Challenging Marginality: Strategies for Social Justice and Equality in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger

Abstract

Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger presents a radical narrative challenging marginalization in exposing the mechanisms that perpetuate subordination and inequality in modern India. Through the perspective of Balram Halwai, a lowercaste servant turned entrepreneur,
the novel critiques the persistent systems of caste, class, and economic disparity. This study examines the different strategies employed by the protagonist, Balram to confront his marginalized position, which involve subverting servitude, enhancing linguistic capabilities, and embracing entrepreneurial capitalism. Moreover, rather than aiming for social justice through institutional changes or collective efforts, Balram’s approach is intensely personal and also morally complex, leading to challenging the questions about the
implications of achieving upward mobility in a society marked by deep stratification. The examination asserts that Adiga’s novel challenges the conventional narratives of social justice by revealing that survival and self-determination for marginalized groups require radical — often violent—rebellious acts.