Aspirations, Achieved or Snatched: Critical Analysis of The White Tiger and The Murder of Aziz Khan

Abstract

The paper aims to present a comparative analysis of Adiga’s The White Tiger (2008) and Ghose’s The Murder of Aziz Khan (1967) from the perspective of late capitalist aspirations and human defense mechanisms. This paper highlights the human efforts to fulfil the aspirations of two different societies ruled by corruption, social injustice, and class division that bring frustration and anxiety. Consequently, the drastic changes in cultured societies, human reactions, and state behaviours lead to the characters’ struggle, where they try to overcome their anxieties to save their ego and self-esteem through defense mechanisms to justify their reactions. The protagonist of The Murder of Aziz Khan rejects to adopt new changes and opportunities, while the protagonist of The White Tiger accepts all after mimicking his employer’s wrong deeds. Success cannot be justified as accurate when achieved after deforming something else. In this expedition of late capitalism, for one’s success, others have to suffer; that expands the social breaches between the haves and have notes. The paper reveals the harmful effects of late capitalist cultural transformation on human lifestyle.