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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Mood
Explanation and Analysis:
Darkly witty and irreverent, Balram’s story takes humorous aim at India’s social failings. The novel inhabits a space where pathetic tragedy becomes partly indistinguishable from comedy, filled with episodes in which expectations or appearances fall flat against underwhelming reality. Kishan and Balram carry their dying father over the constellation of “goat turds” scattered around the Great Socialist’s “HOLY” hospital. In a backstory almost as absurd as Catch-22’s Major Major Major, Balram explains that he earned his name from his booze-reeking, paan-chewing schoolteacher (he conveniently reaches his 18th birthday while voting).
This mix of anticlimax and bathos initiates the reader into a comically perverse world. Appearance and reality couldn’t stand further apart: public officials celebrate democratic ideals while siphoning funds and cutting side deals. Balram purchases dozens of idols and competes with Ram Persad in displays of daily piety. Pinky Madam and Ashok mistakenly believe Balram to be a “religious” man, which he exploits with devastating cleverness, pointing his finger to his eye each time they pass a tree or a temple. Behind the curtains, servants backstab each other and abuse their authority, while the rich curry favors with politicians. Balram unveils an impressive collection of swaggering officials, desperate peasants, and scheming servants made laughable through their vices, negligence, and pettiness.
The novel’s humor is not limited to its characters—Balram shamelessly hoists up the crude stereotypes of the Global South and makes light work of them. His obsession with shirts bearing large designs, chandeliers, blond prostitutes, and Singapore-shipped Macbooks trades on a blind worship of western privilege. He implicitly critiques the noveau-riche’s decadence and the cringe-worthy tackiness of a society that serves its powerful. The White Tiger elicits smirks at the flimsy myths and the crude truths that the powerful struggle to cover.
But Balram veers into deeper unease as the charade wears on. As he nurses a growing hatred for the Stork family, the story loses some of its comic appeal. The brokenness of this Indian society tightens its grip around him and the reader, and the slums and sewage acquire a newly oppressive quality. The novel is shot through with unnerving moments of violence—physically beaten voters, run-over children, murdered family members—that nudge the story beyond the realm of mere humor. At the peak of his angst, his narration experiments with the grotesque: motorcycle helmets resemble “severed heads,” and prostitutes crowd the buildings like caged parrots. Balram tells a comedy with cruelty, a joke that cannot go on for any longer.
Related Themes:
