“People leave imprints on our lives, shaping who we become in much the same way that a symbol is pressed into the page of a book to tell you who it comes from" (Lorenza).In the novel The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga, we follow the emails sent to the premier Wen Jiabao of China, from Balram Halwai. He explains to the premier his life as a successful entrepreneur in India and all the challenges he has faced to achieve that position. In the novel, it shows how our social identity affects how we face life and its problems. It is affected by what you think of yourself, what society tells you, and by how wealthy you are.
Our social identity is affected by what we think of ourselves. As a child, Balram used to excel at school and learn through his …show more content…
As a child, Balram wonders about his father, "Why had he raised me to live like an animal ...Why do all the poor live amid such filth, such ugliness” (Pg 89). Balram begins to understand his situation, and makes the best out of it. He is forced to work at a tea shop instead of going to school. He used his time at the tea shop in Laxmangarh to spy on every customer at every table, and overhear everything they said. This is how he educated himself, learning about opportunities he would never have gotten otherwise, such as his driving job. He used this skill his entire life, first at the tea shop, second at the Stork 's household, and lastly to start his business. He had figured out that all the people in Bangalore had outsourcing jobs, working at call centers until 3 in the morning. His company, White Tiger Drivers, became the best in the market. He did this using the money he acquired from Mr Ashok 's murder. He went to the police station and bribed the inspector to get rid of his competition. He knew that there were unlicensed taxi drivers in all the other businesses. For ten thousand rupees, he could have all the businesses shut down, making his service rank supreme. This ability to greatly influence decisions came with the wealth he had acquired, and had learned to do so from his corrupt masters. With the right amount of …show more content…
These aspects shape how Balram approaches his problems, how he and everyone around him is affected by society, with people having their caste/last name stamped onto their foreheads, impacting their life forever. Why the amount of money in your pocket drastically changes your chances of achieving anything, or going beyond what you are brought up to do. This story of Balram 's determination greatly depicts the effect that people have on your decisions, and your ability to
Our social identity is affected by what we think of ourselves. As a child, Balram used to excel at school and learn through his …show more content…
As a child, Balram wonders about his father, "Why had he raised me to live like an animal ...Why do all the poor live amid such filth, such ugliness” (Pg 89). Balram begins to understand his situation, and makes the best out of it. He is forced to work at a tea shop instead of going to school. He used his time at the tea shop in Laxmangarh to spy on every customer at every table, and overhear everything they said. This is how he educated himself, learning about opportunities he would never have gotten otherwise, such as his driving job. He used this skill his entire life, first at the tea shop, second at the Stork 's household, and lastly to start his business. He had figured out that all the people in Bangalore had outsourcing jobs, working at call centers until 3 in the morning. His company, White Tiger Drivers, became the best in the market. He did this using the money he acquired from Mr Ashok 's murder. He went to the police station and bribed the inspector to get rid of his competition. He knew that there were unlicensed taxi drivers in all the other businesses. For ten thousand rupees, he could have all the businesses shut down, making his service rank supreme. This ability to greatly influence decisions came with the wealth he had acquired, and had learned to do so from his corrupt masters. With the right amount of …show more content…
These aspects shape how Balram approaches his problems, how he and everyone around him is affected by society, with people having their caste/last name stamped onto their foreheads, impacting their life forever. Why the amount of money in your pocket drastically changes your chances of achieving anything, or going beyond what you are brought up to do. This story of Balram 's determination greatly depicts the effect that people have on your decisions, and your ability to