FASHIONING OF BALRAM HALWAI IN ARAVIND ADIGA’S THE WHITE TIGER
Aravind Adiga‟s The White Tiger circumvents the dichotomies between Light and Darkness, rich and poor, and landlords and servants. Adiga explores the psychological upbringing of the protagonist Balram Halwai in an explicit manner by writing in first person narrative. The novel flashes the spot light on Balram who is the White Tiger of the novel, a rare species in the jungle and is determined to jump out of the cage of Rooster Coop. Adiga brings forth the repressed intensions of the poor to be like the rich and he goes to an extreme extend by making his protagonist murder his own master.
A play of realizing selfhood different from the other comes into role as the protagonist keeps on comparing and contrasting himself with his master. The objective of this paper is to investigate the novel for evidences that answer the question of how the process of fashioning of Balram‟s character takes place in the novel that further leads to a construction of his identity.
FASHIONING OF BALRAM HALWAI IN ARAVIND ADIGA’S THE WHITE TIGER
Culture of a society in which that individual lives cultivates his/her thought and perception, fancies and imagination, and manner and attitude. It is perceived that one‟s identity is created and manipulated by the environment in which one lives.
India is two countries in one: an India of Light, and an India of Darkness.
Balram Halwai, Chapter 1
This perspective contradicts the autonomy, the subjectivity of an individual. It is opined that individual has the authority to self-fashion his/her identity free from the controlling forces of the world.
Indian society prevailing in the times of young Balram Halwai was infected with class-distinction and caste system. Culture of the society in the rural areas was divided between the zamindars and the workers. Certain hierarchies were framed or constructed on the basis of caste and then class. There were four landlords in Laxmangarh who formed the upper stratum of the society and thus called the authority. The Stork owned the river flowing near the village.
The Wild Boar owned the agricultural land around the village. The Raven owned the rocky hillside. The Buffalo owned the road sand the rickshaws. He was the greediest of all. The villagers have submitted themselves before these four lords who owned almost all the resources used by the villagers. There was a huge bridge gap between the rich and the poor. For a poor person, money and wealth act as the authority. But even if that poor has earned much money, still s/he is subjugated on the basis of his/her birth and family status. If father serves a particular family, his son too is going to serve it no matter how much he earns.
Balram Halwai also feels the same way that he is subjugated under the same authority. Like his family, he has too submitted himself to these landlords and their autonomy. This is why, at the end of the story to maintain his powerful position in the society, Balram takes up the name -
“Ashok Sharma, North Indian entrepreneur, settled in Bangalore” (Adiga 302).
He knows that a Halwai (sweet-maker) cannot rule as per the societal norms.
In the process of self-fashioning, Balram Halwai needs to discover the Other. For him, this Other is Mr. Ashok. The character of Mr. Ashok in the novel evolves with every other incident. According to Greenblatt, the Other is someone who threatens the identity of the Self. However, Mr. Ashok does not reflect these attributes in the very beginning of the novel.
As the novel commences, he is shown as a kind man and unlike his family members, he understands and respects Balram Halwai and his faith in religion. He is not represented as a threatening man. After Pinky Madam left, some sort of understanding was built between Balram and Mr. Ashok. But with the arrival of the Mongoose, “(this) intimacy was over between me (Balram) and Mr. Ashok.” (Adiga 187). Mr. Ashok goes on to an extent of drawing a concrete visible line between him and Balram when he says,
“But without family, a man is nothing. Absolutely nothing.I had nothing but this driver in front of me for five days. Now at last I have someone real by my side: you (the Mongoose).” (Adiga 188-189).
He challenges Balram‟s real being. For him, he does not exist in his real world. This is how Mr. Ashok threatens the Self– the protagonist of the novel. But, at the same time, because Mr. Ashok is his master, he becomes the authority for Balram who surrenders before him. In this way, he is not "the distorted image of the authority,‟ but the authority itself. Mr. Ashok is seen both as the authority and the Other by Balram.
As the protagonist of the novel discovers the Other, his next attempt in the process of self-fashioning is attacking the Other. Balram has submitted himself before his master Mr. Ashok. But as soon as he realizes that his identity is being threatened by his master‟s identity, he fears that he would remain a driver, a servant to his master for whole life. He has to bear and take all the ill-words and rebukes because he is born to serve the landlords owing to his and his family‟s so called „eternal‟ serfdom. Balram‟s father once mentioned,
“My whole life, I have been treated like a donkey,” and wanted that one of his sons “should live like a man.” (Adiga 30).
And, Balram, being the White Tiger, wants to get out of this vicious circle, and thus challenges the authority and the Other. He starts anticipating about
“What would be my destination, if I were to come here with a red bag in my hand?” (Adiga 247). This "red bag" becomes a symbol of his new-authority which is wealth and status of being rich and a businessman. For him, “My seven hundred thousand rupees”
“…was enough for a house. A motorbike. And a small shop. A new life.” (Adiga 280).
In the process of self-fashioning, it is seen that the Self changes the authority as well before which he wants to submit himself. The Self bows before a new-authority.
It is the law of nature, according to Balram, that the power keeps on hopping from one authority to the other. But in this process, the fashioned identity of Balram is not the same as it was earlier.
“The story of (his) upbringing is the story of how a half-baked fellow is produced.” (Adiga 11).
However, contemplating upon his transformation at the end of this "story", he has “changed from a hunted criminal into a social pillar of Bangalorean society.” (Adiga 292). Later, he turned into a "business entrepreneur" He has lost a major part of his Self and has now evolved into a new-Self that is more confident, powerful, and rich – the way Balram wanted and wished.
Now, he has attained a position in the higher stratum and protects himself from being cheated by his employees in the same manner as he did to his master. He confirms this by saying,
“I don‟t like showing weakness in front of my employees. I know what that leads to.” (Adiga 313).
All this communicates the impact of self-motivation that has led to such transformation. But, the role of external forces can never be overlooked. As it was the impact of these forces that crawled into Balram‟s mind, and thus changed or modified his "way of thinking and perceiving"
CONCLUSION
An individual is not an isolated being. S/he is considered to be an individual only by comparing and contrasting him/her with the society. When a person is determined to bring about change in him/her, s/he is liable to function in accordance with or against the prevailing norms, customs, and traditions. Cultural milieu of the society wherein a wide range of ideologies, perceptions, and differences based on varied factors like caste, class, economy, etc. function together to administer or inflict substantial impact on the people of the society and their further culture.
Adiga‟s character Balram Halwai is no exception. Balram says,
“I"m a man of action and change.” (Adiga 5)
However, his actions and change are brought about by a number of external factors. Not only are his actions fashioned in this process, but also his thoughts. Once he thought,
“I like eating your (Mr. Ashok’s) kind of food too.” (Adiga 239)
Thus, Greenblatt argues that self-fashioning is not just a fashioning of one by oneself but a collaborative fashioning of one‟s actions and thoughts by external factors. In this process of transformation, new-authority and new-Self come into existence and are the replacements for the authority and the Self. In addition to this, in some cases, the authority is the one who is the Other as well. Such cases become quite convoluted. Adiga has interwoven this complexity in a subtle and effortless way.
Works Cited
Rajput, Priya. "Fashioning of Balram Halwai in Arvind Adiga's The White Tiger." International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research 7.1 (2019): 138-141. PDF. 25 May 2021. <https://www.academia.edu/39607057/FASHIONING_OF_BALRAM_HALWAI_IN_ARAVIND_ADIGAS_THE_WHITE_TIGER>.
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