Rags to riches with reference to 'The White Tiger'

 

Hello Friends,

Do you believe that Balram's story is the archetype of all stories of 'rags to riches'?

Click here on this blog link to look at detailed notes on The Archetypal Criticism. Archetypes are universal, inborn models of people, behaviors, or personalities that play a role in influencing human behavior. Writers have used it with their excellences in different kinds of ways. Sometimes also happens that the story or character itself emerges as a new archetype and rules the world of archetypes exceptionally and this kind of archetypes brings newness and freshness to literature. 

What role does archetype play in any story?

What is a character archetype? In storytelling, an archetype is a character who represents a specific set of universal, recognizable behaviors. Carl Jung, one of the forefathers of psychoanalysis, suggested that they are part of the human collective unconscious.

Character archetype

Archetypal characters are recurrent when it comes to human experience, especially in art. A literary archetype represents a character that appears universal and therefore gives readers a sense of recognition and familiarity.

What is ‘rags to riches’ ?

Rags to riches refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, and in some cases from absolute obscurity to heights of fame, fortune and celebrity—sometimes instantly.

This is one genre of stories that has enjoyed an ever-lasting appeal: rags to riches tales. Stories of heroic struggle against odds, survival and eventual triumph have always inspired people, given them hope, courage to fight, and egged them on to persevere.

The White Tiger:

(‘Social message or worn-out stereotypes?)

A story of an ambitious driver who uses his wit and intelligence to overcome poverty and rise as a successful entrepreneur. In a nation proudly shedding a history of poverty and underdevelopment, he represents, as he himself says, “tomorrow.”

Balram’s triumphal narrative, framed somewhat inexplicably as a letter to the visiting Chinese premier, unfurls over seven days and nights in Bangalore. It’s a rather more complicated story than Balram initially lets on. Before moving to Bangalore, he was a driver for the weak-willed son of a feudal landlord. One rainy day in Delhi, he crushed the skull of his employer and stole a bag containing a large amount of money, capital that financed his Bangalore taxi business. That business — ferrying technology workers to and from their jobs — depends, in turn, on keeping the police happy with the occasional bribe.

There is much talk in this novel of revolution and insurrection: Balram even justifies his employer’s murder as an act of class warfare.

Aravind Adiga speaks of suppression and exploitation of various sections of Indian society. Mainly a story of Balram, a young boy’s journey from  rags to riches, Darkness to Light transforming from a village tea shop boy into a Bangalore entrepreneur.

Different aspects of Existentialism in the Novel Balram’s journey commences with alienation and then moves on with his freedom of choice and responsibility, his transformation to search his own identity and finally ends by proofing his individuality as a normal human being. On this journey of Balram, we encounter different concepts of existentialism like freedom of choice and responsibility, search for identity, facticity and transcendence, authenticity, alienation, individualism and Dasein. Among these concepts Individualism and freedom of choice and responsibility are the basic themes of the novel and they also promote existentialism in this novel.

A Memoir of Balram’s Journey 

The novel is somewhat of a memoir of his journey to find his freedom in India’s modern-day capitalist society. Towards the beginning of the novel, Balram cites a poem from the Muslim poet Iqbal where he talks about slaves and says "They remain slaves because they can’t see what is beautiful in this world.” Balram sees himself embodying the poem and being the one who sees the world and takes it as he rises through the ranks of society, and in doing so finding his freedom.

Searching for own Identity and individuality, Balram's choice to search for his own identity and individuality, explores concepts of individualism and search for identity in the novel. Individualism in existentialism gives importance to the subjectivity or individuality of an individual. Existentialism is known as an “individualistic” Philosophy.

For the existentialist, being an individual in our mass society is an achievement rather than a starting point. Whatever they are as a social member by birth or circumstances, but as individuals they have special traits, and they can change their lives according to their individual thoughts and beliefs. Respect of individuality is very much alive in the protagonist Balram. Although he was also a part of the poor class strata, son of a rickshaw puller, he always wanted to get out of that strata. Search for identity is the basic cause of Balram’s journey.

He wanted to change his identity from a slave to a normal human being. Like everyone craves for one’s identity, one’s existence in this world, the same way Balram Halwai has the same craving, and acts upon it. He attempts to get the life of a human being. ‘Finally, Balram is identified as a man - resembling any other man’. The destruction of his own identity as a slave led him to prove the existence by hook or crook. 

In a way, The White Tiger taps into the same vein of class rage that fueled recent eat-the-rich thrillers. Ultimately it turns into rags to riches and   story.

Thank You.