Caste discrimination in India as seen in Aravind Adiga`s The White Tiger.

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CASTE DISCRIMINATION IN INDIA AS SEEN

IN ARAVIND ADIGA’S THE WHITE TIGER

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements to Obtain theSarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

By

Stefani Ratna Kusuma Wardhani Student Number: 051214151

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDU CATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUA GE AND ARTS EDUCATIO N FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATI ON

SANATA DHARMA UNIVER SITY YOGYAKARTA

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I dedicate this thesis to my beloved parents and elderly brot her, and my dear friends who have given faith in me to make all things possible, hope in me to make all things work, and love that make all things beautiful. Without them, I could not have finished my thesis.

Faith makes all things possible, Hope makes all things work, Love makes all things beautiful. (Anonymous)

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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have wri tten, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in t he quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, November 7, 2009

The Writer

Stefani Ratna Kusuma Wardhani 051214151

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:

Nama : Stefani Ratna Kusuma Wardhani

Nomor Mahasiswa : 051214151

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

CASTE DISCRIMINATION IN INDIA AS SEEN IN ARAVIND ADIGA’S

THE WHITE TIGER

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama te tap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Yogyakarta, 7 November 2009 Yang menyatakan

vii ABSTRACT

Wardhani, Stefani Ratna Kusuma . (2009). Caste Discrimination in India as Seen in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.

This thesis discusses c aste discrimination portrayed in India as seen in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. The White Tiger is a very rich novel. This novel consists of seven letters which are written by Balram Halwai, the main character of The White Tiger. Balram Halwai is destined as a sweet maker as what his caste, Halwai, means. However, Balram is struggling hard to raise his power against strict and oppressive caste system in India.

The objective of this study is to reveal the representation of caste discrimination in India as portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai. In order to achieve the objective of the study, there was one problem stated in this study , which is: How is caste discrimination in India portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai, the main character of Aravind Adiga’sThe White Tiger?

This study employed library research. In this study, the primary data was a novel written by Aravind Adiga , The White Tiger. The secondary data were th e books and articles related to the theories and approach that was used in analyzing this study. The writer used socio-cultural approach to answer the problem.

The results of this study reveal caste discrimination in India , which is portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai. There are three caste discrimination areas that are portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai; education, occupation, and freedom. Caste discrimination in education causes Balram and other thousands people in the country unable to finish their school. There is also discrimination that cause s the lost of free foods, dusters, chairs, and uniforms in school. Caste discrimination in occupation is proven when Balram finds difficulty to get a job except in teashops because his society judges that he could only make a sweet. Whenever Balram applies for a job, he is always asked from what caste he is. Caste discrimination in freedom is revealed in some restrictions that caste system had. People from the lower caste, including Balram Halwai, are not allowed to go in public space, such as mall. Rickshaw -pullers are restricted to show up in certain streets that enable the foreigners to see them. There are two kinds of drinks in every drink store; they are Indian liquor for boys from village like Balram and English liquor for rich people. People from low castes are trap ped by people from high castes. The trap is called Rooster Coop. It is a metaphor of the oppressive caste system in India. People who are trapped in Rooster Coop would not get out from there easily. It happen s because the caste system create s such division of labour and does not give any freedom to break through it.

This novel can be used to broaden knowledge , especially on caste discrimination in India. Besides, this novel can also be used to teach Intensive Reading I for the students of English Language Education Study Program.

viii ABSTRAK

Wardhani, Stefani Ratna Kusuma. (2009). Caste Discrimination in India as

Seen in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger.Yogyakarta: Program Studi Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Pendidikan dan Ilmu Keguruan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Skripsi ini mengulas tentang diskriminasi kasta yang tercermin di India seperti yang terlihat dalam novel karya Aravind Adiga berjudul The White Tiger. The White Tiger merupakan sebuah novel yang sangat kaya akan nilai. Novel ini terdiri dari tujuh surat yang ditulis ole h Balram Halwai, karakter utama dalam novel The White Tiger. Balram Halwai ditakdirkan sebagai pembuat manisan seperti apa arti kastanya, Halwai. Namun, Balram berjuang keras untuk mengangkat kekuatannya melawan sistem kasta yang keras dan menindas di India.

Tujuan dari skripsi ini untuk mengungkapkan gambaran diskriminasi kasta di India yang tercermin melalui kehidupan Balram Halwai. Untuk mencapai tujuan tersebut, skripsi ini membahas satu permasalahan. Bagaimana diskrim inasi kasta di India yang tercermin melalui kehidupan Balram Halwai, karakter utama dalam novel Aravind Adiga berjudul The White Tiger?

Studi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka. D i dalam skripsi ini, sumber utamanya adalah novel karya Aravind Adiga berjudul The White Tiger. Sumber tambahannya adalah buku -buku dan artikel yang berhubungan dengan teori dan pendekatan yang digunakan dalam menganalisa studi ini. P enulis menggunakan pendekatan sosio-kultural untuk memecahkan permasalahan.

Hasil dari studi ini mengungkapkan diskriminasi kasta di India yang tercermin melalui kehidupan Balram Hal wai. Ada tiga area diskriminasi kasta yang tercermin melalui kehidupan Balram Halwai; pendidikan , pekerjaan, dan kebebasan. Diskriminasi kasta di pendidikan menyebabkan Balram dan ribuan orang lain di negaranya tidak dapat menyelesaikan sek olah. Terdapat juga tindak diskriminasi yang mengakibatkan hilangnya jatah makanan gratis, pembersih, kursi, dan seragam di sekolah. D iskriminasi kasta di pekerjaan terbukti ketika Balram mendapat kesulitan untuk mendapat pekerjaan kecuali di toko teh karena masyarakat sekitar menganggap bahwa Balram hanya mampu membuat manisan . Setiap Balram melamar pekerjaan, ia s elalu ditanya berasal dari kasta apa. Diskriminasi kasta di kebebasan mengungkapkan beberapa larangan yang dimiliki sistem kasta. Masyarakat kasta bawah, termasuk Balram Halwai, tidak diperbolehkan untuk memasuki tempat umum seperti mall. Penarik becak dil arang untuk memperlihatkan diri di beberapa jalan yang dapat dilihat turis asing. Terdapat dua jenis minuman di setiap toko minuman, minuman India untuk orang desa seperti Balram dan minuman Inggris untuk mereka yang kaya. Orang-orang yang berasal dari kasta rendah dijebak oleh orang -orang dari kasta tinggi. Jebakan ini disebut Rooster Coop. Rooster Coop adalah sebuah kiasan dari sistem kasta yang menindas di India. O rang yang terjebak dal am Rooster Coop tidak dapat keluar dengan mudah. Hal itu terjadi karena sistem kasta menghasilkan pembagian buruh dan tidak memberi mereka kebebasan untuk terlepas dari sana.

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Novel ini dapat digunakan untuk memperluas pengetahuan terutama mengenai diskriminasi kasta di India. S elain itu, novel ini dapat digunakan untuk mengajar Intensive Reading I untuk mahasiswa program studi ilmu Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank theAlmighty Lord Jesus Christ for His endless love and blessings in my life. All that happened in my life might only happen in His permission.

I am deeply indebted to my major sponsor, Mrs. Henny Herawati, S.Pd., M.Hum., for all her great patience, valuable times, encouragement, enlightenment feedback and guidance from the beginning to the accomplishment of this thesis. I would also thank to my guidance lecturer, Mrs. Laurentia Sumarni, S.Pd., for all her beneficial advices, encouragement, and care due to my study from the beginning until the accomplishment of my study. My gratit ude also goes to all my lecturers in English Language Education Study Program for their help during my study. Next, I would like to thank the secretariat of English Education Study Program, mbak Danik and mbak Tari who have help me a lot with the administration stuffs.

I mostly thank my beloved parents, Bapak R.Fl Agus Wahyudi and Ibu F. Hertin Niken Sukestirin, my elderly brother, Mas R.Fx Satria Kusuma Aji for their greatest support, love, affection, prayer that they have poured me during these many years. I would also thank my late Eyang Putri, who I believe has rested in peace in heaven. Neither any of spoken nor written words could ever describe how much they really mean to my life.

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My gratitude also goes especi ally for Panjerino Setiaji and family, for their loving, affection, support, and prayer in these past four years. It is a blessing to have a second family like them.

I also send big thanks to my great friends of Pillar:Eska, Nancy, Novi, Tari, Galuh, and Taufik for their advices, supports, inspirations, affections, and prayers through my good and bad condition. I would also thank my thesis consultation friends: Verdi, Anis, mbak Arina, and mbak Tutik for their beneficial helps during my hard time in accom plishing my thesis. I would not forget to thank all my friends in PBI 2005 especially my classmates for all tremendous moments, laughter, teamwork, and friendship we shared during our study. Special thanks go toPatrice who helps me a lot in grammar and la nguage.

I thank my best friends of Senior High School: Sekar, Nita, Shery, Putri, and Rita for their support and unforgettable moments that have strengthen our friendship though we are separated in miles.

My special thanks go to Secondhand Serenade, for their two albums always accompany me during typing my thesis. “Thank you very much friends, you make such great albums that keep meawake during typing this thesis”.

Finally, I sincerely thank all the people whom I cannot mention one by one and who have given me a hand during writing this thesis.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE………. APPROVAL PAGES………. DEDICATION PAGE ………. STATEMENT OF WORK'S ORIGINALITY ………

ABSTRACT……… ………..

ABSTRAK………...

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……….

TABLE OF CONTENTS……… LIST OF APPENDICES………...

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION………..

A. Background of the Study ………...

B. Problem Formulation ………

C. Objective of the Study ……….. D. Benefits of the Study ……… ………....

E. Definitions of Terms ………

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE……….. A. Review of Related Theories ………..

1. Critical Approaches ………... 2. Discrimination ...…………... B. Review on Socio-Cultural Background ... 1.Caste System in India ………... a. Caste in India as Organizational Structure among the Hindus …….. b. Caste and Education ………... c. Caste and Occupation ………... d. Caste and Daily Life in India ………... C. Theoretical Framework ………...

Page i ii iv v vii viii x xii xiv 1 1 3 4 4 5 7 7 7 9 10 10 11 12 13 15 17

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY………..

A. Object of the Study ………...

B. Approach of the Study ………..

C. Method of the Study ……….

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS …………... A. Caste Discrimination in Education ………... B. Caste Discrimination in Occupation ………...….. C. Caste Discrimination in Freedom ………...

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ………..

A. Conclusions ………..

B. Suggestions ………..

1. Suggestion for Future Researchers ………. 2. Suggestion for the Implementation of Teaching English Using the

Novel...

REFERENCES ………. APPENDICES ……….. APPENDIX 1 ……… APPENDIX 2 ……… APPENDIX 3 ………

18 18 19 20 22 22 26 31 39 39 41 41 41 44 46 47 50 53

xiv LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 Summary …………... .. APPENDIX 2 Biography…………...………. APPENDIX 3 The Implementation of Teaching Intensive Reading I

Page 47 50 53

1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

The first chapter is introduction. It consists of five major parts namely background of the study, problem formulation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. Background of the study describes briefly some crucial information and reasons about the subject matter. Problem formulation presents the problem to be analyzed and is formulated in the form of question . The third one, objectives of the study, is a part t o state the purpose of the study undertaken in relation to the research question. The next part is benefits of the study, which describes the benefits from the study for the related parties. The last part, definition of terms, is the part in which the cruc ial terms are explained.

A. Background of the Study

In Glossary of Literary Terms , Abrams defines novel as a literary work that reflects the reality of human life by presenting complex characters with their motives based on their social class and their inte raction with other characters (120). It can be said that novel is the reflection of human life that represents one’s life experience based on a particular social phenomenon. In The White Tiger, Adiga tries to reflect the real life in India through Balram’s life. Many westerners believe caste system is a matter from the past because India is officially a democracy country and the Indian constitution of 1950 banned caste

discrimination. However, in many aspects of Indian society, it is alive and manifested in daily life.

Aravind Adiga is the third Indian citizen who won the Man Booker Prize. He won the Man Booker Prize on October 14, 2008. The White Tiger is his debut novel. Aravind Adiga was born in India in 1974 and raised partly in Australia. He is a former correspondent for Time magazine. He has also been worked in the Financial Times. A first draft of The White Tiger was written in 2005 then put aside until December 2006 Adiga opened the draft and began rewriting it entirely. By early January 2007, he fini shed the novel.

The White Tiger is a debut novel by Aravind Adiga that surprised the world by its criticism toward the reality of life in India. In this novel, the main character, Balram Halwai writes seven letters to Jiabao, the Chinese premier. Through the letters, Balram uncovers his life journey from his childhood time until finally he becomes an entrepreneur. His youth life was spent in poverty, unfinished his school, until he saw his father’s powerless death in a hospital without any aid, died because of Tuberculosis. Balram’s life starts to change when he becomes a servant for Mr. Ashok, a son of the Landlord. Working with Mr. Ashok, Balram’s life is getting better and better. Even with his eavesdropping skill, he sharpens his knowledge about the re al world in India. His turning point of life occurred when he murders his own employer, Mr. Ashok. After murdering his employer, with the knowledge that he gets from eavesdropping, Balram begins to raise his power against his caste. Balram’s caste is Halwai. Halwai means sweet-maker.

I am interested in analysing Adiga’s novel, The White Tiger, because of some reasons. Firstly, I was interested when I read the title for the first time, The White Tiger. I know that a white tiger is the rarest animal in any jungle. It is a creature that comes along only once in a generation. Moreover, white tiger is also known as the Royal Bengal or Indian tiger. From this interesting title, I became curious to read this novel and to know what this novel is actually about.

Secondly, after reading the novel, I was interested in Balram Halwai’s life especially with his journey of life because he is a Halwai. Halwai is his caste and his caste influences his life a lot. Moreover, I wanted to know how caste discrimination in India is portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai.

This novel is very rich of many values. It tells about the culture in India, the politics, and even the economic issues in India. There are many things that can be analyzed in this novel, but in this study I would like to focus my analysis on the caste discrimination in India which is portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai.

Based on the life of the main character of The White Tiger, Balram Halwai, this analysis is used to see his life as Aravind Adiga’s criticism toward Indian society which still strictly applies caste system and discrimination.

B. Problem Formulation

To keep the analysis on track, the writer formulated the question below based on the background mentioned above.

How is caste discrimination in India portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai, the main character of Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger?

C. Objective of the Study

Looking back at the problem formulated above, the aim of this study is to reveal the representation of caste dis crimination in India as portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai. Balram Halwai is the main character of Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger.

D. Benefits of the Study

The work is expected to be beneficial for: 1. Readers

The study may give the readers an obviou s illustration that caste discrimination still happens even in modern India life. It also gives the readers a great life effort example through Balram Halwai’s life who is struggling hard to raise his power against the strict caste system in India.

2. Students of English Language Education

The study may give the students a new point of view about caste discrimination, especially caste discrimination in India which is seen through Balram Halwai’s life. Moreover, this novel gives a lot of cultural values of India.

This study may show that through reading novel, there are so many advantages that one may get.

3. Lecturers

As this study deals with caste discrimination in India which is portrayed through Balram Halwai’s life, the writer believed that this novel can be used to teach Intensive Reading, Extensive Reading, Cross Cultural Understanding, Prose 2, or Book Report. Not only helping students to learn in an interesting way, this novel can also help students to develop their mastery on vocabulary and reading skills. On the other hand, this novel gives students the knowledge of culture, customs, values, and tradition of caste in India.

E. Definition of Terms

There are several points of terms that are used in this study that the writer would like to define first before analyzing the novel deeper. The terms are:

1. Caste

English caste is from Latin castus "pure, cut off, segregated", the participle of carere "to cut off" (whence also castration). Castes are hereditary systems of occupation, endogamy, social culture, social class, and political power, the assignment of individuals to places in the social hierarchy is determined by social group and cultural heritage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste ). There are four castes or varnas; Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. Balram's last name, Halwai, means sweet maker. He is a member of the s weet maker Jati, within the Shudras caste.

2. Discrimination

In Webster New Twentieth Century Dictionary Second Edition , discrimination is stated as the act of distinguishing; the act of making or observing a difference (522). It can be concluded that discrim ination refers to the activity of making or perceiving distinctions. While Fairchild in Dictionary of Sociology and Related Sciences assumes that discrimination is unequal treatment of groups of basically equal status. Discrimination carries with the eleme nt of unfair, unreasonable, and arbitrary distinctions in the impositions of burdens and the distribution of flavours (280). In this study, caste discrimination refers to the act of distinguishing or making difference by hereditary systems of social culture. 3. Freedom

In Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary Unabridged Second Edition, the word freedom is defined as a being able to act, move, use without hindrance or restraint (730). I t can be concluded that freedom refers to the ability to act, move, or use freely. While Fairchild states freedom as ability to act in accordance with one’s own inner motivation (124). In this study, freedom refers to the ability to act with one’s own motivation without any restriction.

7 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LI TERATURE

This chapter consists of review of related theories, review on socio -cultural background, and theoretical framework. The review of related theories covers the theory of approach es and discrimination. The review on socio -cultural background covers the caste system in India. Theoretical framework consists of some explanations on how the theories stated in the review of the related theories and socio-cultural background are employed to answer the question on problem formulation.

A. Review of Related Theories 1. Critical of Approaches

A critical approach to literature necessitates an understanding of its nature, function, and positive values. One must know what literature is, how to r ead it, and how to judge it. According to Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature, there are five critical approaches that can be used in reading literature. They are formalist approach, biographical approach, sociocultural -historical approach, mythopoeic approach, and psychological approach (3 -15).

The formalist approach is an approach concentrated on the total integrity of the literary works. The involvement of each aesthetic part to the whole is seen

as a harmony to complete the work . The technique and structure used in the story are reference to the understanding of the piece of work.

The biographical approach is used when a critic intends to judge literary works based on the importance of acknowledging the author’s personal life for a deep understanding to his writing. The proponents of this approach believe that the works of literature has its source within the biography of its writer. Furthermore, the biographical itself supplies useful information that could facilitate critic to a better understanding and appreciation of the works.

The sociocultural-historical approach examines a literary work by viewing the socio cultural condition and historical background when the work is created. The proponents of this approach assert the analy sis of social, cultural, and historical background as reference to further understanding of the story.

The mythopoeic approach is used when a critic attempts to find particular recurrent patterns of human thought, which are considered sharing the same universal belief to certain community mind. Therefore, the mystical relationship found in a story can be explained by the use of this approach.

The psychological approach involves theories of psychology to explain the character’s personality in the story. The proponents of this approach insist that each character’s behaviour could refer to the psychology of human being. Using this approach, the character’s thought and behaviour can be traced more profoundly.

The five approaches described above have their value s and their own point of view side. For the authors, it seems that there is no single approach in serve for

every piece of literature. However, each one has its properties to give and it is part of the task of the critic and reader of literature to find th e approach or approaches that will best lead to an appreciation of a particular work of literature.

In conducting the analysis, the writer decided to use socio -cultural approach. According to Wellek and Warren in Theory of Literature, literature represents life; and life is, in large measure, a social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary imitation (94). Furthermore, Wellek and Warren said that much of the most common a pproach to the relations of literature and society is the study of works of literature as social documents, as assumed pictures of social reality (102).

2. Discrimination

According to Human Arrangements: An Introduction to Sociology, discrimination refers to unequal treatment of people based on stereotyped beliefs about them (362). Furthermore according to Deborah A. Prentice and Dale T. Miller in Cultural Divides: Understanding and Overcoming Group Conflict , perhaps the most troubling for social identity perspective on status and power is the research suggesting that the two constructs have very distinctive effects. Although both group power and group status have been shown to enhance various manifestations of in-group favouritism, they appear to do so in different ways. Two results from the research provide evidence for this contention.

First, although increased status may in fact lead to improve in -group favouritism, it appears that power is what makes discrimination possible in the first place. Second, it appears that status and power affect different group -relevant variables: status differential explains most of the variance in in -group identification and intergroup perceptions, while power differential explains most of the variance in actual discriminat ion. Thus, while consideration of the status differential in the social identity tradition may help to explain certain patterns of beliefs about groups, a complete understanding of the actual oppressive behaviour is underlying group-based systems of hierar chy also requires us to more thoroughly examine the role of power in intergroup relations (111).

Ravi Nair, who heads the South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre in New Delhi, calls India's caste system racist. Nair is also a veteran of human rights activist,

"Quite clearly, caste is a form of racist behaviour, because, like racism, this is an issue dominance by one group against another," argues Mr. Nair. "Secondly, if I was born into a Dalit community - irrespective of whatever vertical mobility that I had because of my class background - I would still not be able to change my caste hierarchy in the social pecking order, and because of that, it definitely is racist behaviour in the terms of how one community has dominance over another."

B. Review on Socio-Cultural Background 1. Caste System in India

This study uses a novel, The White Tiger, as the subject matter. The White Tiger itself is a novel that takes place in India. According to Gokhale, in describing the characteristics of Indian society, we could not deny the existence of

caste system in India. It is caste that distinguishes Indian society from its counterparts everywhere (117).

According to Encyclopedia Americana International Edition: Volume 5 (117), the word caste derives from the Portugue secasta, meaning “breed”, “race”, or “kind”, and was first used to denote the Hindu social classification on the India subcontinent. Caste itself is largely static, exclusive social class, membership in which it is determined by birth and involves particu lar customary restrictions and privileges.

a. Caste in India as Organizational Structure Among the Hindus

According to some estimation, there are more than 3,000 castes in the Indian subcontinent, greatly varying in size from a few score members to million s. According to Encyclopedia Americana International Edition: Volume 5 , originally there were only four classifications, which derived from Hindu prescriptions, known asvarnas (meaning “colour” in Sanskrit). The first reference to the varnas is found in Rig Veda, one of the oldest Indian classics, dating from about 3,000 BC. According to Rig Veda, society is composed of five hierarchical divisions. The first four of the varnas are the Brahmans, or priests or scholars; the Kshatriyas, or warriors and rule rs; the Vaishyas, or merchants, artisans, and husbandmen; and the Sudras, or servants and slaves. The fifth division is composed of the outvarnas, or untouchables. The social status of an individual is determined by his caste (775). There is no evidence th at the caste system as a whole has lost its grip on Indian society.

As cited in Caste in India: Its Nature, Function, and Origins , Hocart A. M shows his opinion about varna.

Certain colours are associated with the four varna -white with the Brahman, red with the Kshatriya, yellow with the Vaishya and black with the Sudra; varna, as has been stated, means colour. It is possible that this colour distinction is in some way associated with race, as one is reminded of the ancient Egyptian convention which show ed Egyptian red, Asiatic yellow, Northerners white and negroes black (66).

According to Cultural Anthropology: Seventh Edition , caste is a matter of religious conviction in India that all people are not spiritually equal and that the gods have established a hierarchy of groups (200). While according to Robert W Stern in Changing India Bourgeois Revolution on the Subcontinent, in the ideology of varna dharma all men are created unequal; that they are endowed by their creator with unequal capacities in order to perform functions of unequal importance to Him. Their positions in His hierarchy are in accord with their functions. For example, vaishyas are the best generators of wealth because they are naturally acquisitive. Shudras are the best servants because t hey are naturally servile (56).

b. Caste and Education

According to Lamb, many Indian authorities are even more concerned with the problem of education quality in India (175). Furthermore, he says that first; there is what might be called the technical a spects. On the whole, although there are notable exceptions, the teaching is not good, and the textbooks and

educational materials are inadequate in quality as well as quantity. Hence, Lamb says that,

The peasants had no desire to have their children educ ated. Village children were needed to tend cattle and do other work in the fields. If they spent a year or two in school, they later forgot what they have learned because they had no occasion to use it. By the end of the century, three out of four villages were still without schools, and only one -fifth of the boys and a still smaller percentage of the girls of primary -school age were in school (180).

Lamb also says that when the British first came to India, their main contacts were with Brahmans, who, with a few other upper castes, were the first to profit by British education (143).

According to Human Rights Watch in a report for the United Nations World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, such as high drop -out and lower literacy rates among lower caste populations have rather simplistically been characterized as the natural consequences of poverty and underdevelopment. Though these rates are partly attributable to the need for low -caste children to suppleme nt their family wages through labour, more insidious and less well -documented is the discriminatory and abusive treatment faced by low -caste children who attempt to attend school, at the hands of their teachers and fellow students (17).

c. Caste and Occupation

According to Harris and Johnson, each caste and sub caste has a hereditary occupation that guarantees its members basic subsistence and job security. Furthermore, according to Hindu scripture, an individual’s varna is determined by

a descent rule; that is, it corresponds to the varna of one’s parents and is unalterable during one’s lifetime (201).

In book of Caste in India: Its Nature, Function, and Origins which is written by Hutton, Risley goes on to add that caste name is generally associated with a specific occupation (47). Thus, Lamb describes the relationship between castes and occupation in India.

Theoretically, at least, each caste in India has a hereditary occupation. There are castes of washer men, gardeners, goldsmiths, moneylenders, potters, oil-pressers, mat-makers, leatherworkers, water -bearers, carpenters, accountants, genealogists, barbers, tailors -the list is almost endless. Although there are also a number of large and important peasant castes, agriculture is an occupation supposedly open to all-as is service in the government or the army.

The hereditary caste occupation is not necessarily followed by all the members of the caste or even by the majority of the members. Various present-day forces tend to undermine the old caste occupati onal patterns. Even so, at least certain castes have a monopoly or a near -monopoly on their traditional occupations (141).

In addition, Hutton describes Halwai as a caste of confectioners in northern India generally (282).

Furthermore, Hutton explains a bout the disadvantage of caste system in economic and freedom.

It is a possible further disadvantage of the caste system economically that it probably discourages organization from above by the entrepreneur, no less than it forestalls ambition on the part of workman. Durkheim has suggested that the function of the division of labour is to give the individual more freedom by substituting an organic for a rigidly mechanical economy, but the organic structure created by the caste system would seem to have pr ovided for the division of labour on a plan ingeniously calculated to avoid giving just that freedom; for occupation is determined by status instead of contract, and transition from status to contract, which Sir Henry Maine regarded as an essential feature of political progress, is nullified and frustrated (124).

Caste system in India has disadvantage economically. As Durkheim suggests that the function of the division of labour is to give the individual more freedom. However, caste system seems to avoid giving the freedom since the occupation is determined by status instead of contract.

d. Caste and Daily Life in India

Lamb says that castes have elaborate restrictions on diet and on social intercourse. Some castes will eat meat such as mutton, goat, or ch icken; others will eat fish but not meat. Some will not eat meat or fish but will eat eggs; others will not even eat eggs (138). According to Hitchcock, Rajputs of north India, they may hunt game, eat meat, drink liquor, and eat opium (139). Hence, Hutton explained that Rajput is an aristocratic caste, widespread in western, northern, and central India, whose traditional functions are fighting and ruling. They represent the ancient Kshatriya varna, and rank next to the Brahmans socially (293).

Hence, Lamb discussed the caste system challenged in India,

There are three points about caste today that should be emphasized. First, India is officially trying to create social equality, while deep -seated habits of mind work against it. Second, competition for improv ed status seems to be on the increase. Although much of this competition takes on the form of intercaste rivalries, some possibility exists for the individual to rise above his caste, to move into a new class if he can secure a good job. For this, higher education is essential (151).

Lamb said that at the bottom of the social ladder is a group of castes officially known as the “scheduled castes”. Thus it is by this title that they usually refer to official documents of modern India. These lowest, most dep ressed castes are the outcastes or untouchables. They have suffered from a number of civil and

religious disabilities, which have now been prohibited by law but have not entirely vanished in practice. Traditionally, they were not allowed to enter temples, pass through certain streets, enter certain parts of the villages, or drink water from the common village well used by other Hindus. In various areas, they were forbidden to carry umbrellas, wear shoes, milk cows, keep domestic animals, or use ornaments (144).

Lamb explained, in a sweeping declaration, the Indian Constitution of 1950 abolished untouchability and forbade its practice in any form (Article 17). It also prohibited an inclusive list of specific discriminations: the denial of access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, and places of public entertainment; denial of the use of wells, roads, religious bathing places, and “other places of public resort” (Article 15). And it forbade the exclusion of the untouchables from educational institutions maintained by the state or receiving state aid (Article 29). An Untouchability Offenses Act passed in 1955 provides penalties for discrimination (146).

According to Harris, India’s legal system today discourages discrimination based on caste identity. Yet, caste still plays an important part in people’s everyday lives. Hindu religion continues to have powerful sanctions against those who violate caste prescriptions (202). It is, rather, that India has an extraordinary profusion of such groups. Nonetheless, the caste system of India is fundamentally similar to the systems of other countries that have closed classes and numerous ethnic and racial minorities.

C. Theoretical Framework

Literature may become the portrait of society life. It may help people to see the reality of life occurs in one place. People become aware of the cultural values, ideology and social rules that live together in a society.

In this study, the writer tries to reveal the caste discrimination in India which is portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai, the main character of The White Tiger. Here, the theory of approaches, theory of discrimination, and caste system in India are used.

The writer uses the theory of discrimination to reveal the social condition which is called discriminatio n. Furthermore, the writer decides to use socio -cultural approach as the best approach in analyzing the caste discrimination in India which is portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai, the main character of Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. The review on socio-cultural background is useful to support the analysis about caste discrimination in India using socio -cultural approach. The socio --cultural approach reveals the condition of life society in India, the caste system in India that lives within the soci ety in India. Hence, with the addition of discrimination theory, the analysis reveals the caste discrimination that occurs as seen in Balram Halwai, the main character of Aravind Adiga’sThe White Tiger.

Using those theories, the writer becomes able to ana lyze the caste discrimination in India which is portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai, the main character of The White Tiger.

18 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the methodology used in this study. This chapter is divided into three major parts of discussion. The first part, object of the study, describes the novel to be studied along with its physical description. The second part, approach of the study, presents the approach employed in the analysis, its description, the reasons for its selection, and the procedure taken in its application. The last part, method of the study, describes the steps taken in analyzing the work from reading up to reporting the findings.

A. Object of the Study

The study has the main source namely The White Tiger, which was first published in New York by Free Press in April 22, 2008 and in other places such as London, Toronto, and Sydney. The writer uses the edition which was published by Free Press in 2008. The novel consists of 288 pages, including some revie ws for The White Tiger. It received the Man Booker Prize 2008.

The White Tiger tells about the journey of life of Balram Halwai. The novel consists of seven letters written by Balram Halwai and dedicated to Mr. Jiabao, the Chinese premier. Balram Halwai is a low level caste person. His caste is Halwai. Halwai means sweet maker. After his father’s death, Balram tries to change his life by working as a servant for Mr. Ashok. Working for Mr. Ashok

influences Balram’ life a lot; he gets better life, more knowledge about the real condition in India, and also the virtue to change his life becomes a man who gets power. Balram, who is a low level caste person, is able to change his life which is categorized unbelievably happened. As a low level caste person, Balra m Halwai succeeds to raise his power against the oppressive caste system in India.

The White Tiger is a novel which is rich of cultural values. Moreover, this novel also portrayed the real condition of life including the caste discrimination which still happens in modern India life.

B. Approach of the Study

This study uses socio-cultural approach. The writer considers that this approach is suitable because The White Tiger is a novel that has rich culture values. The culture in which a literary work was made takes an important role and the work was a product of a reflection of and a commentary on social realities that took place in a society. The socio -cultural approach puts literary work as a product of and a reflection of a civilization. Moreover according to Wellek and Warren, literary works can play its role as documents that record social realities which are artistically portrayed by the author (102).

The White Tiger is a novel that takes place in India. The novel is very rich of cultural values that it influences people’s daily life in India. Through socio -cultural approach, the writer gathered some information about the caste system in India and the discrimination that happene d among Indian people. From the

information gathered, the writer became able to analyse the caste discrimination in India from Balram Halwai’s life in The White Tiger using socio-cultural approach.

C. Method of the Study

The main source of the study is a novel written by Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger. Library research is used here to gather the data in order to support the analysis process.

In this study, the primary data is The White Tiger, a novel written by Aravind Adiga. The secondary data are the books and articles related to the theories and the approach used in analyzing this study.

Several steps were taken by the writer in analyzing this study. The first step was comprehensively reading the novel, The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga. After reading the novel, the writer was able to find out the main idea of the novel and analyzed the points that can be explored in the study. The point that the writer would analyze is summarized as the title of the study and research question.

The third step was gathering some information which is related to the author, Aravind Adiga, about the novel, The White Tiger, and about the caste system in India by using socio -cultural approach. The writer got much information and references from books, internet, and encyclopedia. All information and references above were secondary sources.

The fourth step was conducting the analysis by using socio -cultural approach in revealing caste discrimination in India as seen in Balram Halwai’s life in The White Tiger, a novel written by Aravind Adiga. The next step was reporting the findings as well as th e recommendations for further research on the topic. The writer also provided suggestions on how to apply the given work of literature for teaching English.

22 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

In this chapter, the writer divides the analysis into three main parts. The writer divides the analysis to make clearer the areas of caste discrimination in India through Balram Halwai’s life and make it easier to organize. They are caste discrimination in education, caste discrimination in occupation, and caste discrimination in freedom.

A. Caste Discrimination in Education

Education is one of the important aspects of life in every country. Balram Halwai, who lives in India, shares his story of schooling in India. Balram Halwai does not complete his school in his school age. “In terms of formal education, I may be somewhat lacking. I never finished school, to put it bluntly. Who cares! I haven’t read many books, but I’ve read all the ones that count” (4). It is clear that Balram does not have a good formal education; furthermore he said that he never finished school. Never finishing school, in fact, does not only happen to Balram Halwai.

Me, and thousands of others in this country like me, are half -baked, because we were never allowed to complete our schooling. Open our skulls, look in with a penlight, and you’ll find an odd museum of ideas: sentences of history or mathematics remembered from school textbooks (no boy remembers his schooling like one who was taken out of school, let me assure you), sentences about pol itics read in a newspaper while waiting for someone to come to an office… (8).

The condition which Balram experiences is almost the same as what stated by Human Rights Watch. It stated that “Such as high drop-out and lower literacy rates among lower caste populations have rather simplistically been characterized as the natural consequences of poverty and underdevelopment” (17). Not only Balram Halwai who does not finish his school, but also thousands of others in India. Balram and the other thousands come from low caste as they are only village boys. As Balram describes “If the Indian village is a paradise, then the school is a paradise within a paradise” (28). Furthermore, Lamb said “By the end of the century, three out of four villages were still withou t schools, and only one -fifth of the boys and a still smaller percentage of the girls of primary -school age were in school” (180).

Balram and the other thousands do not complete their school, but not those who come from high caste. Lamb said “When the British first came to India, their main contacts were with Brahmans, who, with a few other upper castes, were the first to profit by British education” (143). It shows that for people who come from low caste, it is very difficult for them to go to school, but it does not happen to those who come from the high caste. As they get good education from British education since the British came to India.

Balram Halwai does not finish his school, but he has an experience of going to school. School is something that i s very special in his childhood time, yet it is not as good as people think.

There was supposed to be free food at my school -a government program gave every boy three rotis, yellow daal, and pickles at lunchtime. But we never ever sawrotis, or yellow daal, or pickles, and everyone knew why: the school teacher had stolen our lunch money.

The teacher had a legitimate excuse to steal the money -he said he hadn’t been paid his salary in six months (28).

Furthermore, it is not only free food which is missing in Balram Halwai’s school. There are also few other things which are missing such as dusters, chairs, and even uniforms. “There is no duster in this class; there are no chairs; there are no uniforms for the boys. How much money have you stolen from the sc hool funds …” (29). The school condition shows that corruption appears and it is done by those who are in higher caste (the teacher).

There are many things that are missing from the school, such as free food, duster, chair, and even uniforms when Balram in school. The condition is proven as Lamb described the problem of quality in India education as “First, there is what might be called the technical aspects. On the whole, although there are notable exceptions, the teaching is not good, and the textbooks and educational materials are inadequate in quality as well as quantity” (175). Thus, as Human Rights Watch said,

Though these rates are partly attributable to the need for low -caste children to supplement their family wages through labour, more insidious and less well-documented is the discriminatory and abusive treatment faced by low-caste children who attempt to attend school, at the hands of their teachers and fellow students (17).

It shows that low caste children who attempt to attend school are documented to have discriminatory and abusive treatment from teachers and fellow students. It is proven that the teachers stole the school funds that are supposed to be used for free food, chair, and uniform.

Balram Halwai is a smart student at his school. T here is a time when the school inspector comes to Balram Halwai’s school and the teacher introduces

Balram as a smart student to be questioned. “Try Balram, sir,” the teacher said. “He’s the smartest of the lot. He reads well” (29). Giving good answer and being praised by the school inspector, Balram Halwai is given a name White Tiger and a scholarship. “Before he left, the inspector said, “I’ll write to Patna asking them to send you a scholarship. You need to go to a real school -somewhere far away from here. You need a real uniform and a real education” (30).

Balram Halwai lives in Laxmangarh, a village in which school is a paradise within a paradise. “Now, being praised by the school inspector in front of my teacher and fellow students, being called a “ White Tiger”, being given a book, and being promised a scholarship; all this constituted good news, and the one infallible of life in the Darkness is that good news becomes bad news -and soon” (30). Balram realizes that there is a kind of impossibility to h ave such a good education or even good news in Laxmangarh that sooner or later will turn to be opposite. It means that it is impossible to have good news in Laxmangarh, because sooner or later the good news will change into the bad ones. Although Balram is told that he will get a scholarship, he knows that it will not happen.

Balram Halwai’s cousin-sister is going to marry a boy in the next village. It is a tradition in India that the bride side should give the bride groom dowry for the wedding. Therefore, Balram Halwai’s cousin-sister gives the boy a new bicycle, and cash, and a silver bracelet, and arrange for a big wedding, which does not cost less money. “The family had taken a big loan from the Stork so they could have a lavish wedding and a lavish do wry for my cousin-sister. Now the Stork had called in his loan. He wanted all the members of the family working for

him and he had seen me in school, or his collector said. So they had to hand me over too” (31). Like what Balram Halwai thought before, that good news goes to bad. Balram Halwai is being promised a scholarship, but what actually happen is that he is out of school and works in a tea shop with his brother, Kishan.

Hence, although Balram was praised, given a book, and promised a scholarship by school inspector, he has to leave his school. Balram’s family lends some money from the Stork, which makes Balram and all the members of the family working for the Stork. As Lamb said “The peasants had no desire to have their children educated. Village chil dren were needed to tend cattle and do other work in the fields. If they spent a year or two in school, they later forgot what they have learned because they had no occasion to use it” (180). What Lamb said also happens to Balram. Balram has to leave schoo l for working, to pay the loan. Balram does not have any occasion to use his school learning because he has to pay his family’s loan.

B. Caste Discrimination in Occupation

After Balram Halwai’s father dies, Balram moves to Dhanbad with his brother, Kishan. Kishan moves to Dhanbad to find a job at the tea shop as the granny said. However, Balram tries not to find a job at the tea shop because Dhanbad is a Light for Balram.

Go to a pub or bar in Bangalore with your ears open and it’s the same thing you hear: can’t get enough call-centre workers, can’t get enough software engineers, can’t get enough sales managers. There are twenty, twenty-five pages of job advertisements in the newspaper every week. Things are different in the Darkness. There, every morning, t ens of thousands of young men sit in the tea shops, reading the newspaper, or lie

on a charpoy humming tone, or sit in their rooms talking to a photo of film actress. They have no job to do today. They know they won’t get any job today. They’ve given up the fight (45-46).

Balram Halwai knows exactly that if he stays in his hometown, then he will not get an opportunity to make his life better. Therefore, he moves to Dhanbad, to find a better job, trying to make his life better than in the Darkness. Balram Halwai starts to think what kind of job that he would get to make a better life in Dhanbad. He stops in a tea shop and overhears a conversation that changes his life.

“You know, sometimes I think I did the wrong thing in life, becoming a miner.”

“Then? What else can people like you and me become? Politicians?” “Everyone’s getting a car these days —and do you know how much they pay their drivers? One thousand seven hundred rupees a month!” (44). After overhearing the conversation, Balram Halwai becomes aware of the job needed in Dhanbad. After that, he tries to learn how to drive a car. That is not easy to find someone who would like to teach Balram driving a car for free. At last, Balram should expand his money to learn how to drive a car.

We went into the house where the taxi drivers lived. An old man in a brown uniform, which was like an ancient army outfit, was smoking a hookah that was warmed up by a bowl of live coals. Kishan explained the situation to him.

The old driver asked, “What caste are you?” (47).

As Lamb said “Theoretically, at least, each caste in India has a hereditary occupation. There are castes of washer men, gardeners, goldsmiths, moneylenders, potters, oil -pressers, mat-makers, leatherworkers, water -bearers, carpenters, accountants, gene alogists, barbers, tailors -the list is almost endless” (141). In India, caste has a hereditary occupation. Therefore Balram is asked by

the old driver about his caste. Balram is asked about his caste when he wants to learn driving a car. The old driver ask s him straight from what caste he comes from.

“Halwai”

“Sweet-makers,” the old driver said, shaking his head. “That’s what you people do. You make sweets. How can you learn to drive?” He pointed his hookah at the live coals. “That’s like getting coals to make ice for you. Mastering a car”—he moved his stick of an invisible gearbox—“it’s like taming a wild stallion—only a boy from the warrior castes can manage that. You need to have aggression in your blood. Muslims, Rajputs, Shiks—they’re fighters, they can become drivers. You think sweet -makers can last long in fourth gear?” (47).

The old driver knows that Halwai is a sweet -maker caste. Hutton describes Halwai as “a caste of confectioners in northern India generally” (282). Balram answers that he is a Halwai. It is true that he is a destined as a sweet -maker since he is a Halwai. Halwai is not a warrior caste and the old driver disbelieves that Balram can do such driver job since he is only a sweet -maker. At last, the old driver agrees to teach him how to drive a car. “Coal was taught to make ice, starting the next morning at six. Three hundred rupees, plus a bonus, will do that. We practice in a taxi. Each time I made a mistake with the gears, he slapped me on the skull. “Why don’t you stick to sweets and t ea?” (47). Balram learns how to drive a car with the old driver. However, the old driver keeps wondering why Balram wants to drive a car than make sweets or tea as what he should do.

After Balram Halwai finishes the car driving training, he tries to find a job as a private driver. He knocks on door by door to get a job. Until he arrives to a house in which he sees one of his landlord in the Darkness. “Swoosh! —As soon as the gate was open, I dived straight at the Stork’s feet” (51). Balram knows

exactly that in order to get a job from the landlord (the Stork), he should do that since Balram comes from lower caste and he needs landlord’s help to get a job there.

Balram tells the Stork that he comes from the Darkness, a place in which the Stork becomes a landlord. Balram tells the Stork that he wants to work with the Stork as a driver as he can drive a car. After having a spin of driving a car test, the Stork asks him some questions.

“Not bad,” the old man said as he got out of the car. “Fellow is cautious and good. What’s your last name again?”

“Halwai”

“Halwai…” He turned to the small dark man. “What caste is that, top or bottom?”

And I knew that my future depended on the answer to this question (53).

Balram knows that his caste is low; a sweet -maker does not deserve to have a job like driver, only those from warrior caste may do that. Balram realizes that the answer to the Stork’s question is very important that it might change his life for better or worse. Balram tries to think over for the answer.

See: Halwai, my name, means “sweet-maker.”

That’s my caste—my destiny. Everyone in the Darkness who hears that name knows all about me at once. That’s why Kishan and I kept getting a job at sweetshops wherever we went. The owner thought, Ah, they’re Halwais, making sweets and tea is in their blood (53).

Balram understands that as a Halwai, he is destined to become a sweet -maker. Therefore, Balram and Kishan always get a job at sweetshops wherever they go. According to Harris and Johnson, each caste and sub cas te has a hereditary occupation that guarantees its members basic subsistence and job security. Furthermore, according to Hindu scripture, an individual’s varna is determined by

a descent rule; that is, it corresponds to the varna of one’s parents and is unalterable during one’s lifetime (201). Halwai is a caste of sweet maker or confectioners. Halwai guarantees its members basic subsistence and job security as sweet-maker as what happens to Balram and Kishan.

Balram Halwai’s father is not a sweet-maker, however. Balram Halwai’s father is a rickshaw-puller. He wonders why his father does not work as a sweet maker but as a rickshaw-puller.

But if we were Halwais, then why was my father not making sweets but pulling a rickshaw? Why did I grow up breaking coals and wiping tables, instead of eatinggulab jamuns and sweet pastries when and where I chose to? Why was I lean and dark cunning, not fat and creamy -skinned and smiling, like a boy raised on sweets would be? (53).

Lamb described “The hereditary caste occupation is not necessarily followed by all the members of the caste or even by the majority of the members. Various present-day forces tend to undermine the old caste occupational patterns” (141). As Lamb said that the hereditary caste occupation is not nec essarily followed by all the members of the caste. It happens to Balram Halwai’s father who is a Halwai, destined to become a sweet -maker, but does not work as sweet -maker.

My father must have been a real Halwai, a sweet -maker, but when he inherited the shop, a member of some other caste must have stolen it from him with the help of the police. My father had not had the belly to fight back. That’s why he had fallen all the way to the mud, to the level of a rickshaw-puller. That’s why I was cheated of my destiny to be fat, and creamy-skinned, and smiling (54).

Balram Halwai’s father is supposed to inherit the shop but there must be some people from other caste who steal it with the help of a police. That is the reason why Balram Halwai’s father does not become a sweet-maker as his destiny. It also

explains why Balram is not fat, creamy -skinned and smiling as what he should be if his father was a sweet-maker.

According to Prentice and Miller who described the most troubling for the social identity perspective on status and power that “First, although increased status may in fact lead to enhanced in -group favouritism, it appears that power is what makes discrimination possible in the first place” (111). Balram Halwai’s father loses the tea shop because some oth er castes use the power using the help of police. In real condition, Balram Halwai’s father does not have anything to support him keeping the tea shop. Balram Halwai’s father does not have the power to do it.

Balram does not give the answer yet until the S tork asks him for the second time. “Are you from a top caste or bottom caste, boy?” (54). Balram realizes that the Stork has been waiting for his answer that he does not find. “I didn’t know what he wanted to say, so I flipped both answers —I could probably have made a good case either way—and then said, “Bottom, sir.” (54). Finally Balram replies the Stork’s question. Balram says that his caste, Halwai, is a bottom caste.

C. Caste Discrimination in Freedom

Balram Halwai often drives his employer to the mal l. However, he never goes inside the mall. Balram and the other drivers wait their masters outside the mall. “We were outside the mall. We —a dozen or so chauffeurs—were waiting for our masters to finish their shopping. We weren’t allowed inside the mall, of

course—no one had to tell us these things” (103). Lamb explained, in a sweeping declaration, the Indian Constitution of 1950 that “It also prohibited an inclusive list of specific discriminations: the denial of access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, and places of public entertainment; denial of the use of wells, roads, religious bathing places, and “other places of public resort” (Article 15)” (146). Although there is already a declaration towards discrimination, such as denial of access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, and places of public entertainment; denial the use of wells, roads, religious bathing places, and “other places of public resort”, still drivers are not allowed to go inside the mall.

Balram and the other drivers know that they are not allowed to go inside the mall. Therefore, they are waiting outside. While they are waiting for their masters, they are smoking, chatting, and sometimes reading newspapers.

What was happening, Mr. Premier, was one of those incidents that were so common in the early days of the shopping mall, and which were often reported in the daily newspapers under the title “Is There No Space for the Poor in the Malls of New India?”

The glass doors had opened, but the man who wanted to go into could not do so. The guard at the door had stopped him. He pointed his stick at the man’s feet and shook his head —the man had sandals on his feet. All of us drivers too had sandals on our feet. But everyone who was allowed into the mall had shoes on their feet.

Instead of backing off and going away—as nine in ten in his place would have done—the man in the sandals exploded, “Am I not a human being too?” (125).

People from low castes are not allowed to go inside the malls. Hence, in newspapers it is often reported about the existence of space for the poor in the malls. People who are allowed to go inside the malls are those who come from high castes, who have shoes on their feet. The man in sandals is angry as if he is judged as not a human being too, just because he does not have shoes on his feet.

Furthermore, Lamb said “They were forbidden to carry umbrellas, wear shoes, milk cows, keep domestic animals, or use ornaments” (144). Low caste people not only cannot afford to buy shoes, but there is also restriction for them to wear shoes.

Balram feels curios about going inside the mall. Therefore, he buys a T -shirt almost the same as what Mr. Ashok has and also a pair of shoes. He wants to go inside the mall. “No,” I kept saying to each shirt he showed me —until I found one that was all white, with a small word in English in the centre. Then I went looking for the man selling black shoes ”(127). After completing all Balram needs to go inside the mall, he makes a plan to do that. “Next morning, as I drove Pinky Madam to the mall, I felt a small parcel of cotton pressing against my shoe -clad feet. She left, slamming the door; waited for ten minutes. And then, inside the car, I changed” (128).

Balram already plans his goal to go inside the mall. He hides his T -shirt and a shoe from Pinky Madam’s sightseeing. However, Balram feels not sure that he can go inside the mall without being rejected by the guards.

I want to the gateway of the mall in my new T -shirt. But there, the moment I saw the guard, I turned around—went back to the Honda City. I got into the car and punched the ogre three times. I touched the stickers of the goddess Kali, with her long red tongue, for good luck.

This time I went to the rear entrance.

I was sure the guard in front of the door would challenge me and say, No, you’re not allowed in, even with a pair of black shoes and a T -shirt that is mostly white with just one English word on it. I was sure, until the last moment that I would be caught, and called back, and slapped and humiliated there.

Even as I was walking inside the mall, I was sure someone would say, Hey! That man is a paid driver! What’s he doing in here? There were guards in gray uniforms on every floor—all of them seemed to be watching me. It was my first taste of the fugitive’s life (128).

Balram can finally go inside the mall, although he gets uncertainty. He knows that he is not supposed to go inside the mall. He knows that the guard might catch him, slap and humiliate him there. Even if Balram succeeds of going inside the mall, still he feels fear that he will be spell out since he knows that he does not belong to that kind of place.

Balram Halwai’s father is a rickshaw-puller. Balram respects his father because his father is not like the other rickshaw -pullers.

The rickshaw-pullers parked their vehicles in a line outside the tea shop, waiting for the bus to disgorge its passengers.

They were not allowed to sit on the plastic chairs put out for the customers; they had to crouch near the back, in that hunched -over, squatting posture common to serva nts in every part of India. My father never crouched-I remember that. He preferred to stand, no matter how uncomfortable it got for him. I would find him shirtless, usually alone, drinking tea and thinking (20).

The rickshaw-pullers are not allowed to sit on the plastic chairs put out for the customers, they had to crouch. Balram Halwai’s father does not do that, he prefers to stand up and that is one of the reason that makes Balram respects his father. However, the restriction for the rickshaw -pullers is not only the restriction to sit on the plastic. There is another thing as well.

Rickshaw-pullers are not allowed inside the posh parts of Delhi, where foreigners might see them and gape. Insist on going to Old Delhi, or Nizamuddin-there you’ll see the road full of them-thin, sticklike men, leaning forward from the seat of a bicycle, as the pedal along a carriage bearing a pyramid of middle -class flesh-some fat man with his fat wife and all their shopping bags and groceries.

And when you see these stick -men, think of my father.

Rickshaw-puller he may have been -a human beast of burden -but my father was a man with a plan.

Instead of the restriction of sitting on the plastic chair of their rickshaw, they are not allowed to show themselves in Delhi, in front of the foreigners. They are seen as human beast of burden that somehow should not be seen by the foreigners. As Lamb said about the restriction that low castes have, “Traditionally, they were not allowed to enter temples, pass through ce rtain streets, enter certain parts of the villages, or drink water from the common village well used by other Hindus” (144).

When Balram works as a new driver in the Stork’s house, he has a senior driver that should be respected, Ram Persad. Balram and Ram Persad have different activities in each day. However, there is an activity they have together.

There was only one activity that servant number one and servant number two had to do together. At least once a week, around six o’clock, Ram Persad and I left the house and went down the main road, until we got to a store with a sign that said:

“JACKPOT” ENGLISH LIQUOR SHOP

INDIAN-MADE FOREIGN LIQUOR SOLD HERE

I should explain to you, Mr. Jiabao, that in this country we have two kinds of men: “Indian” liquor men and “English” liquor men. “Indian” liquor was for village boys like me—toddy, arrack, country hooch. “English” liquor, naturally, is for the rich. Rum, whiskey, beer, gin—anything the English left behind (62).

In India, there is also restriction on di et. As Lamb said that castes have elaborate restrictions on diet and on social intercourse, some castes will eat meat such as mutton, goat, or chicken; others will eat fish but not meat. Some will not eat meat or fish but will eat eggs; others will not eve n eat eggs (138). Some castes are allowed to drink liquor, and some are not. Balram Halwai, according to his caste, is not allowed to drink. “People chew that to hide the alcohol on their breath. Have you been drinking?” “No, sir. My caste, we’re teetotall ers” (206). Different

from Balram who is a Halwai, some other castes like Rajputs are allowed to drink. According to Hitchcock, Rajputs of north India may hunt game, eat meat, drink liquor, and eat opium (139). Hence, Hutton explained that Rajput is an ari stocratic caste, widespread in western, northern, and central India, whose traditional functions are fighting and ruling. They represent the ancient Kshatriya varna, and rank next to the Brahmans socially (293). Thus, Rajputs who come from Kshatriya are allowed to drink, while Halwai, although he is confectioner, he is not allowed to drink because the caste system has ruled it.

In here Rajputs, who are considered as one of Kshatriyas, may drink liquor. Further, they can have English Liquor because they ha ve enough money to buy it (considered as rich people). While people from low castes are not supposed to have English Liquor because they do not have the money and they are also considered not deserve to have English Liquor since they are only boys from village. People who are come from high caste are more capable in financial to buy the better liquor. While people from low caste are live in poverty that they could not afford to buy the good one such as English Liquor. This different purchasing ability creates the division of Indian liquor men and English liquor men.

Balram then tells Mr. Jiabao about what he thinks about Rooster Coop in India. “The greatest thing to come out of this country in this ten thousand years of its history is the Rooster Coop” (147). Further Balram Halwai explains what he means with the Rooster Coop.

Go to Old Delhi, behind the Jama Masjid, and look at the way they keep chickens there in the market. Hundreds of pale hens and brightly coloured roosters, stuffed tightly into wiremesh cages, packed as tightly as worms in a belly, pecking each other , jostling just for breathing space; the whole

cave giving off a horrible stench—the stench of terrified, feathered flesh. On the wooden desk above this coop sits a grinning young butcher, showing off the flesh and organs of a recently chopped -up chicken, still oleaginous with a coating of dark blood. The roosters in the coop smell the blood from above. They see the organs of their brothers lying around them. They know they’re next. Yet they do not rebel. They do not try to get out of the coop.

The very same thing is done with human beings in this country (147). Balram describes what he means with Rooster Coop. The Rooster Coop that he means does not merely happen to the chickens in India b ut also to human beings in India. “No. It’s because 99.9 percent of us are caught in the Rooster Coop just like those poor guys in the poultry market” (148). People who are trapped in the Rooster Coop know exactly what will come to them. However, they do n ot try to get out of the coop; they do not have the freedom that enables them to get out of the coop.

As Ravi Nair, who heads the South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre in New Delhi and who is a veteran human rights activist, he calls India's caste system racist.

"Quite clearly, caste is a form of racist behaviour, because, like racism, this is an issue dominance by one group against another," argues Mr. Nair. "Secondly, if I was born into a Dalit community - irrespective of whatever vertical mobility that I had because of my class background - I would still not be able to change my caste hierarchy in the social pecking order, and because of that, it definitely is racist behaviour in the terms of how one community has dominance over another."

People who are caught in the Rooster Coop cannot easily get out of the coop. They are trapped in the Rooster Coop and cannot get out of it. The people who are caught are the poor people; those who come from low castes and dominated by the high caste who contro ls the Rooster Coop. Hutton explained about the disadvantage of caste system in economic and freedom.

Durkheim has suggested that the function of the division of labour is to give the individual more freedom by substituting an organic for a rigidly mechanical economy, but the organic structure created by the caste system would seem to have provided for the division of labour on a plan ingeniously calculated to avoid giving just that freedom; for occupation is determined by status instead of contract (124).

Being connected to what Durkheim said, people who are caught in the Rooster Coop are already put inside, for their occupation is determined by their status. People who are trapped inside Rooster Coop are those who are coming from low castes. People from low castes are trapped inside Rooster Coop by people from high castes because in this case high caste people are the one who pay the salary of people from low castes. Here, people from low castes do not have the freedom to get out of the coop in order to ma ke a better life. By living inside the coop, people from lower caste cannot have better life because their lives (economical life) are ruled by the coop which is guard by people from high castes.

Durkehim suggests that the function of the division labour i s to give the individual more freedom. However, caste system creates a structure that avoids in giving that freedom, since occupation is determined by status. Therefore, people who are inside the Rooster Coop cannot get out. The caste system creates a structure of labour division that unable people to get out of the Rooster Coop; caste system does not give the freedom to do that.

39 CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

The last chapter is conclusions and suggestions. It consists of two major parts, which are conclusions and suggestions. Conclusions present the findings of this study. Suggestions present the recommendations for future researchers on the topic. It also provides suggestion for the implementation of using Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger in teaching Intensive Reading I.

A. Conclusions

Based on the analysis presented in the previous chapter, the writer can conclude the analysis. In this study, the writer discusses caste discrimination portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai, the main character of Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. From the analysis, the writer concludes that at least there are three areas of life which portrayed caste discrimination in India. They are caste discrimination in education, caste discrimination in occupation, and caste discrimination in freedom.

Caste discrimination in education is portrayed when Balram does not finish his school. Moreover, it is not only Balram who does not finish school but also thousands of others people in his country. The unfinished school happens because Balram and thousands of others people in his country are never allowed to complete their schooling. Caste discrimination is also showed when the school

teacher steals the school’s fund. The stealing affects on the missing of free food, duster, chairs, and uniforms for the boys.

Caste discrimination in occupation is revealed when Balram finds difficulties to find someone to teach him how to drive a car. The old driver who teaches driving even claims that Balram cannot drive because he does not have driving ability in his blood. When Balram applies for a job, he always gets question from what caste he comes from. Even when Balram is begging a job to the Storks, he is asked from what kind of caste he is; top or bottom. Balram’s caste, Halwai, which mean s sweet-maker, makes him always get a job in the tea shop.

Caste discriminations in freedom is portrayed when some restriction to low castes occur. The first discrimination shows when a man with sandals instead of shoes is rejected to go inside the malls. To go inside the malls, one should wear shoes. Furthermore, people from low castes are not allowed to wear shoes. They are forbidden to carry umbrellas, wear shoes, milk cows, keep domestic animals, or use ornaments. Another example is the restriction for rickshaw-puller to show up inside the posh parts of Delhi. They are not supposed to be seen and gaped by foreigners. Even the rickshaw -pullers are not allowed to sit on the plastic chairs for the customers. There is also discrimination in drink stores. Th ere are two categorization of drinks that every shops have; Indian liquor for village boys like Balram, and English liquor for the rich people. The last discrimination reveals on the Rooster Coop. Rooster Coop is a metaphor of people of India, especially t hose from low castes. It illustrates that people from low castes in India do not have

vii ABSTRACT

Wardhani, Stefani Ratna Kusuma . (2009). Caste Discrimination in India as Seen in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.

This thesis discusses c aste discrimination portrayed in India as seen in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. The White Tiger is a very rich novel. This novel consists of seven letters which are written by Balram Halwai, the main character of The White Tiger. Balram Halwai is destined as a sweet maker as what his caste, Halwai, means. However, Balram is struggling hard to raise his power against strict and oppressive caste system in India.

The objective of this study is to reveal the representation of caste discrimination in India as portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai. In order to achieve the objective of the study, there was one problem stated in this study , which is: How is caste discrimination in India portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai, the main character of Aravind Adiga’sThe White Tiger?

This study employed library research. In this study, the primary data was a novel written by Aravind Adiga , The White Tiger. The secondary data were th e books and articles related to the theories and approach that was used in analyzing this study. The writer used socio-cultural approach to answer the problem.

The results of this study reveal caste discrimination in India , which is portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai. There are three caste discrimination areas that are portrayed through the life of Balram Halwai; education, occupation, and freedom. Caste discrimination in education causes Balram and other thousands people in the country unable to finish their school. There is also discrimination that cause s the lost of free foods, dusters, chairs, and uniforms in school. Caste discrimination in occupation is proven when Balram finds difficulty to get a job except in teashops because his society judges that he could only make a sweet. Whenever Balram applies for a job, he is always asked from what caste he is. Caste discrimination in freedom is revealed in some restrictions that caste system had. People from the lower caste, including Balram Halwai, are not allowed to go in public space, such as mall. Rickshaw -pullers are restricted to show up in certain streets that enable the foreigners to see them. There are two kinds of drinks in every drink store; they are Indian liquor for boys from village like Balram and English liquor for rich people. People from low castes are trap ped by people from high castes. The trap is called Rooster Coop. It is a metaphor of the oppressive caste system in India. People who are trapped in Rooster Coop would not get out from there easily. It happen s because the caste system create s such division of labour and does not give any freedom to break through it.

This novel can be used to broaden knowledge , especially on caste discrimination in India. Besides, this novel can also be used to teach Intensive Reading I for the students of English Language Education Study Program.

viii ABSTRAK

Wardhani, Stefani Ratna Kusuma. (2009). Caste Discrimination in India as Seen in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger.Yogyakarta: Program Studi Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Pendidikan dan Ilmu Keguruan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Skripsi ini mengulas tentang diskriminasi kasta yang tercermin di India seperti yang terlihat dalam novel karya Aravind Adiga berjudul The White Tiger. The White Tiger merupakan sebuah novel yang sangat kaya akan nilai. Novel ini terdiri dari tujuh surat yang ditulis ole h Balram Halwai, karakter utama dalam novel The White Tiger. Balram Halwai ditakdirkan sebagai pembuat manisan seperti apa arti kastanya, Halwai. Namun, Balram berjuang keras untuk mengangkat kekuatannya melawan sistem kasta yang keras dan menindas di India.

Tujuan dari skripsi ini untuk mengungkapkan gambaran diskriminasi kasta di India yang tercermin melalui kehidupan Balram Halwai. Untuk mencapai tujuan tersebut, skripsi ini membahas satu permasalahan. Bagaimana diskrim inasi kasta di India yang tercermin melalui kehidupan Balram Halwai, karakter utama dalam novel Aravind Adiga berjudul The White Tiger?

Studi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka. D i dalam skripsi ini, sumber utamanya adalah novel karya Aravind Adiga berjudul The White Tiger. Sumber tambahannya adalah buku -buku dan artikel yang berhubungan dengan teori dan pendekatan yang digunakan dalam menganalisa studi ini. P enulis menggunakan pendekatan sosio-kultural untuk memecahkan permasalahan.

Hasil dari studi ini mengungkapkan diskriminasi kasta di India yang tercermin melalui kehidupan Balram Hal wai. Ada tiga area diskriminasi kasta yang tercermin melalui kehidupan Balram Halwai; pendidikan , pekerjaan, dan kebebasan. Diskriminasi kasta di pendidikan menyebabkan Balram dan ribuan orang lain di negaranya tidak dapat menyelesaikan sek olah. Terdapat juga tindak diskriminasi yang mengakibatkan hilangnya jatah makanan gratis, pembersih, kursi, dan seragam di sekolah. D iskriminasi kasta di pekerjaan terbukti ketika Balram mendapat kesulitan untuk mendapat pekerjaan kecuali di toko teh karena masyarakat sekitar menganggap bahwa Balram hanya mampu membuat manisan . Setiap Balram melamar pekerjaan, ia s elalu ditanya berasal dari kasta apa. Diskriminasi kasta di kebebasan mengungkapkan beberapa larangan yang dimiliki sistem kasta. Masyarakat kasta bawah, termasuk Balram Halwai, tidak diperbolehkan untuk memasuki tempat umum seperti mall. Penarik becak dil arang untuk memperlihatkan diri di beberapa jalan yang dapat dilihat turis asing. Terdapat dua jenis minuman di setiap toko minuman, minuman India untuk orang desa seperti Balram dan minuman Inggris untuk mereka yang kaya. Orang-orang yang berasal dari kasta rendah dijebak oleh orang -orang dari kasta tinggi. Jebakan ini disebut Rooster Coop. Rooster Coop adalah sebuah kiasan dari sistem kasta yang menindas di India. O rang yang terjebak dal am Rooster Coop tidak dapat keluar dengan mudah. Hal itu terjadi karena sistem kasta menghasilkan pembagian buruh dan tidak memberi mereka kebebasan untuk terlepas dari sana.

ix

Novel ini dapat digunakan untuk memperluas pengetahuan terutama mengenai diskriminasi kasta di India. S elain itu, novel ini dapat digunakan untuk mengajar Intensive Reading I untuk mahasiswa program studi ilmu Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris.