The White Tiger

Aravind Adiga's Booker Prize-winning novel "The White Tiger" tells the story of Balram Halwai, a poor Indian villager who uses his wit and determination to escape poverty and become a successful entrepreneur. The novel is written as a series of letters to the Chinese Premier, offering a darkly comic perspective on modern India.

Balram grows up in "the Darkness" - the rural poverty of Bihar - and eventually becomes a driver for a wealthy landlord family in Delhi. The novel exposes the vast gap between India's rich and poor, the corruption that pervades society, and the moral compromises necessary to rise in the social hierarchy.

The "white tiger" metaphor represents someone born once in a generation who breaks free from the cage of poverty and traditional expectations. Balram's journey is both inspiring and morally ambiguous, as he commits heinous acts to achieve his freedom and success.

Adiga explores themes of servitude, corruption, family obligation, and the costs of ambition in contemporary India. The novel provides a scathing critique of India's economic boom, showing how modernization has widened rather than closed the gap between classes.