Adiga’s Representation of India and the Voices of the Downtrodden

Abstract

This research explores the manifestation of social realism and the reflection of globalization within the selected novels of Aravind Adiga, a prominent contemporary Indian author. Adiga\'s works, known for their incisive critique of societal issues, provide a lens through which the impact of globalization on individuals and communities can be analyzed. This study investigates how Adiga\'s novels capture the complexities of a rapidly changing world while depicting the challenges and inequalities brought about by globalization. The research employs a qualitative analysis of Adiga\'s selected novels, focusing on \"The White Tiger\" and \"Last Man in Tower,\" as primary sources. Drawing from theories of social realism and globalization, the study explores how Adiga\'s narratives portray the lives of characters who navigate the intricacies of a globalized world.

Introduction

I. CASTE, RELIGION, AND POLITICS IN ARAVIND ADIGA’S DEBUT NOVEL, THE WHITE TIGER

Aravind Adiga is one of the youngest and most rapidly rising authors in terms of worldwide reputation. He is a great writer on par with Charles Dickens, R.K. Narayan, and V.S. Naipaul because of the apparent simplicity of life he portrays in his writings, as well as the true depiction of class, caste, gender, religious, and political levels of discrimination and their changing styles prevailing in the globalized society. He writes about everyday people and their complicated lives. Adiga's work portrays the problems of discrimination and unfairness in modern society as a result of the abuse of governmental powers by self-interested politicians who run the government apparatus, and he does so on the basis of caste, creed, gender, class, region, and religion.

The White Tiger is composed as a series of letters sent to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and told in the first-person narrative style. Balram Halwai, the novel's protagonist, uses the flashback method to tell the narrative over the course of seven nights. Balram Halwai goes from being an innocent rural child named Munna to being a business mogul named The White Tiger in the city of Bangalore, the heart of world-class technology.

Adiga discusses poverty, a lack of access to healthcare and education in rural India, widespread corruption among government officials, and the moral superiority complex of India's upper elite in his book The White Tiger. Adiga depicts the decline of Indian society as the privileged abuse the underprivileged for political and economic gain. Through Balram's eyes, we see India like we've never seen it before, with cockroaches and call centers, prostitutes and devotees, and water buffalo locked in so many types of cages that escape is impossible, as Narasiman and Chawdhry put it.

In his writings, Aravind Adiga vividly captures the anguish of the downtrodden. They've equipped them with vocal apparatuses. The disheartened are unbowed, and the essayists have given them a weapon with which to fight back against the injustices they've suffered in society and the economy. The wealth gap between the rich and the poor has widened more dramatically in the twenty-first century, the period of the financial explosion's outcry. Amid the chaos of the financial explosion, evidence of their involvement in wrongdoing can be seen in the rise of armed uprisings throughout various parts of India. In order to get access to the modern world, they often try to crack Rooster Coop. The protagonist in Balram Halwai's Man Booker Prize–winning presentation book The White Tiger (2008), who goes by the pen name Munna, describes his life in a letter sent to the Chinese Premier, Mr. Jiabao. Balram Halwai, our hero, and his employer Mr. Ashok provide the narrative's fulcrum. Balram Halwai isn't satisfied with impoverished states in India winning; he's deeply distressed by the luxurious lifestyles the urban elite maintain at the expense of India's downtrodden. He concludes that it would be difficult to conceal his distress for long, so he unseals it in a letter to the Chinese leader just before he arrives in Bangalore.

Self-taught businessman Balram Halwai represents the downtrodden, while his employer, the laid-back merchant Mr. Ashok, represents the privileged. In his fight against seniority-based oppression and chronic mistreatment, Balram Halwai provides a powerful voice for societies underprivileged. The world of the oppressor should take heed from his challenge, anger, tolerance of injustice, and growth as a businessperson: the voice of the discouraged can't be silenced for long. Ashok Sharma, destined to be a talented artist, instead becomes a successful entrepreneur.

The story is a symbol of the suffering of the oppressed and a chronicle of the experience of one such people. Adiga divides India into the "India of light" and the "India of Darkness," two very different countries. He sheds light on India's shadowy underbelly, giving a voice to the downtrodden, and working to end the gap between India's affluent and impoverished by establishing a society that administers justice and equity fairly. Workers, untouchables, marginal ranchers, Jobless young people, impoverished drivers, the down and out, prostitutes, bums, and others from the underclasses are the backbone of the Dark India to whom Balram talks. Our democratic policies, bureaucratic setup, lack of education, neediness, joblessness, rank, and cultural struggle have created a Dark India that isn't exclusive to rural India but has spread to the urban wasteland as well. Landless laborer’s, marginal ranchers, car and taxi drivers, hirelings, prostitutes, beggars, unemployed youth, destitute and unprivileged characters all find a voice in Balram. As there is no room for the poor in the shopping malls of modern India, as Balram experienced in Delhi under his lord Ashok, the affluent treat their employees as local animals and keep them under uncomfortable watch. Adiga accepts, via Balram's travels from Laxmangarh to Dhanbad to Delhi and finally to Bangalore, that the mental and social status of the poor has not changed. Even if there are more job opportunities in metropolitan areas, upper-class people are always going to behave and think the same way, regardless of whether they are company owners, government officials, administrators, wealthy individuals, executives, or entrepreneurs. Any location where the oppressed are unable to escape the ghetto created by socioeconomic inequality. Just as slaves back in the day toiled for the whites, the wealthy now live lavishly while the downtrodden are expected to serve them. People were working on houses for the wealthy while living in tents covered in blue canvas and separated by walkways where the smell of raw sewage from nearby factories could be detected. When Balram loses control, he slits Mr. Ashok's neck. He slaughters him the way Muslims slaughter chickens. Balram is not a cold-blooded killer, but his story makes it seem like the only way out of his captivity is by violence. There is no other way for him to realize his vision and end the class divide.

II. THE SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN IN ARVIND ADIGA’S WORKS

Segregation, subordination, and male-centric control all contribute to horrifying abuses against women, which may sometimes result in the loss of life or dignity for victims. Violations of women's rights continue unabated notwithstanding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and particular agreements intended to protect their rights. There is a dismal variety of forms that women's subjection may take, including domestic violence, sexual assault, child marriage, female circumcision, and so on. Women make up about half of India's population, but they are often denied basic protections throughout their lives. Murdering young girls, sexually abusing them, and engaging in drug dealing or prostitution are all forms of evil that weaken the status of women as autonomous components when they go unchecked, and most people would rather not have a daughter.

Aravind Adiga also discusses dowry as a panacea for women and their families who incur debt by borrowing money and never escape it. In The White Tiger, Adiga uses his protagonist to speak out against the oppressive dowry system in India. The bride's family goes through a lot since they have to organize a major celebration and keep track of a lot of money to satisfy the expectations of the groom's side of the family. To cover the cost of the cousin's settlement, Balram's family must take out an advance on their rent from their landlord. They gave themselves over as a settlement to the landlord. Therefore, Balram should drop out of college and get a job at a tea store. Similarly, Between the Assassinations has a settlement victim who chooses to remain single because of the sharing system. In "Day Five: Valencia (To the Crossroad) in Between the Assassinations," Jayamma's story reveals the blight of colonization. Out of a total of nine daughters, Jayamma is the eighth. Her life so far as the promoter's chef has been excellent. According to Aravind Adiga's depiction, many low-income women have no choice but to go through life as spinsters. Due to their lack of financial resources, low-income families often find it difficult to arrange marriages between their daughters and suitable young men. In fact, even having a girl might cause the parents such much worry that they resort to infanticide. Many women nowadays are forced into prostitution by their families, their partners, or the harsh economic and social environments into which they are born. They are also targeted by "mail-order bride" services that claim to help single women find partners and careers in far-flung countries. Whatever the situation, many of these women are forcibly confined in brothels, where they face sexual and physical violence. Adiga said that prostitution was a growing problem in his work The White Tiger. Most women in large cities are driven to choose this career due to poverty or other hardships. Balram's portrayal of the event is sad, and it's clear that he empathizes with the plight of prostitutes.

III. SOCIAL ISSUES TOUCHED UPON BY ARAVIND ADIGA

In his writings, Aravind Adiga brings forth some crucial concerns about marginalized people who are repressed and fearful in a dominating society. Discord is prevalent and leads to resentment amongst communities online. Minorities in India have always suffered and been enslaved, even after the country gained its independence. Through a series of unresolved tales, Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga revealed the raw materials of a restless and violent India between the years of 1984 and 1991. Adiga emphasizes the Muslims' isolation and lack of acceptance into mainstream culture via the character of Ziauddin, a Muslim youth of twelve and the sixth of eleven children born to a family that works on a ranch. Zia cultivates a sense of alienation from society as he works at a period when he should be reaping the joy of guilt-free youth. He is now completely on his own and must learn to fight for his life like an adult. Adiga, author of the Man Booker Prize–winning first book The White Tiger, has also brought attention to religious discord via the character of Ram Prasad, who, in all honesty, does belong with Muslims, a minority group that is often discriminated against because of their faith. Ram Prasad, the Landlord Stork's driver, hid his true identity since the landlord he worked for had a strong aversion to Muslims and the animosity between religious groups was so great, especially against the minority.

Similarly, Aravind Adiga brings up caste and class prejudice in his writing, most notably in The White Tiger and Between the Assassinations. Adiga uses memorable characters to bring up societal themes, such as Balram from The White Tiger or Xerox, Shankara, and Jayamma from Between the Assassinations. He has shown that one's mental and physical surroundings are permanently marked by the caste system into which one is born. These ideas are ingrained in our mind to the point that they cannot be altered. Although one may be born into a lower socioeconomic status, this does not guarantee that he will be treated as an equal by those in higher social strata. Whatever the circumstance may be, he strives relentlessly for advancement. George, the pesticide-spraying mosquito guy, courts a wealthy lady in an effort to win her heart. He will always be considered as a poor person, and Mrs. Gomes knows this.

IV. STATE OF THE ART

Research into educational theory and practice is expanding and maturing, leading to a growing number of new findings. The widespread dissemination of educational resources online has significantly altered how individuals think about and approach education. As the Internet and other forms of electronic communication continue to advance, society as a whole is learning to ditch the pen and paper in favor of digital ways of storing and sharing information. Numerous research and teaching universities have recognized this pattern early on and, following it, have produced valuable studies. Chinese academics have clearly advanced the position that information technology should be linked with education and teaching to fulfill the structural transformation of the school education system, in light of the current scenario of worldwide and domestic educational informatization growth. Reform of the classroom teaching structure will be implemented to further educational informatization via the integration of IT and curricula. More learning software or resources can be delivered to guide students in their studies via mobile terminals, such as cell phones, thanks to this software's ability to facilitate a wide variety of contacts between teachers and students and parents. This, in turn, improves the effectiveness of teaching management. As a result of educators' use of ICT to conduct subject-specific research and create more adaptable teaching materials and courseware for students, classroom activities have become more adaptable, student-friendly, and theory-driven than ever before.

Conclusion

The book focuses on the disparity between the parts of India that have benefited from globalization and the expansion of the Indian economy and the other parts of India that have not. To the contrary of what many would have you believe, none of the social problems that have been happening in the nation have been removed; they have only been substituted. Rape of women, terrorism, political terrorism, corruption, and gambling have supplanted formerly dominant societal concerns such as child marriage, dowry, sati, excessive work, and the denial of women\'s education. The author has stated all these political difficulties by utilizing all of his books, and each story represents a distinct subject, and each novel sheds light on all the problems with equal relevance. The primary goal of Aravind Adiga\'s works is to get people to take action against the problems they see in the world.

References

[1] Rogers, asha. (2011). Reading the marketplace: aravind adiga’s recent fiction. 3. [2] Arora, sudhir. (2016). Aravind adiga\'s the white tiger a study. [3] Songire, vijay. (2022). India after independence: a study of aravind adiga\'s the white tiger. [4] Choudhury, monir. (2014). Aravind adiga’s the white tiger as a re-inscription of modern india. International journal of language and literature. 2. 149-160. 10.15640/ijll. v2n3a10. [5] Prajapati, saty. (2021). The element of protest in the novels of arvind adiga. The creative launcher. 6. 25. 10.53032/tcl.2021.6.2.05. [6] Laxmikant kapgate (2021),” the portrayal of india: an exploration of arvind adiga’s selected novels,” issn 2231-1629 [7] Ahlawat, rashmi. (2020). Aravind adiga\'s the white tiger: a socio -political study of poverty and injustice. [8] Mahal, ramandeep. (2020). An analytical study of aravind adiga\'s the white tiger. [9] Arunraj, a., & mayilraj, r. (2021). Changing India: an overview from selects novels of aravind adiga, journal of language and linguistic studies, 17(4), 3322-3324. [10] Anamika suman (2020),” social realism in the novels of arvind adiga,” ijar 2020; 6(3): 515-516 www.allresearchjournal.com received: 13-01-2020 accepted: 26-02-2020 [11] Anjaria, ulka. (2015). Realist hieroglyphics: aravind adiga and the new social novel. Mfs modern fiction studies. 61. 114-137. 10.1353/mfs.2015.0005. [12] Shihada, isam. (2015). Globalization and the question of servitude in aravind adiga\'s the white tiger. Ssrn electronic journal. 10.2139/ssrn.2703282. [13] S.sakthivel, dr.s.ganesan (2022),” social realism in aravind adiga`s the white tiger,” journal of positive school psychology http://journalppw.com 2022, vol. 6, no. 2, 2212 – 2215

Copyright

Copyright © 2024 Dr. Parag M. Hedaoo. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.