The White Tiger

Truly readable books cannot be savoured slowly. Like ice cream on a hot summer’s day they must be quickly consumed or risk losing most of their pleasure. This was exactly what I experienced with The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Immediately, I was drawn to the audacious narrator and main character Balram, who throughout the novel is indignant about the concept of slavery, yet remains comedic in his letters to the Premier of China. In this book, Balram, the White Tiger, fights the system in order to reach his goal of becoming a powerful entrepreneur.

Adiga uses simple language throughout the novel, as it is told from the illiterate Balram's point of view. The casual racism and crude language that occur numerous times enhance the wittiness of this satire book. However, I think that The White Tiger has a deeper meaning. It is full of self criticism. Adiga was brave enough to reveal the darker side of India, his own country, where corruption, nepotism and bribery are frequent. This novel portrays a side of India that few have written about, although it tackles it from an Indian perspective, which gives it an added level of legitimacy. I went on a trip to India last year, and saw a population completely different to that of this novel. The citizens that I was around were of the lowest class, and had close to nothing to survive off of. The India in this novel has gone through an influx of western technology compared to what I saw, but nevertheless I was fascinated by the glorious nation that I read about in this novel.  

Although Adiga’s book involves all the elements of murder, betrayal, treachery, and intrigue, it is clear that he never intended for it to be read as a taut thriller: Balram’s eventual killing of his employer is disclosed early in the novel, and his subversions of authority, along with relentless self-justifications, are amply littered along the way. The novel is funny in places, but remains a tragic story to most. In my opinion, the best books are those that transport me from my own world into someone else's. I would say that by that criteria, The White Tiger is 100% successful. 

Wryly, through this page-turning novel, Adiga appears to ponder the future of India. “These days, there are just two castes…and only two destinies: eat — or get eaten up.” According to Adiga, India has well and truly broken out of the coop; never mind that moralities are ignored along the way, and never mind that innocent lives are sacrificed, especially when they can be justified. The White Tiger not only entertains readers, but also gives them a reason to stop and think. The novel is a biting, dramatic prophecy of an Indian upheaval that is yet to occur. 

My Own Work!

Mirror of Imperfection

A doorway to destruction

Woven by the masters of deception

We are seduced

Never to learn from our mistakes

Let our profits go to waste

In the pursuit of admiration, as we flirt with the enemy

Exaggeration is so plentiful

Reaching those with strong souls, frail hearts

Everywhere they keep the score

Of those who are broken

In the search for beauty, for grace

She stands in a room full of strangers

Afraid of looking into her mirror

It likes to lie to her

The illusion of false security

Toys with her mind in the shadows

Reincarnated with an airbrush,

Another’s teeth dazzle like a melting igloo

The love gone from her eyes,

She is converted to a piece of plastic

But looks fade, like all good things

And, hollow hearted, she falls out of style

Never seeming to know her worth,

Lost in her need for perfection,

Tainted by the blackened world.

This is a poem that I wrote the other day in school about advertisements. Let me know what you guys think in the comment section below! 

A Separate Peace

"I had always felt that the Devon School came into existence the day I entered it, was vibrantly real while I was a student there, and then blinked out like a candle the day I left."

Although it is generally known as a coming-of-age novel, I think that A Separate Peace is a lot more than what is on the surface. If you look beyond the unique friendship of Gene and Phineas that the novel revolves around, what you will find is a well designed and controlled piece of literature. Gene, the main character and narrator of the novel, is a good enough student and athlete, but his best friend Finny is special. Everyone is drawn to Finny for his energy and charm. Gene has a one-sided rivalry going on with Finny, and the outcome of that rivalry is devastating.

I wish that I could have sat down and talk to John Knowles about all of the questions that I have. Why did Gene push Phineas? How to Gene and Finny really feel about each other? Most importantly, what does the title mean? I would also have loved to talk to him about his school life at Yale, my dream school. It is amazing how clearly Gene's thoughts and motives can be understood. It shows accomplishment for an author, which was achieved through the first person narration. 

When I picked up A Separate Peace, I didn't know what to expect. Everyone that I know who has read it complained about having it for summer reading. I disagree. I find Knowles' writing both simple and powerful. His well-developed characters come as close to feeling real as such a short novel can allow. Knowles is careful not to reveal too much, which kept me reading all day until I reached the end. He focuses on the war within the human heart, a war that is affected by the events of World War II, but exists independently of any real armed conflict. For Knowles—or at least for his narrator, Gene—every human being goes to war at a certain point in life, when he or she realizes that the world is a fundamentally hostile place and that in it there is always an enemy. 

This novel, although heart breaking in the end, is hauntingly beautiful. It shows that trust and friendship take years to develop, but an instant to destroy.