Tuesday, March 23, 2010
We are all animals?
The likability of Balram does not distract me from the problem of poverty but rather compels me to be more empathetic to the injustice inherent in a system that produces landowners and servants. Furthermore, seeing the choices that Balram is born into, to be a servant for the rest of his life and taking upon the humiliation the soul suffers, or physical labor that exhausts ones body and leads to an early death, all this to be able to survive for what? I am struck by the lack of freedom and the absence of the opportunity to enjoy life when one is stuck just working to live through humiliation and exhaustion. In The White Tiger the many comparisons of people to animals is significant not in that this war among men can be justified because we are all just "animals", but that men are driven to this primal state when surrounded by a society that allows some people to suffer through life and others to accumulate exorbitant amounts of wealth. The environment that Balram is surrounded with takes away the resistance of a soul that must face life or death and thus morals such as killing are compromised.
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I think the comparison to animals and how man turns to primal instincts like you talked about is a way to let people off the hook. If we say that a certain landlord is an animal because only animals would treat people in such horrible ways then we do not place the responsibility on the person. We simply delegate blame to animal instincts and let that despicable man continue his ways because he is not held responsible. I think it might be necesary, though,, because if we place balme directly on the person our focus gets directed toward these horrible people and the message that Balram is trying to convey to the prime minister is somewhat obscured through the issues of the landlord. The issue to focus on is Balrams journey to the top. So basically what I am getting at is that there are pros and cons to these animal comaparisons.
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