Identity, Society, Performativity: The Construction of Identity in Aravind Adiga’s the White Tiger

Abstract

Aravind Adiga’s debut novel, the White Tiger (2008) depicts the life of Barlam Halwai, a poor Indian village boy on his way to success. The novel, merging the issues of race and class in a unique way, offers new possibilities for investigation in the realms of identity and subjectivity in a postcolonial context. The present study, then, drawing on Judith Butler’s theory of performativity in its broad sense, examines the construction of subjectivities in this novel and attempts to depict the performative nature of the characters’ identities, especially, that of the protagonist of the novel, Balram Halwai. Thus, this paper, based on this theory of Butler and through the exploration of the subjectivities of the main characters of the novel, demonstrates how, rather than innate qualities, a sense of identity stems from a set of repeated acts regulated by the norms of society, which, in the case of this novel, is a postcolonial society. Furthermore, the paper depicts how, any failure of, or disruption in performative patterns in the lives of characters of the novel leads to the formation of new performative patterns, and therefore, opens a horizon for agency. Nonetheless, by exploring the main characters, the study asserts that agency is only achieved in uncontroversial aspects of identity.

Keywords

• The White Tiger
• Judith Butler
• Performativity
• Interpellation
• Subversion
• Agency