PanThe Kenyon ReviewThe White Tiger displays such a mean-spirited voice and a brutal distortion of the lives of poor rural Indians that it makes its celebration puzzling … The White Tiger chooses Bihar, the poor state in eastern India—always maligned by reporters who rarely visit there to report on it—as emblematic of poverty and savagery. The fact that none of the characters are fully realized or sympathetic may be the sign of satire, but if so, it also suggests (and many reviewers seem to agree) that they stand for the real depravity of Biharis. Adiga’s labeling this place as ‘Darkness’ in contrast to Civilization (Bangalore) can’t possibly escape a comparison to Joseph Conrad. And sure enough Adiga’s description of village life follows from so many stereotypes found in colonial literature.
