The White Tiger

In Balram’s letter to Premier Wen Jiabao on the fifth night (of seven), he describes the metaphor of the Rooster Coop, representing the conflict between tradition and innovation, family and the individual. Like chickens in a coop, who outnumber those who kill and eat them, the novel frames the poor of India as unwilling to fight back due to collectivism and self-regulation. Balram recognizes the power of the metaphorical coop—its ties with Collectivism, Individualism, and the Search for Identity—and amidst signs of unrest, shares how he began his own escape.

This metaphor explains the almost sacrificial pull of family. From Ashok’s return to India and eventual romanticizing of village life to Kusum’s manipulation of Balram through emotional appeals to his filial piety, Balram believes the Indian family “is the reason we are trapped and tied to the coop” (150). Firstly, family functions as a kind of prison, denying personal choice. Balram has faced intense pushback from his family each time he’s pursued his own ambitions and desires. Secondly, the power of family gives employers leverage over their servants: “[O]nly a man who is prepared to see his family destroyed—hunted, beaten, and burned alive by the masters—can break out of the coop. That would take no normal human being, but a freak, a pervert of nature” (150). Calling himself a “social entrepreneur,” Balram claims to be such a person—who, like the elusive white tiger, can’t be caged. He begins to embrace his own identity, as his grandmother Kusum signed away his life (through a false confession) and life without his father seems empty.

As Balram pushes against familial bonds, Ashok embraces them. After Pinky Madam leaves India, Ashok begins to drink. He used to think “caste and religion didn’t matter any longer in today’s world” (158), but knows this isn’t true when his family is involved. He later admits to his brother, the Mongoose:

When you and Father tried to stop me from marrying Pinky because she wasn’t a Hindu I was furious with you, I don’t deny it. But without family, a man is nothing. Absolutely nothing. I had nothing but this driver in front of me for five nights. Now at last I have someone real by my side: you (160).

Dismissing Balram’s efforts and status as someone “real,” Ashok proves fickle in his care—further illustrating Socioeconomic Inequality in India. Family has failed Balram, and so have his employers. Ashok’s prioritization of family causes him to misinterpret Balram’s letter from his grandmother Kusum. While the Mongoose, familiar with collectivist customs, can read into Kusum’s motivations and manipulations, Ashok can only respond sentimentally, remarking that “Sometimes they express themselves so movingly, these villagers” (163)—missing that Kusum only wants money and a marriage from Balram. For Kusum, family is control.

Still, Ashok struggles to fully embrace familial bonds, as his family values wealth and influence, as do the politicians they bribe—which bothers him. A minister’s assistant espouses a cynical view of family and marriage, claiming that “Marriage is a good institution. Everything’s coming apart in this country” (182-83). While he sings the praises of familial bonds and marriage, he also chastises Ashok for being faithful, claiming this is why his marriage didn’t last. Convincing Ashok to sleep with a sex worker who resembles actor Kim Basinger, the assistant considers this interaction a part of business and adds the cost to Ashok’s next bribe. In other words, the assistant’s talk of family rings hollow—like Kusum and eventually Balram, he views relationships as a form of control. Only the appearance of filial piety and marital fidelity matters. Over the course of the novel, family becomes more and more tied to Corruption, Politics, and India, as family members and politicians worry about how their actions are viewed.