Journal of African Development

Arvind Adiga is one of the most significant contemporary Indian English novelists. His debut novel The White Tiger brought him success as a writer within a very short period; which is very rare and phenomenal. His works often offer a critical portrayal of the socio-political realities of modern India. Adiga’s fiction raise social issues with the gloomy image of India which he painted with the darker shades of corruption, poverty, casteism, immorality, insensitivity, etc. His narratives move around the contradictions of India's economic progress, where prosperity for a few privileged often coexists with the deprivation and injustice for most of the people. Adiga's characters challenge the established power structures and reveal the moral and ethical dilemmas arising from social and political inequalities. Adiga’s protagonists can be seen as the major victims of such social vices which are delineated through their struggles and challenges while facing them. His works function as social commentaries, offering valuable insights into the realities of twenty-first-century India.

 The present paper explores a reflection of contemporary socio-political India through Adiga’s literary works The White Tiger, Between the Assassinations, Last Man in Tower and Selection Day with a view to understanding critically how caste, class, corruption and politics work together to sculpt Indian lives. This paper also analyzes these fictions to debunk the social structures and the evils within, and how they, altogether, affect the common masses