The White Tiger

This review was written as part of a portfolio and looks at the novel from a writer's perspective:

This novel won the Booker Prize in 2008, and is Aravind Adiga’s first book, telling the tale of a poor but intelligent young man and would-be entrepreneur as he tries to shake off the restrictions of his caste. The story’s strength is the unique voice of the protagonist as he relates his life as a servant via a series of letters ostensibly and somewhat impertinently addressed to the Premier of China as a preface to the leader’s upcoming tour of India.

This epistolic format allows the protagonist to break from a completely chronological narrative, interjecting acerbic commentary and semi-related anecdotes as they seem to occur to him. I feel the story is perhaps weakened by the choice to relate the events entirely in the past tense, as what could be considered the major twist in the plot is offhandedly given away quite early in the novel. Moments of peril during the story exist, but are somewhat neutered by the knowledge that the protagonist survives to tell his tale. While not every story has to have a twist ending, I felt slightly let down by the resolution to the story, and felt that it could have been more impactful or fulfilling if the story ended with a revelation of some kind about the protagonist’s circumstances being less satisfactory than he has previously let on, perhaps incarcerated in jail instead of having escaped.

I feel the delivery is therefore much stronger than the plot itself. Having a plot that does not overshadow the characters is perfectly acceptable, since the characters here are well formed and engaging to read about, as is the setting of the endemically corrupt underbelly of modern India.

As a writer I can take from this book the idea that a seemingly mundane series of events can be made into a story full of interest. A strong narrative voice that is imbued with character is much more important than a wild, outlandish and likely implausible plot.

Adapting this to a film, for example, would be an interesting project, as the switch from first person would make a dramatic difference to the story. One suspects the protagonist would appear to be a much less sympathetic figure from anyone else’s point of view. Narration in film is a very difficult element to successfully implement, yet  without his commentary on events the tale would lack one of its major strengths.

The decision to tell a story in a particular format is influenced by many factors, one of which is the nature of the key conflicts in the story. In this novel they are the internal struggle the protagonist experiences as he comes to the conclusion his masters are not his betters. Internal conflicts are much better suited to the page, and for this reason I feel adapting the novel into a film would not be a worthwhile exercise. It is already in the medium most suited to its attributes.