. He also
offers small gifts like a boat “Velutha set the boat up for them. The boat that
Estha sat on and Rahel found.” (203) It seems that Estha and Rahel are happiest
when they are with Velutha because of the small things he gives them each day.
Velutha is also a god of small things to Ammu, the twin’s mother. In one aspect
he offers a small gift to Velutha by bringing happiness to her children, but
those gifts grow as their relationship does. Velutha gives Ammu the gift of
tomorrow, and when they are together they admire the small things in life that
they would otherwise ignore like a spider’s web or the silver of a wasp wing. “They
grew to love his eclectic taste. His shambling dignity” such a small thing
became so beautiful because Ammu shared it with Velutha (321). Velutha is also
the God of Small Things because of his ultimate sacrifice; he dies for the sins
of others without complaint. He accepts his fate for his love of others. He
takes the blame for kidnapping the children and the rape of Ammu despite the
deeper passion they shared. Velutha is a character of compassion and a man of
small gifts of happiness which makes him the God of Small Things.
Class Segregation
A major theme in The God of Small Things is the untouchables vs the touchables, and the class segregation. Each character in the novel depicts some example of class tension and cultural boundaries for example the twins' relationship with Sophie Mol, Chacko's relationship with
Margaret, Pappachi's relationship with his family, and Ammu's
relationship with Velutha. With the class segregation there comes laws that forbid relationships between the touchables and untouchables. When it is come to light that Velutha and Ammu have been intimate, Velutha's own father is willing to have his son killed for his crime.
I found this video on YouTube and it shares clips from the film The God of Small Things along with quotes and images depicting the caste system in India.
Background on India's Caste System
The caste system in India is an important part of ancient Hindu tradition
and dates back to 1200 BCE. The term caste was first used by Portuguese
travelers who came to India in the 16th century. Caste comes from the Spanish
and Portuguese word "casta" which means "race", "breed",
or "lineage". Many Indians use the term "jati". There
are 3,000 castes and 25,000 subcastes in India, each related to a specific
occupation. These different castes fall under four basic varnas:
The movie Slumdog
Millionaire participates in gendered discourses through the character
Latika by portraying her sexually available, exotic and passive. The male characters
in the film all have a strong presence and character, but Latika is only seen
through her interaction with Salim and Jamal. Salim sees Latika as a burden and
a sexual desire; he shows disgust towards Jamal’s need to protect her and their
friendship. In the scene at the deserted hotel, Latika shows her passiveness
when she willingly gives herself to Salim in order to protect Jamal, and
further instill Salim’s dominance over her. Throughout the film Latika continues
to be a victim to different men, and her only trait desired by men is her
sexuality. The scene where Jamal goes to the brothel to find Latika, he looks
through a crack in the door and sees her dancing in exotic Indian attire; I believe
this scene captures her exotic sensuality. Latika is the damsel and Jamal is
her hero/prince throughout the film. I feel that Latika’s character is only
defined through her relationship with Jamal, and her constant need for a savior.
Latika is the girlfriend of the head mobster of Mumbai, and is treated like a
slave and is beaten by him. She moved up from the slums to the riches of Mumbai
through her beauty and sexual desire from men, but is never treated with
respect or seen as anything more than an object. Latika is exotic and
beautiful, but lacks any true depth which is how “native women” are portrayed
through gendered discourses.
I chose this video because it is the video to a song from Slumdog Millionaire's soundtrack, and it also illustrates the eroticism that Latika's character depicts in the film. Just as Latika is portrayed in the film, these women are seen nothing more than sexual desires to the men watching them dance.
Slums
Another topic I didn't discuss in the blog above is the slums of Mumbai, and how they are depicted in the film. I find it interesting although it as shown as filthy and decrepit, it also is shown with so much color and so much life. Even in the photo above the hints of blue and orange in a way make it captivating. I found an article about the slum where the film was shot, and those who live in the slum were not happy about the film or its release. Slumdog Greeting
