Vol. 2 No. 5 (2025)

Research Articles

“Rooster Coop” and “Jungle” : Democracy, and the Paradox of Freedom in The White Tiger

Published 2025-05-31

  • Wufeng Lei
    • ,
  • Shanshan Yang

Wufeng Lei
Northwest Univerisity, Xi’an, China

Shanshan Yang
Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea

Abstract

Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger critically exposes the contradictions of India’s postcolonial modernization through three key dimensions. The first, symbolized by the “Rooster Coop”, reveals how entrenched caste hierarchies undermine India’s democratic politics, turning elections into rituals that maintain systemic inequality. The second dimension examines the alienation of subaltern agency, illustrating how freedom is entangled with violence and moral ambiguity in a society governed by brutal “jungle laws”.The third centers on Balram’s self-narrative as a “half-baked” reflection of India’s fractured modernity, caught between feudal legacies and neoliberal aspirations. Through the protagonist’s fractured journey, Adiga exposes a deeper crisis in political modernity: when democratic institutions are transplanted without dismantling structural inequalities, democracy becomes a hollow formalism that legitimizes structural violence rather than emancipates. This critique transcends the Indian context, offering a cautionary message for all societies attempting democratization without addressing the foundational demands of justice and equality.

Keywords

The White Tiger, Caste, Democracy, Neoliberalism, Postcolonial Modernity, Subaltern Agency

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