Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger: A Courageous Endeavour Exploring the Unheard Voices of the Marginalized

Abstract

Aravind Adiga, a great exponent of Indian writing in English, had successfully highlighted the marginalized and subaltern issue in his very first novel The White Tiger (2008). He has tried to bring home the idea that in the story of India’s progress, role of the underclass or marginalized is very important. Through the protagonist of the novel, Balram Halwai, Adiga has given a loud voice to the ignored and muffled voices of subalterns indicating that the unheard lower class of India now wish to get emancipation from the age-old traps of class and caste in Indian socio-economic fabric. Balram serves as the mouthpiece of the marginalized people who have never been allowed to speak. Through the story of Balram in the novel, Adiga offers a space to the marginalized people whose voice often gets silenced. He presents the struggle and the ultimate resistance of the underprivileged class through the character of Balram. In the portrayal of the character of Balram Halwai, Adiga lends voice to the ignored section of Indian population who are now globally struggling for their survival, their voicelessness and right to self-representation.
The large canvas of the novel discusses the plight of the marginalized and Balram’s voice becomes the voice of all the oppressed sections in society alarming that the voice of the underclass cannot be ignored for long.