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SOCIOPATHIC PERSONALITY AS SEEN IN THE MAIN
CHARACTER OF ARAVIND ADIGA’S THE WHITE TIGER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
EKA SHANTI BUDI ASIH
Student Number: 044214047
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
EKA SHANTI BUDI ASIH
Student Number: 044214047
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
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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 : Eka Shanti Budi Asih
Nomor mahasiswa : 044214047
Demi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan

Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

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 secara terbatas,
dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis
tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya
selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 15 Oktober 2011
Yang menyatakan
(Eka Shanti Budi Asih)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank and express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ for
His blessing, love, and guidance to finish this undergraduate thesis. I would like to
give my deepest gratitude to my father Eddy Santoso, my mother Isnaningsih, my
brother Yanuar and my sister Ajeng. Their love and support gave me the strength
to finish this thesis.
I would like to thank my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. for her
time, guidance, help and supports in correcting my thesis. I also would like to
thank my co-advisor Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. for the advice and
correction to this work. I also thank for all the lecturers and the staff (especially
Mbak Nik) in the English Letters Department for all their guidance and help
during my study.
I would like to thank all my friends, Bernard, Irine, Troy, Deva, Echi, Deon
and Meme for the togetherness in finishing our thesis. I also thank forall my
college friends, Fian, Astrid, Toni, Diah, Dhinar, Galon for the fun time in class
and thanks to all my friends in the English Letters Department whom I have not
mentioned yet. I also thank my family, especially my cousins, Arie, Tyas, Hoho,
Ita and Adit for encouraging me all the time in working on my thesis and for the
laugh we have shared. I greatly thank Hanes for his support and all the things that
he has done along the process of writing this thesis.
Eka Shanti Budi Asih
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE............................................................................................. i
APPROVAL PAGE............................................................................. ii
ACCEPTANCE......................................................................................... iii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI...................iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................. v
TABLE OF CONTENT........................................................................... vi
ABSTRACT.......................................................................................... vii
ABSTRAK.................................................................................................. viii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION............................................................. 1
A. Background of the Study............................................................ 1
B. Problem Formulation................................................................... 5
C. Objectives of the Study.............................................................. 5
D. Definition of Terms.................................................................... 6
CHAPTER II: THEORITICAL REVIEW............................................. 7
A. Review of Related Studies......................................................... 7
B. Review of Related Theories....................................................... 9
1. Theories of Character and Characterization................... 9
2. Theories of Setting......................................................... 10
3. Theories of Social Psychology....................................... 11
4. Theories of Antisocial Personality Disorder.................. 12
C. Theoritical Framework............................................................... 17
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY......................................................... 18
A. Object of the Study.................................................................... 18
B. Approach of the Study............................................................... 19
C. Method of the Study.................................................................. 20
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS...................................................................... 22
A. The Characteristics of Balram Halwai........................................ 22
B. The Social Condition in India in The White Tiger...................... 34
C. The Social Condition Influences Balram’s Sociopathy.............. 39
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION................................................................. 52
BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................... 57
APPENDIX................................................................................................. 59
Summary of The White Tiger........................................................... 59
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ABSTRACT
EKA SHANTI BUDI ASIH. Sociopathic Personality as Seen in the Main

Character of Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. Yogyakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011
The novel The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga depicts the portrait of social
disparity between the rich and the poor in India. The gap that occurs causes the
poor to be marginalized. They never get the chance to escape from poverty. The
main character, Balram Halwai, tells how he comes from the lower caste and he
can become a successful person in India. Balram tells all the way what he does to
achieve his goal and escape from poverty.
There are three problems in this thesis. The first problem is aimed at finding
out the description of Balram Halwai as the main character. The second problem
is aimed to depict at depicting social condition in India that is described in the
novel. The third problem is aimed to find at finding the influence of the social
condition that causes Balram become a sociopath.
The writer applied the library research method to analyze the novel of The
White Tiger. The additional sources are taken from books and other sources
related to the study. This study uses the psychological approach because it
discusses the psychological aspects of the main character. The theories applied are
concerned with the theory of character, the theory of antisocial personality
disorder, the theory of social psychology.
Balram Halwai is portrayed as an intelligent person, selfish, cunning,
irresponsible, dishonest, and lack of remorse. Social condition in India is
influenced by caste which causes some problems. Those problems are poverty and
unemployment, corrupt system of education, poor health service, as well as the
dowry system and master-servant relationship. The social condition influences
Balram’s psychological condition, in which he becomes a sociopath. It can be
seen from the characteristics of Balram who is selfish, dishonest, lacks of remorse,
always tries to show a good impression, and displays little affection or feelings.
He has no real appreciation and affective response to other people. He also has a
deviant sexual behaviour. All of his characteristics are shaped or influenced by the
social condition in which he lives.
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ABSTRAK
EKA SHANTI BUDI ASIH. Sociopathic Personality as Seen in the Main

Character of Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra
Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011
Novel Aravind Adiga yang berjudul The White Tiger menggambarkan potret
kesenjangan sosial antara orang kaya dan orang miskin di India. Kesenjangan
yang terjadi menyebabkan orang miskin tersingkir, mereka tidak pernah
mendapatkan kesempatan untuk lepas dari kemiskinan. Tokoh utama, Balram
Halwai menceritakan bagaimana dirinya yang berasal dari kasta rendah dapat
menjadi salah satu orang yang sukses di India. Balram menceritakan segala cara
yang dia tempuh untuk meraih cita-citanya, lepas dari jerat kemiskinan.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk membahas lebih jauh tentang Balram
Halwai. Terdapat tiga permasalahan yang dibahas dalam skripsi ini. Permasalahan
pertama adalah bertujuan mencari gambaran Balram sebagai tokoh utama.
Permasalahan kedua adalah bertujuan untuk menggambarkan kondisi sosial di
India yang dideskripsikan dalam novel. Permasalahan ketiga bertujuan untuk
menemukan pengaruh kondisi sosial yang menyebabkan Balram menjadi sosiopat.
Penulis menggunakan studi pustaka untuk menganalisis novel The White
Tiger. Sumber tambahan lainnya diambil dari buku-buku dan yang berhubungan
dengan penelitian. Studi ini mengunakan pendekatan psikologis karena membahas
aspek psikologis tokoh utamanya. Teori-teori yang diterapkan adalah teori
karakter, teori gangguan kepribadian yang anti sosial dan teori psikologi sosial.
Balram Halwai digambarkan sebagai sosok yang pintar, egois, licik, tidak
bertanggung jawab, tidak jujur, dan tidak menyesali tindakannya. Kondisi sosial
di India sangat dipengaruhi oleh kasta dan menyebabkan masalah. Masalah yang
disebabkan oleh sistem kasta adalah kemiskinan dan pengangguran, sistem
pendidikan yang korup, pelayanan kesehatan yang buruk, sistem mahar dan
hubungan antara majikan dan pembantunya. Semua masalah tersebut berdampak
pada Balram Halwai. Kondisi sosial berpengaruh terhadap kondisi psikologis
Balram, dia menjadi seorang sosiopat. Hal itu dapat terlihat dari karakteristik
Balram yang sangat egois, selalu berusaha memperlihatkan sisi yang baik, tidak
jujur, tidak pernah menyesali tindakannya, tidak bisa menunjukkan perasaannya
dengan baik, tidak bisa menujukkan respon terhadap orang- orang di sekitarnya,
dan memiliki kelainan seks yang menyimpang.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
The White Tiger is the debut novel by Aravind Adiga. The novel became the
winner of the Man Booker Prize 2008, after defeating another candidate like
Sebastian Barry and Amitav Gosh. It was first published in 2008 and in the same
year won the Man Booker Prize. His debut novel The White Tiger received
attention from thousands of Indian readers because of the realistic picture of some
facts about India. It presents the crude, dark and naked facts of India. Adiga
portrayed different images of India, India of Light and India of Darkness. The
inspiration comes from the fact about India that struck into the author forcefully:
there is a gulf between the poor and the rich and there is a voice from the middle
class that is never recorded. This novel got into a debate about whether or not it
would become the winner of the biggest literary prize in the world. Although the
winner was announced by the judging panel, not everyone can accept the decision.
This novel got many criticisms. One of the criticisms comes from Sam Jordison in
his article How did The White Tiger Capture the Booker?
“I'm annoyed and embarrassed to admit that I hadn't really considered the
White Tiger as a contender. Although I enjoyed the book, I had discounted it
as too rough and too much of an over-enthusiastic debut to really make the
running.”
(http://www.guardian.co.uk, 2008)
Many Indian critics have expressed disagreement with the judge’s decision,
many feels that The White Tiger presents their country in a poor illustration. One
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of the criticisms comes from Amardeep Singh in his article Why I Didn’t like the
White Tiger.
“I haven’t been able to shake the sense that The White Tiger, despite its
topicality and its readability, is somehow fundamentally fake. I almost
hesitate to bother saying it, because it's quite common for Indian authors to
be accused of composing narratives about India's poor primarily for non-
poor, non-Indian reader.” (http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2008/09/why-i-
didnt-like-white-tiger.html)
Michael Portillo, a member of the judging panel of the Man Booker Prize
2008, provides a reason why The White Tiger became the winner. Portillo in Out
of the Darkness Adiga's White Tiger Rides to Booker Victory Against the Odds,
states:
The White Tiger takes a sharp and unblinking look at the reality of India's
economic miracle and the work's attention to "important social issues: the
division between rich and poor, and issues on a global scale. And it is
extremely readable”. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/oct/14/booker-
prize-adiga-white-tiger)
Another comment comes from Michael Portillo in another article:
“The novel undertakes the extraordinarily difficult task of gaining and

holding the reader's sympathy for a thoroughgoing villain. The book gains
from dealing with pressing social issues and significant global developments
with astonishing humour.”
(http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1146)
Although this novel has received many criticisms about the winning the
Man Booker Prize 2008, the writer thinks that it is still worth studying, it still
offers more complex issues that can be debated. Having read the novel The White
Tiger, the writer found many interesting aspects. It tells about poverty, poor health
services, corrupt education system, and the huge disparity between the rich and
the poor in the country. The White Tiger is a satire novel about the inequality of
the poor and the rich in India as a consequence of the economic growth. This
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novel is a fiction but based on Indian’s reality. A literary work is the
representation of life as Graham Little states in Approach of Literature, that the
literature functions “as a representation of the situation and the thoughts
happening in a certain setting time and place” (1963: 1).
The White Tiger is written in the form of letter by Balram Halwai, a young
man from Bihar, to the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, who visits Bangalore on an
official assignment. The letters are written in seven nights. His letters to the
Chinese Premier are a confession of Balram’s life story. He tells about the poverty
of rural Bihar and the evil of the feudal landlords. In the letters, Balram describes
his rise from his origins to his current position as an entrepreneur in Bangalore.
After he becomes a driver in Delhi, he becomes aware of the wealth and
opportunity all around him, while knowing that he will never be able to gain
access to that world. He realizes that there is only one way he can become part of
this glamorous new India. The only way to become a rich man is by murdering his
employer.
One topic that is interesting for the writer is the main character, Balram
Halwai. Balram describes his rise from a son of rickshaw puller into an
entrepreneur in Bangalore. It is interesting that a poor man from the low caste
becomes a wealthy entrepreneur, and it becomes a question to the writer, how he
overcomes the poverty in the countryside to be a success person in the new India.
Another reason why the writer is interested with the main character is the
characteristic of Balram. His characteristics are truly unique and interesting. The
way in which the story is told is so refreshing and real. He explains his past of
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becoming an entrepreneur through manipulation, murder, and theft, but as a reader
the writer have a question: can we blame him? It is very interesting to the writer
how the author can create a unique character; he can make the reader angry,
cringe, smile, worry and sympathize at the same time.
The study focuses on the protagonist, Balram Halwai. The writer will
analyze the character of Balram Halwai, and in this case his process of his
personality disorder. Personality disorders are sometimes considered less serious
than other mental disorders, however these disorders can ruin lives as any mental
disorders can. According to Millon, as cited in Baron (1987: 532), people are
diagnosed of having a personality disorder if they have inflexible and maladaptive
traits that cause significant social or occupational problems. The problems are
usually more disturbing to the society than to the individual. There are several
types of personality disorders. Antisocial personality disorder is one of the types;
the popular term for this type of individual is sociopath or psychopath. Sociopathy
in males has more serious implications than in females, and this disorder is found
three times more often in men than in women.
A person with antisocial personality disorder shows a lack of concern
toward the expectations and rules of the society. They fail to adapt to the social
norms and disrespect the law. Sociopaths seem typically intelligent and charming
in the first meeting. They are characterized by a deficit of the social emotions like
love, shame, guilt, empathy, and remorse. Though they understand the wishes and
concerns of others, but they simply do not care. They believe that they have the
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right to do what they want and to take what they can. They manipulate others by
deception or intimidation for their personal gain.
In this thesis, the writer wants to analyze the influence of social condition to
the main character’s personality. This study will point out how social condition
gives influences to his personality and how he becomes an individual with
antisocial personality disorder.
B. Problems Formulation
1. How is the main character characterized in Aravind Adiga’s The White
Tiger?
2. How is the social condition in India described in Aravind Adiga’s The
White Tiger?
3. How does the social condition influence the main character to be a
sociopath?
C. Objectives of the Study
Based on the problem formulation, the first objective is to know the
characterization of the main character in the story. The second objective is to
identify the social condition in India that is described in the novel and to analyze
how the social condition influences Balram’s personality and leads him to become
a sociopath.
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D. Definition of Terms
In order to help understand the thesis and provide clearer explanation to
answer the problem formulation, it is necessary to give the definition of the term
used in this study.
Sociopath is a popular term of antisocial personality disorder. According to
Greene, Nevid and Rathus (2005: 277), individuals with this disorder break the
law frequently, fail to act responsibly with interpersonal relationship and work,
violate others’ rights. They often use their charm and have above-average
intelligence. Hare, as cited in Huffman (2000: 533), describes individuals with
this disorder as completely lacking in conscience and empathy, they selfishly take
and do what they want, violating social norms without a sense of guilt or regret.
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Reviewed of Related Studies
The White Tiger is known as a provocative novel about the social condition
in India, the social disparity between the poor and the rich. Some view The White
Tiger as a criticism about social injustice in India. Sebastian A. J, Ph.D in Poor-
Rich Divide in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger states that social injustice
between the poor and the rich will have a dangerous effect if the problem is
unresolved. Adiga wants to expose the economic disparity that happens in India.
He shows different images of India, india of Light and Darkness. The poor has no
representative and gets a marginal place in the society. Balram is the
representative of the poor in India who want to break out of the rules because they
do not have the chance to get a better life. Balram realizes that it is difficult for
him to get the chance to get out of poverty until he decides to kill his master and
take the money to start a new life (http://
www.japss.org/upload/6poorrichdivide.pdf).
Sebastian A. J, Ph.D and Nigamananda Das, Ph.D in Drawbacks of Indian
Democracy in Homen Borgohain’s Pita Putra And Aravind Adiga’s The White
Tiger and between the Assassinations: A Comparative Study states that they tried
to analyze the Indian democracy in earlier years and the recent years. They want
to compare the development of democracy over the years. They think that liberty
and equality are two important aspects in democracy but corruption has destroyed
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them.
That is why it is important to look into the drawbacks of Indian democracy.
In the article they seek to reflect on the drawback of India in the forms of
maladministration, deprivation of liberty or equality, prevalence of injustice, and
widespread corruption. The comparative analysis would like to focus on how over
the years the state of governance in democracy has deteriorated. Pita Putra by
Homen Borgohain and The White Tiger and Between the Assasinations by Aravind
Adiga have been chosen to compare the analysis.
Pita Putra is a novel that depicts the Indian democracy during the earlier
years. This novel notifies that from the beginning Indian democracy didn’t work
properly. The story tells us that the character in the novel who should be the
guardian of liberty and equality has given into corruption. The White Tiger and
Between the Assassinations give a portrayal about the bad practices in the Indian
democracy in the recent years. Through the novel Adiga wants to show the gap
between the poor and the rich. Both of the authors portray the drawbacks of
Indian democracy.
(http:// www.japss.org/upload/5.SebastianandNigamanandaarticle.pdf )
Other studies mentioned above focus on the social criticism. This study will
try to develop something quite new and different from the studies above. This
study will focus on the psychological subject. The writer will relate the influence
of social condition to the main character’s personality that leads him to become a
sociopath.
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B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory on Character and Characterization
Characters in the novel are presented through characterization. A character
in literary works is usually defined as the creation of imaginary person that seem
life-like and the characterization is all things that are related to the character.
Rohrberger and Woods state that characters have particular personalities and
physical attributes that can make them different from one other. The personality
can be analyzed as the part of psychological aspects that considers people entirely
as an individual and complex human being. Their consistency with their nature
makes the characters behave in particular way (1971: 20-21).
Characterization is important to create the character in a story. The way the
author creates the characters is defined as characterization. According to M.J.
Murphy in Understanding Unseen (1972: 160-173), there are some ways that the
authors use to make the characters understandable to the readers.
a. Personal Description
The author described the personal appearances of the characters such as the
face, body and even clothes. It will help the readers understand the characters.
b. Character as Seen by Another
The author describes the characters using the eyes and opinions of other
characters.
c. Speech
The author gives the readers an insight into the characters through what they
say.
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d. Past Lives
The author can give out clues to the events that help shape a character
through his or her past life in order to get some ideas about the his or her thoughts,
behaviour, and action.
e. Conversation of Others
The author can give the readers some clues to a character through the
conversation between other people and what they say about him or her.
f. Reaction
The author can give out clues to a character by letting the readers know how
that person reacts to various situations and events.
g. Direct comment
The author can directly describe or comment on a character.
h. Thought
The author can give the readers direct knowledge of what a character is
thinking about and what he or she feels.
i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s ways of behaving, which may also tell
the readers about specific characteristics of different people. The habits or
behaviour are the clues in examining the character closely.
2. Theory of Setting
Yelland, Jones, and Easton in A Handbook of Literary Terms state that
setting is the element that gives the readers an abstract impression of the
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environment in which the characters move. The setting is usually provided by the
prevailing conditions (1953: 84).
According to Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms, the setting
in the literary works is the setting of narrative or dramatic work that is the general
locale, historical time, and social circumstance in which its action occurs; the
setting of an episode or scene within a work is the particular physical location in
which it takes place (1981: 175). The background of the story that involves place,
time, or social condition is definitely the setting of the story where and when the
story takes place.
3. Theory on Social Psychology
According to Psychology in Action, social psychology is a branch of
psychology that studies how an individual’s thought, feelings and action are
influenced by other people. The society and culture directly influence us from the
moment of our birth to our death. Our culture teaches us to believe certain things,
feels certain ways, and act in accordance with these beliefs and feelings. These
influences are so strong and become a part of who we are, that we find it difficult
to recognize them (Huffman, 2000: 601). To social psychologists, social influence
refers to “any actions performed by one or more persons to change the attitudes,
behaviour, or feelings of one or more to others” (Baron and Byrne, 1987: 224).
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4.Theory on Antisocial Personality Disorder
People are diagnosed as having a personality disorder if they have inflexible
and maladaptive personality traits that cause significant social or occupational
problems. There are several types of personality disorder. One of the best known
types is antisocial personality disorder. The term antisocial personality disorder is
used interchangeably with the terms “sociopath” and “psychopath. The differences
between sociopath and psychopath have been revealed. According to Lykken,
sociopaths have normal temperaments, and their personality disorder tends to
affect their lives regarding parenting, peers, and their intelligence. They often
believe they are doing something good for society or at least nothing that bad.
Psychopaths were born with temperamental differences, their emotionlessness and
fearlessness that lead them to being risk seekers, impulsive, and not being able to
socialize normally.
(http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1013712/sociopath_vs_sociopath_there
_is_a_pg3.html?cat=72)
An individual with antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a lack
of regard for the moral or legal standard in society. There is inability to get along
with others. An individual with this disorder is called a sociopath or psychopath.
Davison and Neale in Abnormal Psychology describe that an individual with
antisocial personality disorder shows an almost total disregard for the rights of
others. Rules and regulation are not for them. They are often irritable and
aggressive, highly impulsive, seeming fearless in the face of danger and highly
deceitful, they will lie for their personal gain. They typically show no remorse
13
after performing actions that harm others (1996: 271-272).
Huffman states that the causes of antisocial disorder are not completely
understood, research supports both nature and nurture explanations. Evidence also
exists from environmental or psychological causes (2000: 533). The causes of
antisocial personality disorder could be the environment a person is brought up in
or the current circumstances he or she is going through. This includes the family,
neighborhood members and friends that a person grew up with and events that had
occurred. Good or bad treatments that he or she had received from others could
also affect. People with antisocial personality often come from homes
characterized by emotional deprivation, absence of parental discipline, low
socioeconomic status and antisocial behaviour on the part of the parents. The
behaviour pattern that indicates antisocial personality disorder begins in childhood
or adolescence and continues into adulthood. However, antisocial and criminal
behaviour related to this disorder tends to decline with age, and may disappear
when the individual reaches the age of 40. Nevertheless, this is not the case with
personality traits that underlie antisocial disorder—traits such as egocentricity,
manipulative, lack of empathy, lack of guilt or remorse, and cruelty towards
others. Those traits are relatively stable with age (2005: 277).
People with antisocial personality disorder persistently violate the rights of
others and, often, the laws. They ignore social norms, are impulsive, and fail to
develop interpersonal and work commitments. They often show their charisma in
outer appearance and have above average intelligence.
Harvey Cleckley provides a more detailed explanation about the

14
characteristics of the people with antisocial personality disorder in his book The
Mask of Sanity. He formulated a set of criteria to recognize the antisocial
personality disorder (1976: 339-364):
1. Superficial charm and good “intelligence”
Sociopaths exude charm that gives a positive impression during the first
encounter. They do not seem peculiar or fake; people will tend to regard them as
normal and agreeable, intelligent people. Psychometric tests also very frequently
attest to their superior intelligence. (ibid. 338)
2. Absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking
Sociopaths do not have delusions, and also react they way normal people
do. They have excellent logical reasoning, and when exposed to direct psychiatric
examination do not show anything pathologic. Observers may view them as
people of compassion and firm assurance. (ibid. 339)
3. Absence of “nervousness” and psychoneurotic manifestation
Sociopaths are devoid of reactions stemming from nervousness. They are
always extraordinarily calm even under extreme circumstances. During captive or
in psychiatric facility, they may indeed become tense but only from external
influences, not from penitence or insecurity from within themselves. (ibid. 339)
4. Unreliability
Sociopaths are likely to perform an excellent amount of reliability, maybe
even in a long period to achieve gain, before finally showing their true colour and
disregarding obligations and responsibility. (ibid. 340)
5. Untruthfulness and insincerity

15
Sociopaths are not capable of truthfulness. They easily promise anything to
declare their innocence. They will lie about anything in any condition but show no
marked signs typical of liars in their speech. However, when confronted with their
lies, they can admit them straightforwardly without flinching. (ibid. 341)
6. Lack of remorse or shame
Sociopaths will declare themselves innocent of any blame and
responsibility, never showing major shame or remorse. (ibid. 343)
7. Inadequately motivated antisocial behaviour.
Sociopaths are unreliable and willing to commit any criminal behaviour,
even that which holds a great risk. In addition, they do it seemingly without
scruple or even purpose. (ibid. 343)
8. Poor judgment and failure to learn from experience
Despite their brilliance, sociopaths may go after their objectives while
throwing away great chances for gaining. In addition, no amount of punishment is
likely to bring them to change their tune. (ibid. 345)
9. Pathologic egocentricity and incapacity for love
Sociopaths are always self-centred and detached from others. They have no
capacity for sincere compassion, but are sometimes impressively adept in
pretending to demonstrate such emotion. (ibid. 346)
10. General poverty in major affective reactions
Sociopaths display little affection or feelings. While normal people would
show despair when locked up, they do not show the same tragic quality of
16
reaction. Moreover, despite often being humorous, they never have a true sense of
humour. (ibid. 348)
11. Specific loss of insight
Sociopaths cannot view themselves from the perspective of others. They
cannot imagine other people’s feelings when they put themselves in others’ shoes.
Instead of facing the situation and coming up with a realization of it, they put
blame on others but with excellent reasoning despite maybe with a lame excuse.
(ibid. 350)
12. Unresponsiveness in general interpersonal relations
Sociopaths have no real appreciation and affective response to other people.
They may perform it only when gaining something from doing so. (ibid. 354)
13. Fantastic and uninviting behaviour with drink and sometimes without
Sociopaths are likely to indulge in alcohol at some point. However, alcohol
does not bring out impulses that are not characteristics of them. It only serves as a
catalyst that lowers their inhibition. What sets them apart from neurotic drinkers is
that they realize what they have done when drinking but will likely to drink again
knowing that. Neurotic drinkers, on the other hand, when sober, will regret what
they have done during drinking. (ibid. 355)
14. Suicide rarely carried out
Sociopaths may pass up opportunities but will never commit suicide. They
may show suicidal threats which are almost always empty. (ibid. 358)
15. Sex life impersonal, trivial and poorly integrated

17
Deviant sexual behaviours are common in sociopaths but they do not crave
sex or are moved by it as much as normal people do. They also regard sex more
casually than most people do. (ibid. 359)
16. Failure to follow any life plan
Sociopaths do not set a consistent life plan. Conversely, they may even
sabotage their own life and attribute failures to foolishness. (ibid. 364)
C. Theoretical Framework
The writer tries to apply the theories above to answer the problems
formulated in the problem formulation. First, the writer wants to understand the
main character more closely so that the writer can see his personality by using the
theories of characterization. By analyzing it, the writer hopes to find the position
of the main character in the society.
The theory of setting is the main theory to answer the second. The writer
uses the theory to show the social condition of India described in the novel.
The theories of antisocial personality disorder are the theories to answer the
third question in problem formulation. In analyzing the third problem to show
how the social condition gives influences toward the main character and leads him
to be a sociopath, the writer uses the theory of antisocial personality. In the
writer’s opinions, those theories are reliable to answer the third problem. By using
this theory, the writer will be able to show certain symptoms of a sociopath.
The writer also uses the statements and sentences in the novel to convey the
description of the main character in the novel, to know about the social condition
in India described in the novel and to find out the influences toward the main
character’s personality.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of the study in this thesis is The White Tiger, a debut novel by an
Indian author, Aravind Adiga. It was first published in the United States of
America in 2008 by Simon and Schuster Inc and consists of 288 pages and seven
chapters. The version used in this thesis was published by Free Press, a division of
Simon & Schuster, Inc. It is a paperback edition published in 2008. The novel
became the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2008. This novel got into a debate
about whether or not it would become the winner of the biggest literary in the
world.
Adiga’s The White Tiger is a novel which presents a dark view of modern
day life in India. The story in the novel is presented by a first person narrator. The
narrator is telling the story from his point of view.
The novel describes the contrast between India’s rise as a modern global
economy and the working class people who live in rural poverty. The novel takes
the form of a series of letters written late at night by Balram Halwai, the main
character, to Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China, who is scheduled to visit India
soon. For seven nights Balram tells the story of his life. He tells his journey from
darkness of village life to the light of entrepreneurial success. Balram describes
his rise from a son of rickshaw puller become an enterpreneur in Bangalore. He is
constantly looking for the opportunities that can release him from poverty. He
18
19
becomes aware of the wealth and opportunity all around him, while knowing that
he will never be able to gain the access to that world. Balram realizes that a little
dishonesty can bring him enough money for a secure future. He realizes that there
is only one way he can achieve his dream, the only way to become a rich man is
to murder his employer and to run away to Bangalore with his money loot and
starts his own business there.
B. Approach of the Study
In this study, the writer analyzes the novel using the psychological approach.
This approach is the most suitable to answer the problem formulation. Although
literature is different from psychology, there is a close relationship between the
two which benefit one other. Literature is related to the world of fiction, drama,
poetry, and essay, which are classified into the art, while psychology refers to the
scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes. Although different,
both have a commonality, in that both discuss human and life. According to
Wellek and Warren, psychology and literature are closely related, in which some
of literary works talk about psychology cases. They say that people can learn
about the theory of psychology that may be revealed in works of literature by
analyzing the works (1956:81).
In analyzing a character in a novel, the psychological approach is related to
the human behaviour, the attitude, and also the mind of the character. The
psychological approach helps the writer to understand the personality of character.
According to Rohrberger and Woods, the psychological approach is to explain

20
human motivation, personality and behaviour patterns written in literary objects.
Both literature and psychology discuss people and human lives. Literature
discusses humans and their lives; those are expressed through language as a works
of literature. Meanwhile psychology is the study of man’s life along with their
mind and behaviour. They also state that the psychological approach brings us to
analyze the novel from the psychological point of view of human being (1971:12-
13).
Since the study is related to the personality disorder of the main character,
which is part of psychology, psychological approach is appropriate to apply in the
analysis of the study. The writer applies the theory of psychology to make a
deeper analysis. It is important to know the personality of the main character and
to point out the aspects that influence it.
C. Method of the Study
In this study, the writer used library research to answer the problems that
are formulated in the previous chapter. In this thesis, two kinds of sources are
used. They are primary and secondary sources. The primary source was taken
from the novel itself, The White Tiger written by Aravind Adiga. The secondary
sources are articles, essay, and criticisms, which were taken from books found in
the library and from the internet. The secondary sources are used to support this
thesis.
There were three steps that the writer has done in analyzing the study. The
first step was reading the novel in detail to get a deeper understanding about the
21
novel. In the second step, the writer collected the supporting data which describe
the novel both in books and the internet. The writer looked for books suitable for
this study; the examples of those books are Davison and Neale’s Abnormal
Psychology, Coleman’s Abnormal Psychology and Modern Life, Huffman and
Vernoy’s Psychology in Action. The final step wass to analyze the element of the
novel, since the characteristics of the main character become the first problem
formulation, the theory of character and characterization was used to acquire
detailed information about the character. To answer the second question, the
writer analyzed the social condition described in the novel. In order to answer the
third question, the writer would like to analyze how the social condition
influences his personality and leads him to become a sociopath.

CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In this chapter, the problems formulated in the earlier chapter will be
answered. Based on the problem formulation, this chapter will be divided into
three parts. The first part covers the character and characterization of Balram
Halwai, the main object of this study. The second is the part the social condition
where the main character lives will be elaborated. Last but not least, in the third
part it will be explained how the social condition gives influences toward the main
character and leads him to become a sociopath.
A. The Characteristics of Balram Halwai
A character is an essential element in the work of literature. The writer will
analyze the main character, Balram Halwai, and his characterization to make a
deeper analysis.
1. Smart
According on the Murphy’s theory, a character can be described from the
conversation of other people in the story. In the novel, the teacher and the school
inspector recognizes that Balram is a smart kid. Balram is considered as a bright
child among his peers and classmates. He attends a school in his village. When the
school inspector comes to the school to do an inspection, he gives the students a
question that no one can answer. The teacher chooses Balram for being able to
read and write when nobody else can. The school inspector tests Balram’s
22
23
cleverness by asking him to read the sentence on the blackboard, to write his own
name, and to read the time from his watch.
“Try Balram, sir,” the teacher said. He’s the smartest of the lot. He reads
well.” (2008:29)
The inspector pointed his cane straight at me. “You, young man, are an
intelligent, honest, vivacious fellow in this crowd of thugs and idiots. In any
jungle, what is the rarest of animals- the creature that comes along only once
in a generation?”
“The white tiger”
“That’s what you are the in this jungle”
“I’ll write to Patna asking them to send you a scholarship. You need to go to
a real school. You need to a real uniform and a real education.” (2008: 30).
On the dialogue above, Balram is recognized as a smart kid by his teacher
and the school inspector. After knowing Balram’s cleverness, the school inspector
gives him the nickname “the white tiger”. He also promises Balram a scholarship
to attend a proper school.
Murphy theorized that a character can be described from the past life.
Balram considers himself “half-baked”. He is not allowed to finish school like
most children of his age but he has broad general knowledge. He likes to
eavesdrop on people in the tea shop to enrich his knowledge that he can not get
due to dropping out.
I used my time at the tea shop in Laxmangarh to spy on every customer at

every table, and overhear everything they said. I decided that this was how I
would keep my education going forward-that’s thesay for one good thing
I’ll say for myself. I’ve always been a big believer in education-especially
my own (2008: 43).
Balram’s habit of listening to conversations of others to enrich his
knowledge does not disappear when he works as driver. When he is working in
Dhanbad he learns a lot from eavesdropping his employer’s conversations about
India, America and he even learns a bit about English.

24
The more they talked, the faster I massaged. They talked about politics, coal
and about your country- China. I absorbed everything-that’s the amazing
thing about entrepreneurs. We are like sponges- we absorb and grow
(2008:60).
From the dialogue above, Balram is always looking for a way to keep
learning even tough he can not learn in school. However, the ways he uses to
enrich his knowledge are not responsible because he is using his time to work. He
does it by eavesdropping his employers or his consumers.
Balram never finishes school, but he has always thought a step further than
his friends. When a fellow driver can do not anything about the prohibition of the
poor to enter the shopping mall, he feels degraded as a human being. Balram
looks for ideas to enter to the mall without being spotted by the security guard and
evicted from that place.
I went to the gateway of the mall in my new white T-shirt. But there, the
moment I saw the guard, I turned around- went back to the Honda City.
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. (2008: 128).
Getting out was as tricky as getting in, but again the guards didn’t say a
word to me, and I walked back to the parking lot, got into the car, and
changed back into my usual, richly colored T-shirt in a bundle near my feet
(2008: 129).
He feels the injustice when the poor are prohibited from entering the mall.
Balram’s friends can only keep silent and accept the mistreatment of the
prohibition to enter to the mall but Balram can not simply accept it. He looks for
ideas so he can get into the mall. He is diguised as a rich man, wearing a shirt like
his master and wearing the shoes that are hidden in the car. First, he is doubtful
enters the mall; he is afraid of being driven out by the guard. He finally enters the
25
mall and feels the atmosphere inside the mall. The guards do not realize that
Balram is a driver because of his appearance.
Balram always thinks several steps ahead. When he is a fugitive for killing
his employer he does not think to hide like everyone else. He is looking for ways
to make it survive in Bangalore. He knows that the police are corrupt and can be
bought off with money easily by someone rich and powerful. When all fugitives
try to avoid the police, he actually goes to the police and gives bribes to facilitate
his plan to open his own car centre company.
I acted like an important man, and made sure the policemen saw the red bag
by swinging it a lot. Then I insisted on seeing the big man there, the
inspector.
He counted the money- ten thousand rupees- heard what I wanted, and
asked for double. I gave him bit more, and he was happy. I tell you, Mr.
Premier. My poster was right there, the one that I had seen earlier, the whole
time I was negotiating with him. THE WANTED POSTER, with the dirty
little photo of me. (2008: 257)
Balram, with his intelligence, tries to find a way so he can hide safely. The
ways that he uses is to go to the police station, acting like an innocent man, and
giving bribes to the police inspector. When other fugitives are hiding in the dark
places, Balram chooses to hide in the light.
2. Selfish
Since Balram quits school, he follows his brother, Kishan, to work in the
teashop. The owner of the shop fires him because Balram is not working properly.
No one wants to hire him in Laxmangarh. He does not think of his family when he
loses his job.

26
I did my job with near total dishonesty, lack of dedication, and insincerity.
Instead of wiping out spots from tables and crushing coals for the oven, I
used my time at the tea shop in Laxmangarh to spy on every customer at
every table, and overhear everything they said.
Eventually I got sent home. No one else in Laxmangarh would hire me after
that, even as a field hand. So it was mostly for my sake that Kishan and
Dilip had come to Dhanbad—to give me a chance to start career as a human
spider afresh (2008: 43-44)
Balram never finishes his work. He prefers to eavesdrop on the customers.
The employer is angry to see Balram being irresponsible for the job and chooses
to fire him. Balram does not think about the consequences of his actions. Balram’s
brother, Kishan, quits from his job because no one wants to hire Balram. They
move into Dhanbad and look for a new job.
Balram hears some conversations that drivers get big salaries. He gets
interested in driving lessons but does not have the money to pay, and eventually
the grandmother agrees to pay the fee to drive, with a condition that Balram must
give a receipt of his salary every month. Balram forgets his promise; he refuses to
send money home to his struggling family.
Great news! Granny had agreed to let them invest in my driving classes.
“There’s only one thing,” Kishan said.” Granny says you’re a greedy pig.
She wants you to swear by all the Gods in heaven that you won’t forget her
once you rich.”
“Pinch your neck and swear- you’ll send every rupee you make every month
back to Granny.” (2008: 47)
“You’ve not sent any money for months. You forgot our arrangement.”
(2008:71-72)
Balram accepts the term given by his grandmother, and he promises to send
the money to his family in the village. Because of his selfishness, Balram forgets
his promise. He does not send the salary that he receives to his family. His
grandmother sends a letter to Balram through his employer. She wants Balram to
27
marry, but Balram considers the letter as a threat. He does not want his
grandmother to tell his master the fact that he never sends his salary to his family.
I did not want to obey Kusum. She was blackmailing me; I understood why
she had sent that letter through the Mongoose. If I refused, she would blow
the whistle on me- tell Mr. Ashok I hadn’t been sending money home
(2008: 165)
Balram knows it will be difficult to achieve success because he comes from
a low caste and is only a driver. He recognizes there is only one way to achieve
his dream: killing his employer and carrying off his money. Balram knows that his
employer’s family will take revenge on him. His brother and their children may be
slaughtered, the women of the family may be raped, but he does not care.
Either the Stork had them killed, or had some of them killed, and the others
beaten. Now, even if by some miracle he, or the police didn’t do that. So the
villagers would have forced them out-and they’d have to go to Delhi.., to
live under concrete bridge, begging for their food, and without a hope for
the future. That’s not much better than being dead (2008: 270)
One day, I know, Dharam, this boy who is drinking my milk and eating my
ice cream in big bowls, will ask me, Couldn’t you have spared my mother?
Couldn’t you have written to her telling her to escape in time? (2008: 272)
Balram knows all the consequences he will receive if he kills his master. He
was knows that his employer’s family will take revenge against his family in the
village. Although he knows the risks, he keeps his plan without thinking of his
family. His family will receive the consequences of his deeds. Balram flees with
his nephew, knowing that one day his nephew will demand the responsibility from
him. His nephew will ask why he did not save his family when in fact he had a
chance to save them; he could send a letter to the house before killing his master
so they could flee to a safe place.

28
3. Cunning
Balram knows that being a driver in New Delhi will get him more money.
He looks for a way to get selected to be the driver invited to the city but it is not
easy because he is the driver number two in the house of his employer. He should
give some money to the guard. That makes him cancel his desire to be a driver in
Delhi. Balram accidentaly knows that the number one driver has been lying to his
master. He claims of being a Hindu in front of his master and the guard covers his
lies. Balram uses this excuse to get special treatment from the guard who has
always treated him cruelly. Balram uses this opportunity to threaten both of them.
“Now, this Mohammad Mohammad was a poor, honest, handworking

Muslim, but he wanted a job at the home of an evil, prejudiced landlord who
didn’t like Muslims- so, just to get a job and feed his starving family, he
claimed to be a Hindu! And took the name of Ram Persad.”
“And you know how he managed to pull this off? Because the Nepali guard
at check up on Ram Persad’s background, was in on the scam!”(2008:92)
…The Nepali came to me with a grin on his face. He told me that, since
Ram Persad had left their service without a word, I would be driving Mr.
Ashok and Pinky Madam to Delhi. He had personally-and forcefully-
recommended my name to the Stork (2008: 93)
The guard is afraid that if Balram tells his lies to his employer, he will lose
his jobs. Balram who knows of the guard’s fear uses this opportunity to threaten
him. The guard, who is frightened, recommends Balram to be a driver in Delhi.
When Balram becomes a driver in New Delhi, he is increasingly aware of
the enormous wealth and opportunity around him. He decides to break out of his
fate of the poor in India. Balram decides to be an eater, someone with a big belly.
He will do anything to make that happen. The only way he knows is by killing his
employer and carrying off his money.

29
I really didn’t want him to think, even in the two or three minutes he had to
live, that I was that kind of driver- the one that resorts to blackmailing his
master-but he had left me no option:
“It’s been giving problems ever since that night we went to the hotel in
Jangpura.”
“The one with the big T sign on it. You remember it, don’t you, sir? Ever
since that night, sir, nothing has been the same with this car.” (2008: 243)
I rammed the bottle down. The glass ate his bone. I rammed it three times
into the crown of his skull, smashing through to his brains. It’s a good,
strong bottle, Johnnie Walker Black- well worth its resale value.(2008:244-
245)
As stated by Murphy, a character can be observed by seeing the person’s
speech. Balram, who tries to kill his master, asks his master to get off from his car
but his master refuses to go down. Feeling that this is the only chance he has to
kill his master, he finally uses his master’s mistakes from the past to ask him to
get out of the car and threaten him. He finally uses this opportunity to kill his
master.
Balram is familiar with bribery when he becomes a driver. Whenever he
encounters a problem, he will resort to it. He will use money and his power to
solve his problems. He uses his money to bribe the police to solve the cases of
accident by his employees.
The policeman played along with me.” It’s a good idea, son. We need to
register the case at the station.”
The assistant commissioner who sat in the station was a man whom I
lubricated often. (2008:264)
He sighed.” See, at the time of the accident, your brother bicycle has no
lights. That is illegal you know. There are other things that will come out. I
promised you things will come out.”
The brother understood at last why I had brought him to the station- he
understood at last that the trap had shut on him. (2008:265)
Balram uses his money to bribe the police. The police also act to cover up
the mistakes of an employee for the accident that killed a child. They try to
30
remove the evidence left by the employee. Even the police distort the facts, saying
that the victim committed an illegal act by not using the light during the night.
The brother of the victim finally realizes that Balram has prepared everything to
avoid his claims.
4. Irresponsible
While working as human spider in the teashop, Balram never works
wholeheartedly. Balram works in his own way; he even uses his working time to
eavesdrop on the conversations of the customers. He never thinks about the
consequences of his actions. He loses his job because he is not responsible with
his job.
I did my job with near total dishonesty, lack of dedication, and sincerity.
used my time at the teashop in Laxmangargh to spy on every customer at
The owner of the shop sat up at the front..He knew what I was up to!
Whenever he saw me loafing around a table or pretending to be doing a spot
of wiping just so I could hear more of a conversation, he would shout, “ You
thug!”
that, even as a field hand. (2008:43-44)
Balram is supposed to wipe the tables and crush the coals, but in fact he
eavesdrops on the conversation on every customer. The owner of the shop, who is
angry with Balram’s behaviour, finally fires him. No one in his village wants to
hire him after knowing his reputation.
Balram’s responsible habits at work continue when he works in Delhi. The
employer always orders him to work wholeheartedly and he must obey his orders.
Balram is told never to switch on the AC or play music when he is alone.
However, when the employer is not at his side, he breaks all his commands.
31
I drove the car out of the apartment block…. No idea where I was going- I
just drive around the malls.
I played his music. I ran his A/C at full blast.
I drove back to the building. I spat over the seats of the Honda City, and
wiped them clean (2008:178)
I put up with his usual threats and warnings- no A/X, no music, no wasting
fuel, blah blah blah. When the train left, I danced around the platform and
clapped my hands. (2008:207)
Although he is supposed to obey the employer, he does not. The employer,
who is always giving orders, makes Balram feel uncomfortable, leading to him
intentionally violate any order. He should turn off the air conditioner but he turn it
on. He even plays the music when the employer is not with him.
Balram does not have enough money to fulfil his desire of hiring a
prostitute. Finally able to collect money, he violates his employer’s orders, as he
wishes, without even feeling guilty doing so.
Over the next two weeks, I did things I am still ashamed to admit. I cheated
my employer; I took his car to a corrupt mechanic who billed him for work
that was not necessary; and three times, while driving back to Buckingham
B, I pick up a paying customer.
The strangest thing was each time at the cash I had made by cheating him,
instead of guilt, what did I feel?
Rage
The more I stole from him, the more I realized how much he had stolen
from me. (2008:195-196)
5. Dishonest
Balram breaks his promise to send his salary to his family in the village. He
does not remember the requirements given by his grandmother who has given him
money for driving lessons that Balram will send every penny he receives to his
family. He only thinks about his own pleasure without having concern for his
family. He is only thinking how to escape from the responsibilities toward his
family.
32
Kishan and Cousin Dilip lifted me up from the ground, big smiles on their
faces. Great news! Granny had agreed to let them invest in my driving
classes. “There’s only one thing,” Kishan said.” Granny says you’re a
greedy pig. She wants you to swear by all the Gods in heaven that you
won’t forget her once you rich.” (2008:47)
I hadn’t seen him since he left Dhanbad and come back to work in the
fields- that was three months ago. I hadn’t sent any money home for the past
two months.
(2008:71-72)
From the dialogue above, the writer sees that Balram easily forgets his
promise to send his wages to his family in the village. Balram is very easy to
make a promise but also to deny it.
Balram tries to make a good impression on the master so that his employer
believes him. Balram wants to impress him with the good attitude that he always
shows. Balram gives the impression of a very religious person, contrary to his
atheistic belief. Balram will do everything possible, including lying so that the
employer trust him more.
“So Balram here touched his eye as a mark of respect. The villagers are so
religious in the darkness.”
That seemed to impress the two of them, so I put my finger to my eye a
moment later again. (2008:77)
The two of them kept an eye open for every tree or temple we passed by,
and turned around to me for a reaction of piety- which I gave them, of
course, and with growing elaborateness: first just touching my eye, the my
neck, then my clavicle, and even my nipples.
They were convinced I was the most religious servant on earth. (Take that,
Ram Persad!) (2008:78)
Balram tries to look good in front of his master by any means including
lying. The employer knows that Balram will send his salary to his family in the
village. Balram uses this opportunity to give the impression that he is very
concerned about his family, when the reality is far different. Balram never sends
33
money to his family. He uses all his salary for the sake of pleasuring himself.
Balram will use every way to make a good name even though it is a lie.
“Sir... my wages.”
“You’re sending some of it home, aren’t you?”
“All of it, sir. Just what I need to eat and drink here- the rest goes home.”
At ten o’clock that night I walked down to the market just around the corner
from Buckingham Towers B Block. (2008: 121)
It took me fifteen minutes to get a bottle. I stuffed it down my trousers, for
there was nowhere else to hide it, and went back to Buckingham.
(2008:122)
6. Unscrupulous
Although Balram makes a mistake he never wants to admit it or even feeling
guilty. He is always looking for justification for all the mistakes he does. When
the grandmother asks him to marry, he roughly refuses. He refuses to apologize
because he feels that he has a good reason to refuse his grandmother.
She said. “We’ll fix up the wedding for later this year, okay?...”
“Granny,” I said,” give me some more time. I’m not ready to be married.”
I pushed the plate so hard it went flying to a corner and hit the wall and
spilled the red curry on the floor. “I said, I’m not marrying!”
Kishan got up and tried to stop me as I left, but I pushed him to the side- he
fell down hard-and I just walked out of the house.(2008:74-75)
Kusum, Luttu Auntie, and all the other women were gathered by the side of
the road as we drove out. They gaped at me-stunned that I wasn’t coming to
apologize: I saw Kusum clench her gnarled fist at me. (2008:760)
Balram does not even feel guilty when he commits to disobey the orders
from his employer. He even feels better after doing it. The employer is always
giving orders and makes Balram feel uncomfortable, so he intentionally violates
any orders.
34
instead of guilt, what did I feel?
Rage
The more I stole from him, the more I realized how much he had stolen
from me. (2008:195-196)
Balram does not feel guilty when he kills his employer. He does not see the
murder as a mistake. He feels that he will make a mistake if he does not kill the
man.
I think the Rooster Coop needs people like me to break out of it. It needs
master like Mr. Ashok- who, for all his numerous virtues, was not much of a
master-to be weeded out, and exceptional servants like me to replace
them....
I have switched sides: I am now one of those who cannot be caught in
India...
I’ve made it! I’ve broken out of the coop! (2008:275)
I’ll never say I made mistake that night in Delhi when I slit my master’s
throat. (2008:276)
B. The Social Condition in India in The White Tiger
As Yelland, Jone, and Easton stated in A Handbook of Literary Terms that
setting is an element that gives the readers an abstract impression of the
environment in which the characters move (1953; 84). The setting in the novel
The White Tiger is Laxmangarh, Dhanbad, Delhi, and Bangalore. Adiga portrays
different images of India, India of Light and the Darkness. The Darkness is term
for the rural India where people suffer in poverty and injustice, controlled by the
greedy landlords and corrupt politician. India of Light has access to education,
health care, electricity, running water, hope, and justice. The social condition in
the Darkness is the portrait of injustice and inequality in India. The poor do not
have the right to speak in the society they live in. There is a discrimination
between the “Big Bellies and the Small Bellies”. There are many practices that
35
harm the poor. Poverty and unemployment, corrupt education system, poor health
services, the dowry system and master-servant relationship are part of the problem
that caused by the caste system.
Although many experts say that caste has been abolished, it does not reflect
reality. The social condition in India that differentiates between the poor and the
rich derives from the caste system. The caste system can be described as an
elaborately stratified social hierarchy. The caste system is a rigid system of
inequality, which gives a great influence on the society. The caste system is based
on birth, in that people inherit caste from their parents and pass it on to their
children. The caste is associated with an occupation; there is connection between
the level of caste and economic prosperity. People from the higher caste are more
prosperous than those from the lower caste. People from the lower caste live in
conditions of great poverty and social disadvantage. They can not send their
children to get a good education, unlike the landlords who can send their children
to schools or even to universities abroad. Because they can not get a good
education they can hardly find a good job. They end up doing some menial jobs
like pulling a rickshaw or cart, or working in the farm of their landlords. People
are restricted in their choice of occupation, in which each caste has a specific
change the occupation.
The old driver asked,” What caste are you?”

“Halwai.”
“Sweet-makers,” the old driver said, “That’s what you people do. You make
sweets. How can you learn to drive?”
“That’s like getting coals to make ice for you”
“It’s like taming a wild stallion-only a boy from the warrior castes can
manage that. Muslims, Rajputs, Sihks-they’re fighters, they can become
drivers. You think sweet-makers can last long in fourth gear. (2008:47)
36
From the quotation above, someone’s occupation is based on their level of
caste. People from “Halwai” caste can not be a driver because they are sweet
makers. The caste system does not permit the change of caste. Poverty,
unemployment, and landlords are interrelated problems in Laxmangarh. They
usually ask for a job to the landlords and these are used by landlords to exploit
their labours with low wages. Some of those who do not have jobs in the village
try to find a job in the city.
So the rest of the village waited in a big group waited in a big group outside
the shop. When the buses came, they got on and went to Gaya; there they
went to the station and rushed into the train-and went to Delhi, Calcutta and
Dhanbad to find work. (2008:22)
My uncles also did backbreaking work, but they did what everyone else did.
Each year, as soon as it began raining, they would go out to the fields with
blackened sickles, begging one landlord or the other for some work.
(2008:23)
Life in the darkness is getting worse by the poor education system. The
teacher does not give a good example to his students. He does things that violate
rules, such as corrupting lunch money; he even takes the school uniform that
belongs to his student. He sells the uniform in a neighbouring village, but no one
in the village dares to blame him.
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 saw rotis or yellow daal, or pickles, and everyone knew why. The
schoolteacher had stolen our lunch money.
Once, a truck came into the school with uniforms that the government had
sent for us; we never saw them, but a week later they turned up for sale in
the neighbouring village.
No one blamed the schoolteacher for doing this. Every man in the village
knew that he would have done the same in his position. Some were even
proud of him, for having got away it so cleanly. (2008:28)
37
Poor health services add to the list of bad social condition in the Darkness.
There is no hospital in Laxmangarh so there is no good service to people who are
sick. Many people do not get treatment because of the lack of hospital and
medical facilities. They even have to cross the river in order to go to the hospital,
but there is no doctor in the hospital; the doctor seldom visits the hospital. Even
the position of a doctor becomes an item that can be auctioned because there is
good money in the public service.
There is no hospital in Laxmangarh, although there are three different

foundation stones for a hospital, laid by three different politicians before
three different elections. (2008:39)
“Why isn’t there a doctor here, uncle?” I asked. “This is the only hospital on
either side of the river.”
“Now, each time this post falls vacant, the Great Socialist lest all the big
doctors know that he’s having an open auction for that post. The going rate
for this post is about four hundred thousand rupees these days.”(2008: 41)
Another picture of the social conditions in Laxamangarh that burden the
poor is the dowry system. This dowry system is often utilized by the groom to ask
the bride for a large dowry. This leads the bride who is unable to prepare the
dowry to borrow money from the landlord. This causes people to be trapped in
debt with the landlords.
Because we were the girl’s family, we were screwed. We had to give the
boy a new bicycle, and cash, and a silver bracelet, and arrange for a big
wedding. (2008:30-31)
The family had taken a big loan from the Stork so they could have a lavish
wedding and a lavish dowry for my cousin-sister. He wanted all the
members of the family working for him and he had seen me in school. So
they had to hand me over too. (2008:31)
It was one of the good marriages. We had the boy, and we screwed the girl’s
family hard. I remember exactly what we got in dowry from the girl’s side:
five thousand rupees cash, all crisp new unsoiled notes fresh from the bank,
plus a Hero bicycle, plus a thick gold necklace for Kishan. (2008:42)
38
The marriage of Balram’s cousin sister, Reena, puts the family in debts.
This leads Balram to drop out of the school and work with his older brother,
Kishan. Different things happen when his older brother gets married; his
grandmother takes the opportunity to gain a large dowry from the bride.
The caste system also affects the relationship between master and servant.
Religion and caste are important to Balram’s masters. They just want to have
employees who are Hindu and from upper castes.
“Are you from a top caste or bottom caste, boy?”

“Bottom, sir.”
The old man said, “All our employees are top caste. It won’t hurt to have
one or two bottom castes working for us.”(2008:54-55)
Balram even has to suffer humiliation from his master; the ill-treatment
from his master is shown through his order. His master orders Balram to look for
a rupee coin that has fallen in the car. His master is so bothered about a rupee coin
after bribing someone with a million rupees.
“Get down on your knees. Look for it on the floor of the car”
I got down on my knees. I sniffed in between the mats like a dog, all in
search of that one rupee.
“We’ve just paid half a million rupees in a bribe, Mukesh, and now we’re
screwing this man over for a single rupee”
Finally, I took a rupee coin out of my shirt pocket, picked it up and gave it
to the Mongoose.
There was a childish delight on his dark master’s face.(2008: 117)
Other ill-treatments of the master continue when Balram is blackmailed
because Ashok’s wife, Pinky, kills a child in a car accident. He is framed for an
accident that his master committed and is forced to take the mistakes made by his
employer.
39
To whomsoever it may concern,

I, Balram Halwai, son of Vikram Halwai, of Laxmangarh village in the
district of Gaya, do make the following statement of my own free will and
intention:
That I drove the car that hit an unidentified person, or persons, or person
and objects, on the night of January 23rd of this year....
I swear by almighty God that I make this statement under no duress and
under instruction from no one. (2008:143)
Balram is forced to sign a statement accepting full responsibility for the
accident that he never did.
C. The Influences of Social Condition on Balram’s Sociopathy
Based on Huffman’s theory of in Psychology in Action, the society and
culture directly influence people; these influences are so strong and become a part
of who we are, that we find it difficult to recognize them (2000: 601). Social
condition plays an important role as one of the factors that shape the main
character. Huffman also states that the causes of antisocial disorder are not
completely understood; research supports both nature and nurture explanations.
Evidence also exists from environmental or psychological causes (2000: 533).
The causes of antisocial personality disorder could be the environment a person is
brought up in or the current circumstances he or she is going through. This
includes the family, neighbourhood members and friends that a person grew up
with and events that had occurred. Good or bad treatment that he or she had
received from others could also affect.
1. Selfish
Based on The Mask of Sanity, one of the characteristics of sociopaths is
pathologic egocentricity and incapacity for love. Sociopaths are always self-
centred and detached from others. They have no capacity for sincere compassion,
40
but are sometimes impressively adept in pretending to demonstrate such emotion
(1976: 346).
Balram who was born in the Darkness always gets bad treatment from those
around him. He does not get attention from his family; even his parents did not
give him a name.
“Munna? That’s not a real name.”

“That’s all I’ve got, sir,” I said.
“Didn’t your mother name you?”
“She’s very ill, sir. She lies in bed and spews blood. She’s got no time to
name me.”
“And your father?”
“He’s a rickshaw puller, sir. He’s got no time to name me.”
I came home that day and told my father that the school teacher had given
me a new name. He shrugged. “If it’s what he wants, then we’ll call you
that.
Balram’s family’s poverty causes him not to get attention from his family.
The marriage of Balram’s cousin sister, Reena, throws the family in debts. Reena
is asked to give a large dowry to the groom, and because the family does not have
enough money they borrow money from the landlord. This leads Balram to
dropping out of the school and working with his older brother, Kishan. Balram is
disappointed because he has to quit the school for pay the family’s loan when the
school inspector promises him a scholarship.
The family had taken a big loan from the Stork. 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. So they had to hand me over too. (2008:31)
“You’re angry with me for taking you out of school, aren’t you?” I said
nothing.
“You hate the idea of having to break coals, don’t you?” I said nothing
He took the largest piece of coal in his hand and squeezed it. “Imagine that
each coal is my skull: they will get much easier to break.”
He’d been taken out of school too. That happened after my cousin-sister
wedding. (2008:32).
41
Balram is disappointed because he has to quit school and work at the
teashop to pay the family’s debts but he never works with responsibility. Instead
of crushing coals as he is required to do, he uses his time in the tea shop to spy on
every customer. The owner of the shop fires him because he is not working
responsibly. No one wants to hire him in Laxmangarh. He does not think of his
family when he loses his job.
I did my job with near total dishonesty, lack of dedication, and insincerity.
used my time at the tea shop in Laxmangarh to spy on every customer at
that, even as a field hand. So it was mostly for my sake that Kishan and
Dilip had come to Dhanbad—to give me a chance to start career as a human
spider afresh. (2008: 43-44)
From the explanation above it can be seen that Balram does not get attention
from his parents and continuously get bad treatment from people around him.
Then, feels disappointed and becomes a selfish person. He works in the teashop
and he has never been responsible for his job. Because of this, the employer
chooses to fire him. He is not thinking about the consequences of his actions. He
does not think of his responsibility to pay family debts. Balram’s brother, Kishan,
also quits from his job, because no one wants to hire Balram. They move into
Dhanbad and look for a new job.
Balram who does not have a job is interested to become a driver with big
salaries; he wants to learn to drive. His grandmother has agreed to pay the fee for
driving lessons, with a condition that he must give his salary every month.
Because of the bad treatment given by his grandmother when he was a child and
42
his wanting to get away from his family, he forgets his promise. He refuses to
send money home to his struggling family.
I hadn’t sent any money home for the past two months.
(2008:72)
I did not want to obey Kusum. She was blackmailing me; I understood why
she had sent that letter through the Mongoose. If I refused, she would blow
the whistle on me- tell Mr. Ashok I hadn’t been sending money home
(2008: 165)
From the quotation above, Balram’s selfishness is more visible. Balram who
has promised to send his salary to the village after becoming a driver breaks his
own promises.
Balram knows that his employer will go to Delhi. They need a driver and he
hopes that his employer will invite him to become a driver in Delhi. Balram
knows that being a driver in New Delhi will get him more money, but it is
difficult for Balram to go to Delhi because his employer will take the old driver.
Balram accidentally find out that the old driver has been lying to his master. The
old driver who knows his lies are uncovered decides to leave the house while the
guard who is afraid of losing his job recommends Balram to be a driver in Delhi.
I thought, What a miserable life he’s had, having to hide his religion, his
name, just to get a job as a driver- and he is a good driver, no question of it,
a far better than I will ever be. Part of me wanted to get up and apologize to
him right there and say, You go and be a driver in Delhi, You never did
anything to hurt me. Forgive me, brother.
I turned to the other side, farted, and went back to sleep. (2008:92-93)
Balram becomes a selfish person; he does not care about the reason the old
driver should lie. He lies about his name and his religion to get a job from the
employer who does not like muslims. He does that because he must support his
43
family, but Balram does not care about everything because he can get what he
want. Balram does not even regret with what he has done.
2. Charming
Another characteristic of sociopaths is superficial charm and intelligence.
Sociopaths exude charm that gives off a positive impression during the first
encounter. They do not seem peculiar or fake; people will tend to regard them as
normal and agreeable, intelligent people (1976:339).
After finishing his driving lessons, Balram tries to find a job. Everyone
refuses to hire him. At least he ought to know someone in the house rather than
knock doors and ask for a job. When he gets a chance to get a job he does
everything to gain sympathy from his potential employer; he try to give a good
impression on his employer.
You should have seen me that day- what a performance of wails and kisses
and tears! While clutching the Stork’s feet, I was starring at his huge, dirty,
uncut toenails, and thinking, What is he doing in Dhanbad? Why isn’t he
back home, screwing poor fishermen of their money and humping their
daughter? (2008:51)
He closed his eyes. “Do people there still remember me? It’s been three
years since I was there.”
“Of course, sir-people say, “Our father is gone, Thakur Ramdev is gone, the
best of landlords is gone, who will protect us know?” (2008:52)
From the conversation above it can be seen that Balram is trying to create a
good impression to his potential employer, although he has to lie, so he can get a
job as a driver. He does everything to impress them. Balram’s employers are ones
who really care about the caste system; they only want to employ workers from
the upper caste.

44
“Are you from a top caste or bottom caste, boy?”

“Bottom, sir.”
The old man said, “All our employees are top caste. It won’t hurt to have
one or two bottom castes working for us.”(2008:54-55)
Balram gets bad treatments from his environment because he comes from
the lower caste. He tries to get out of poverty, so he keeps trying to give a good
impression to his employers so they will trust him more than they do the old
driver.
“So Balram here touched his eye as a mark of respect. The villagers are so
religious in the darkness.”
That seemed to impress the two of them, so I put my finger to my eye a
moment later again. (2008:77)
The two of them kept an eye open for every tree or temple we passed by,
and turned around to me for a reaction of piety- which I gave them, of
course, and with growing elaborateness: first just touching my eye, the my
neck, then my clavicle, and even my nipples.
They were convinced I was the most religious servant on earth. (Take that,
Ram Persad!) (2008:78)
Balram gives the impression of a very religious person, contrary to his
atheistic belief. Balram will do everything possible, including lying so that the
employer trusts him more.
3. Dishonest
Another characteristic of sociopaths is untruthfulness and insincerity;
sociopaths are not capable of telling truth. They easily promise anything to declare
their innocence. They will lie about anything in any condition but show no
marked signs typical of liars in their speech (1976:341).
Balram who does not get attention from his family never thinks about them.
Balram breaks his promise to send his salary to his family in the village. He does
not remember the requirement given by his grandmother who has given him
45
money for the driving lessons that Balram will send every penny he receives to his
family. He only thinks about his own pleasure without concern of his family. He
is only thinking of how to escape from the responsibilities toward his family.
Kishan and Cousin Dilip lifted me up from the ground, big smiles on their
faces. Great news! Granny had agreed to let them invest in my driving
classes. “There’s only one thing,” Kishan said.” Granny says you’re a
greedy pig. She wants you to swear by all the Gods in heaven that you
won’t forget her once you rich.” (2008:47)
I hadn’t seen him since he left Dhanbad and come back to work in the
fields- that was three months ago. I hadn’t sent any money home for the past
two months.
(2008:71-72)
Balram tries to make a good impression on the master so that his employer
believes him. Balram wants to impress him with the good attitude that he always
shows. Balram will do everything possible, including lying so that the employer
will trust him more.
“Did you see what the driver did?”

My heart skipped a beat. I had no idea what I had just done. Mr Ashok
leaned forward and said,” Driver, you just touched your finger to your eye,
didn’t you?”
That seemed to have impressed the two of them, so I put my finger to my
eye a moment later, again (2008: 77)
Balram tries to look good in front of his master by any means including
lying. The employer knows that Balram will send his salary to his family in the
the money to his family. He uses all his salary to please himself.
46
(2008:122)
4. Unscrupulous
Another characteristic of sociopaths is lack of remorse or shame. Sociopaths
will declare themselves innocent of any blame and responsibility, never showing
major shame or remorse (1976: 343).
Balram continuously receive bad treatment from his employer. One of the
examples is when he orders Balram to look for a rupee coin that has fallen in the
car. His master does it for his own pleasure; he was so bothered about a rupee coin
after bribing someone with a million rupees.
“Get down on your knees. Look for it on the floor of the car”
I got down on my knees. I sniffed in between the mats like a dog, all in
search of that one rupee.
“We’ve just paid half a million rupees in a bribe, Mukesh, and now we’re
screwing this man over for a single rupee”
Finally, I took a rupee coin out of my shirt pocket, picked it up and gave it
to the Mongoose.
There was a childish delight on his dark master’s face. (2008: 117)
Balram receives another bad treatment when he is blamed for the accident.
He is framed for an accident that his master committed and is forced to take the
blame for the mistake.
To whomsoever it may concern,

I, Balram Halwai, son of Vikram Halwai, of Laxmangarh village in the
district of Gaya, do make the following statement of my own free will and
intention:
That I drove the car that hit an unidentified person, or persons, or person
and objects, on the night of January 23rd of this year....
I swear by almighty God that I make this statement under no duress and
under instruction from no one. (2008:143)
47
Balram who works in Delhi is increasingly aware of the wealth that he may
get, but he knows the fact that it is not easy for a driver to achieve their dreams.
“I mean what will happen to me a few years from now? Do I make enough
money to buy a house and then set up a business of my own?”
“If you save from today, you’ll make enough to buy a small home in some
slum. If you’ve been a bit smarter and made a little extra on the side, then
you’ll have enough to put your son in good school. That’s the best-case
scenario (2008:171)
The employer who continuously gives bad treatment is one of the cause why
Balram wants to escape from the “rooster coop” and he realizes that there is only
one thing he can do to achieve his dream, that is, murdering his employer and
taking his money. Finally, Balram decides to kill his employer in order to escape
from the “rooster coop”. Balram does not feel guilty when he kills his employer.
He does not see the murder as a mistake. He feels that he will make a mistake if
he does not kill the man.
I think the Rooster Coop needs people like me to break out of it. It needs
master like Mr. Ashok- who, for all his numerous virtues, was not much of a
master-to be weeded out, and exceptional servants like me to replace
them....
I have switched sides: I am now one of those who cannot be caught in
India...
I’ve made it! I’ve broken out of the coop! (2008:275)
I’ll never say I made mistake that night in Delhi when I slit my master’s
throat. (2008:276)
Although Balram makes a mistake he never wants to admit it or even feels
guilty. He is always looking for justification for all the mistakes he does. When
the grandmother asks him to marry, he roughly refuses. He refuses to apologize
because he feels that he has a good reason to refuse his grandmother.
She said. “We’ll fix up the wedding for later this year, okay?...”
“Granny,” I said,” give me some more time. I’m not ready to be married.”
48
I pushed the plate so hard it went flying to a corner and hit the wall and
spilled the red curry on the floor. “I said, I’m not marrying!”
Kishan got up and tried to stop me as I left, but I pushed him to the side- he
fell down hard-and I just walked out of the house.(2008:74-75)
Kusum,Luttu Auntie, and all the other women were gathered by the side of
the road as we drove out. They gaped at me-stunned that I wasn’t coming to
apologize: I saw Kusum clench her gnarled fist at me. (2008:760)
Even Balram does not feel guilty when he disobeys the orders from his
employer. He even feels better after doing it. The employer who is always giving
orders makes Balram feel uncomfortable, so he intentionally violates any orders.
instead of guilt, what did I feel? (2008: 195-196)
5. Unreliable
Another characteristic of the sociopath is unreliability; Sociopaths are likely
to perform an excellent amount of reliability, maybe even in a long period to
achieve gain, before finally showing their true colour and disregarding obligations
and responsibility (1976: 340).
Balram tries to find a job but everyone refuses to hire him. When he gets a
chance to get a potential job he does everything to gain sympathy from his
potential employer, Balram is always trying to create a good impression although
he has to lie, so that he can get a job as a driver. He does everything to impress
him. The employer knows that Balram will send his salary to his family in the
any money to his family.

49
(2008:122)
The employer continuously gives bad treatment and Balram who works in
Delhi is increasingly aware of the wealth that he can get. He knows for a fact that
it is not easy for a driver to achieve their dreams. He realizes that there is only one
thing he can do to achieve his dream, that is murdering his employer and taking
his money. Finally, Balram decides to kill his employer in order to escape from
the “rooster coop”.
I rammed the bottle down. The glass ate his bone. I rammed it three times
into the crown of his skull, smashing through to his brains. It’s a good,
strong bottle, Johnnie Walker Black- well worth its resale value.(2008:244-
245)
6. Apathetic
Another characteristic of sociopaths is the display of little affection or
feelings. While normal people would show despair when locked up, they do not
show the same tragic quality of reaction (1976: 348). In addition, they have no
real appreciation and affective response to other people. They may perform it only
when gaining something from doing so (1976: 354).
Balram feels that his family never give attention to him. They only think
about themselves. Balram is not close to his family and when he decides to kill his
employer he never thinks of the risk that will be faced by his family. He knows
that his employer’s family will take revenge on his family, but he does not care.
50
Either the Stork had them killed, or had some of them killed, and the others
beaten. Now, even if by some miracle he, or the police didn’t do that. So the
villagers would have forced them out-and they’d have to go to Delhi.., to
live under concrete bridge, begging for their food, and without a hope for
the future. That’s not much better than being dead (2008: 270)
One day, I know, Dharam, this boy who is drinking my milk and eating my
ice cream in big bowls, will ask me, Couldn’t you have spared my mother?
Couldn’t you have written to her telling her to escape in time? (2008: 272)
Balram knows all the consequences he will receive if he kills his master. He
was knows that his employer’s family will take revenge against his family in the
village. Although he knows the risks, he keeps his plan without thinking of his
family. His family will receive the consequences of his deeds. He did not save his
family when in fact he had a chance to save them. He could send a letter to the
house before killing his master so they could flee to a safe place.
Balram’s employer always says that Balram is part of the family, but in
reality the family always treat him badly. When Pinky, the employer’s wide, hit a
child, they blame Balram. They force him to admit to hitting the child. Therefore,
when he succeeds to open his own car centre company and has many employees.
Balram does not want to deal with his employees. Their relationship is limited to
employer and employees. He keeps distance with his employees.
Now I am a master of drivers. I don’t treat them like servants. I don’t insult
any of them by calling them my “family”. They’re my employees, I’m their
boss, that’s all. I make them sign a contract and I sign it too, and both of
must honour that contract. When the work is done I kick them out of the
office; no chitchat, no cups of coffee. A white tiger keeps no friends. It’s too
dangerous (2008: 259)
51
7. Sexually deviant
Deviant sexual behaviours are common in sociopaths but they do not crave
sex or are moved by it as much as normal people do. They also regard sex more
casually than most people do (1976: 359).
Balram, who see his employer hiring a prostitute that has golden and glossy
hair, becomes obsessed to do the same thing. He even looks in the car and finds a
strand of golden hair, and keeps it. He does everything that he can do to collect
the money to hire a prostitute with golden hair.
I opened the passenger’s door, and went inside, and passed my hand along
the leather. I passed my hands from one side of the leather seats to the other
three times, and then I found what I was looking for.
I held it up to the light.
A strand of golden hair.
I’ve got it in my desk this day (2008: 188)
Since Balram has a lot of money he never again goes to the “red light
districts”. He goes to five star hotels and assumes that white women are not as
good as Indian women.
I go from my own experience now, from the time I spend in five- star hotels.
(That’s right, Mr. Jiabao: I don’t go to the “red light districts” anymore. It’s
not right to buy and sell women who live in birdcages and get treated like
animals. I only buy girls I find in five-star hotels.)
Based on my experience, Indian girls are the best (2008:261)
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, the writer will sum up the conclusions derived from the
previous chapter. There are three problem formulations to infer detailed
information in analyzing the main character in the story, Balram Halwai. First is
how the main character, Balram Halwai, is described in the story. The novel
describes Balram Halwai as an intelligent person, even since he was a child. He
was promised a scholarship to attend a proper school by his teacher and the school
inspector. However, due to familial circumstances, he had to drop out of school.
But he manages to pick up on things from the street and become a man of broad
knowledge. In addition, he is cunning. He manages to find a loophole in his
employment to boost his career, using both his fellow driver and security guard
with a secret of theirs that he withholds for exchange of recommendation for a job
in Delhi.
He is also a selfish and irresponsible person. He never works
wholeheartedly, leading to his dismissal by the owner of the teashop he is working
in. Balram never cares about how his action will affect his family—how he will
not be able to help pay off their debts if he is unemployed. He brings his bad work
attitude all the way to Delhi, where he remains disobedient when his employer is
away. In addition to being incapable of selfless and responsible acts, he is not
capable of truthfulness. Dishonesty and deceit have become a way of life and a
way for him to achieve his goals. He is not capable of keeping promises; he might
52
53
make them to attain what he wants but as soon as he gets it he forgets the
promises.
Guilt and remorse do not have place in Balram’s repertoire. He always
searches for excuses to justify his actions. His lack of remorse may have a hand in
leading him to commit all kinds of illicit actions that he needs for achieving his
dreams.
The second problem formulation explains that the social condition that
happens in India is influenced by caste. The social condition in India that
differentiates between the poor and the rich derives from the caste system. The
caste system in the environment gives a great influence on the society. The caste
is associated with an occupation; there is connection between the level of caste
and economic prosperity. Poverty and unemployment, corrupt education system,
poor health services, the dowry system and master-servant relationship are part of
the problems that caused by the caste system.
The answer from the third problem formulation shows that the social
condition gives influence to Balram’s personality. He possesses the characteristics
typical of sociopaths. The first characteristic is selfishness. Lack of attention from
his parents, coupled with ill-treatment from people around him, lead him into
becoming a selfish individual. Consistent to sociopathic egocentricity and
incapacity for love, Balram has always been self-centred and detached from
others. After being forced to quit school and to work to pay off family debts, he
has become an irresponsible employee that he is often dismissed from his job. It is
not dawned on him that this behaviour will put his family into trouble, as they rely
54
on him to help pay the debts. After becoming a driver, Balram also breaks his
promise to his grandmother to send his salary home.
The second characteristic typical of sociopaths is superficial charm and
intelligence. Sociopaths give off a good impression at first sight. People will
regard them as genuinely pleasant and intelligent people. Balram also possesses
this nature even since he was young. A clever and cunning person, he always
thinks several steps ahead. His ideas are often out-of-the-box. This is illustrated
by his non-attempt at escape when he is a fugitive. Knowing that he is searched by
the police for killing his employer, he dares to instead go to them and pay bribes
to facilitate his plan to open his own car centre company. Balram’s charm does
not escape from his employer’s attention. Since the interview, he pretends that he
is a religious man because that is the kind of employee that his potential employer
is looking for.
The third characteristic typical of sociopaths is incapability of truthfulness.
In order to declare their innocence they will lie and deceive but show no marked
signs typical of liars in their speech. Balram consistently lies in order to achieve
what he wants. He pretends good attitude in front of his employer in order to gain
trust; he breaks his promise to send his salary to his family in the village after he
receives the driving lessons his grandmother pays for him. He is only thinking of
how to escape from the responsibilities toward his family.
The fourth characteristic typical of sociopaths shown in Balram’s
personality is lack of remorse or shame. Sociopaths will declare themselves
innocent of any blame and responsibility, never showing major shame or remorse.
55
Balram never regrets disobeying his employer and even murdering him. He does
not feel shame for turning his back on his family who desperately need his help.
The fifth characteristic typical of sociopaths evident in Balram’s personality
is unreliability. Sociopaths are likely to perform an excellent amount of reliability,
maybe even in a long period to achieve gain, before finally showing their true
colour and disregarding obligations and responsibility. Although at first trying to
create a good impression to attract a potential employer, he shows his true colour
after he succeeds in getting the job—he starts to abandon responsibility.
The sixth characteristic typical of sociopaths apparent in Balram’s
personality is little affection or feelings and no real appreciation and affective
response to other people. To sum those up in one adjective, sociopaths are
apathetic towards people and things around them. Knowing the risk of killing his
employer, i.e. the family taking revenge upon Balram’s family, he still does it
anyway. This shows that he has little affection for his family. He also limits his
interaction with his employees. He shows distance with them, and does not
display any affection to them.
The seventh characteristic typical of sociopaths apparent in Balram’s
personality is sexual deviation. After seeing his employer hiring a golden-haired
prostitute, he starts imitating the action and becomes obsessed that he once goes
out of his way to collect a golden strand of hair that belongs to a prostitute. Since
then he often goes to the red districts and find that, along the way, his taste has
shifted from blonde whites to Indian women.

56
The answers above give an idea that the causes of antisocial personality
disorder could be the environment where a person is brought up in or the current
circumstances he or she is going through. This includes the family,
neighbourhood members, and friends that a person grew up with and events that
had occurred. Good or bad treatment that he or she had received from others could
also affect. Social condition influences the psychological condition of Balram; bad
treatment that he has received from others affects his personality and leads him
into becoming a sociopath.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. New York: Holt, Rinehart &
Winston, 1981
Adiga, Aravind. The White Tiger. New York: Free Press, 2008.
Baron, Robert A and Donn Byrne. Social Psychology: Understanding Human
Interaction. 5th ed. Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon, 1987
Davison, Gerald C and John M. Neale. Abnormal Psychology. New York: John
Wiley & Suns Inc., 1996
Jordison, Sam. “How did The White Tiger Capture the Booker”.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2008/oct/15/booker-prize-
aravind-adiga> (05 October 2010)
Huffman, Karen, Mark Vernoy and Judith Vernoy. Psychology in Action, 5th ed.
New York: John Wiley & Suns Inc., 2000
Higgins, Charlotte. “Out of the Darkness Adiga's White Tiger Rides to Booker
Victory Against the Odds”.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/oct/14/booker-prize-adiga-white-
tiger> (05 October 2010)
Little, Graham. An Approach to Literature: An Introduction of Critical Study
Content and Method in Writing. Marksville: Science Press, 1963
Lykken, David T. The Antisocial Personalities. New York: Lawrence Erlbawn
Associates Inc., 1995
Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseen. London: George Allen & Unwin.1972
Nevid, Jeffrey S, Spencer A. Rathus and Beverley Greene. Psikologi Abnormal
Jilid 1. 5th ed. Jakarta: Penerbit Erlangga, 2005
Rohrberger, Mary and Samuel H. Wood. Reading and Writing about Literature.
New York: Random House. 1971
Sebastian, A.J. “Poor- Rich Divide in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger”. Journal
of alternative Perspective in the Social Sciences. Vol. 5 No. 3(2009), pp.
229-245.
<http://www.japss.org/upload/6poorrichdivide.pdf> (16 June 2010)
Sebastian, A.J. and Nigamananda Das. “Drawbacks of Indian Democracy in
Homen Borgohain’s Pita Putra And Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger And
between the Assassinations: a Comparative Study”. Journal of Alternative
Perspective in the Social Sciences. Vol. 1 No. 3(2009), pp. 635-644
<http://www.japss.org/upload/5.SebastianandNigamanandaarticle.pdf> (18 March
2011)
Singh, Amardeep. “Why I Didn’t Like The White Tiger”.
<http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2008/09/why-i-didnt-like-white-tiger.html>
(07 March 2011)
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58
Wellek, Rene and Austin Warren. Theory of Literature. New York: Harcount
Brace and World Inc., 1956
Yelland, H. L., S. C. Jones and K. S. W Easton. A Handbook of Literary Terms.
London: Angus and Robertson, 1953.
Book Page
<http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1146> ( 05 October 2010)

59
APPENDIX
A. Summary of Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger
The White Tiger is framed as a narrative letter written over seven nights
from Balram Halwai to the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. His letter to the Chinese
Premier are a confession of Balram’s life story. In the letter, Balram descrobes his
rise from his origins to his current position as an entrepreneur in Bangalore.
Balram, the son of a rickshaw- puller lived in the village of Laxmangarh. His
family is too poor for him to be able to finish school. The marriage of Balram’s
cousin puts the family in debts, Balram instead is forced to break coals and wipe
tables in a Dhanbad vind teashop. The owner of the teashop fires him because he
is not working properly. No one wants to hire him in Laxmangarh, they move into
Dhanbad and look for a new job. In Dhanbad, Balram hears some conversations
that drivers get big salaries, he learns to drive. After learning how to drive, Balram
gets his break when a rich man from his village hires him as a chauffeur for his
son, Ashok. As he drives his master and his wife to shopping malls and call
centers, Balram becomes increasingly aware of immense wealth and opportunity
all around him, and the contrast between the master and servant classes. Through
these experiences, Balram becomes increasingly worldly and ambitious. Balram
realizes that there is only one thing he can do to become part of this glamorous
new India, murder his employer, and escape from servitude. One day as Ashok is
carrying seven hundred thousand rupees in cash as money bribes for politicians in
New Delhi, Balram murders him and flees to Bangalore with his nephew Dharam.
60
Balram uses the loot to bribe a police commissioner and create his own taxi
company. He changes his name to Ashok Sharma, and becomes a wealthy
"entrepreneur" in India's new technological society thus completing his emergence
from the Darkness into the Light.

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SOCIOPATHIC PERSONALITY AS SEEN IN THE MAIN

CHARACTER OF ARAVIND ADIGA’S THE WHITE TIGER

Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

EKA SHANTI BUDI ASIH

Student Number: 044214047

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

EKA SHANTI BUDI ASIH

Student Number: 044214047

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

Nama : Eka Shanti Budi Asih

Nomor mahasiswa : 044214047

Demi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan

SOCIOPATHIC PERSONALITY AS SEEN IN THE MAIN

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Pada tanggal: 15 Oktober 2011

(Eka Shanti Budi Asih)

give my deepest gratitude to my father Eddy Santoso, my mother Isnaningsih, my

to finish this thesis.

he has done along the process of writing this thesis.

Eka Shanti Budi Asih

EKA SHANTI BUDI ASIH. Sociopathic Personality as Seen in the Main

EKA SHANTI BUDI ASIH. Sociopathic Personality as Seen in the Main

A. Background of the Study

Another comment comes from Michael Portillo in another article:

“The novel undertakes the extraordinarily difficult task of gaining and

novel is a fiction but based on Indian’s reality. A literary work is the

representation of life as Graham Little states in Approach of Literature, that the

literature functions “as a representation of the situation and the thoughts

happening in a certain setting time and place” (1963: 1).

After he becomes a driver in Delhi, he becomes aware of the wealth and

becomes a wealthy entrepreneur, and it becomes a question to the writer, how he

becoming an entrepreneur through manipulation, murder, and theft, but as a reader

cringe, smile, worry and sympathize at the same time.

personality disorder. Personality disorders are sometimes considered less serious

diagnosed of having a personality disorder if they have inflexible and maladaptive

types of personality disorders. Antisocial personality disorder is one of the types;

three times more often in men than in women.

A person with antisocial personality disorder shows a lack of concern

deception or intimidation for their personal gain.

gives influences to his personality and how he becomes an individual with

antisocial personality disorder.

1. How is the main character characterized in Aravind Adiga’s The White

2. How is the social condition in India described in Aravind Adiga’s The

3. How does the social condition influence the main character to be a

C. Objectives of the Study

Based on the problem formulation, the first objective is to know the

characterization of the main character in the story. The second objective is to

In order to help understand the thesis and provide clearer explanation to

used in this study.

Sociopath is a popular term of antisocial personality disorder. According to

intelligence. Hare, as cited in Huffman (2000: 533), describes individuals with

A. Reviewed of Related Studies

Tiger as a criticism about social injustice in India. Sebastian A. J, Ph.D in Poor-

representative and gets a marginal place in the society. Balram is the

take the money to start a new life (http://

Sebastian A. J, Ph.D and Nigamananda Das, Ph.D in Drawbacks of Indian

That is why it is important to look into the drawbacks of Indian democracy.

maladministration, deprivation of liberty or equality, prevalence of injustice, and

Adiga have been chosen to compare the analysis.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory on Character and Characterization

Characters in the novel are presented through characterization. A character