“The Abuse of Entrusted Power for Private Gain”
Personal Comment: Corruption has existed in our world for many eons. We have at times limited corruption, but it always finds its way back in a more profound way as human greediness always emerges. The impact of corruption has also caused the emergence of oppression as people struggle to promote their opinion as most of a country or city is being controlled by one individual or a group of individuals at the core of a corrupted system.
Main Issue
Research Quote: “The abuse of a trusted position in one of the branches of power (executive, legislative, and judicial) or in political or other organizations to obtain material benefit which is not legally justified for itself or others.” (Sumah 2)
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Novel Quote: “See, this country, in its days of greatness, when it was the richest nation on earth, was like a zoo... the day the British left—the cages had been left open, and the animals had attacked and ripped each other apart and jungle law replaced zoo law.” (Adiga 38)
Personal comment: In our world, we are faced with many social issues as shown through the novel The White Tiger. The significant issue that was present in the novel was the struggle against political corruption and oppression. We have seen the effects of corruption on many countries as it affects the country's branches of power which in turn affects the stability of the nation as a whole. The main character of the novel indicates that power and wealth in the country are unfairly being used against their citizens for their gain.
Causes
Research Quote: “Corruption always arises from an array of several, interrelated factors, which can differ considerably from one another.” (Sumah 9)
Novel Quote: “To sum up—in the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies. And only two destinies: eat—or get eaten up.” (Adiga 38)
Personal comment: Many factors can influence corruption and oppression in our society. The most notable cause of corruption in the novel was the historical influence of English settlers. India was colonized by imperialistic England many centuries ago and only relinquished control approximately 70 years ago. As India was under control for many centuries, they struggled to rule their own country effectively and fairly. This caused the wealthy to gain all the power in the country and left the poor with no support. Geographical location was also a major factor for the corruption of India as they are located in a very hot and dry climate that is faced with many droughts. As a third-world country, the major economic source for many citizens would be agriculture and farming. This allowed the small percentage of wealth to amass a lot of control and power as a lot of citizens were not highly educated due to the fact they had to work on farms. This caused the wealthy to infiltrate the country’s branches of power so they could benefit from their fellow citizens for their own gain. The economic underdevelopment and low employment rates of the country were also major causes of corruption in the country. In India, only a small percentage of people are wealthy and live very comfortably while the vast majority of the population is poor and lives in third-world conditions. Those wealthy people greatly influence the economy of the country as they have the most power in their businesses. This causes the branch of power to be infiltrated by those wealthy people as there is no one more powerful enough to stop them. This leads to corruption as the wealthy benefit from this situation and oppression as there is no one to able to stand up to them and tell them what they're doing is wrong and unfair.
Effects
Research Quote: “Negative effects of corruption are the same; it reduces foreign direct and domestic investments, increases inequality and poverty, raises the number of freeloaders (renters, free-riders) in the economy, distorts and exploits public investments, and reduces public revenues.” (Sumah 53)
Novel Quote: “We were like two separate cities—inside and outside the dark egg. I knew I was in the right city. But my father, if he were alive, would be sitting on that pavement... So I was in some way out of the car too, even while I was driving it.” (Adiga 80)
Personal comment: The effects of corruption and oppression can be seen throughout the novel as they greatly affect the severity of poverty and classism in Balram’s community. As the novel takes place in India, the main character’s community is always faced with the effects of the country's corruption. Balram lived in a poor community where everyone was expected to be a farmer or a rickshaw driver. If you are not from an affluent community, you were not expected to become wealthy and prosperous as the country’s system was arranged only to benefit the wealthy and the higher classes and not the poor and lower classes. Major corruption caused a major divide between the wealthy and impoverished societies in India. Corruption is used by people with great power and wealth to benefit themselves and oppress others who rank lower than them in society. The wealthy are the only people who benefit from a corrupt society, while the impoverished tirelessly work to stay afloat. This leads to a divide in society as the wealthy do not associate with the poor and also do not want the impoverished to succeed by keeping them oppressed and under their control.
Solution
Research Quote: “To succeed, we have to be the party of change, we have to root out corruption in our ranks and we have to be the party of solutions.” (Bobby Jindal)
Novel Quote: “There is no end to things in India, Mr. Jiabao, as Mr. Ashok so correctly used to say. You’ll have to keep paying and paying the fuckers. But I complain about the police the way the rich complain; not the way the poor complain.” (Adiga 187)
Personal comment: Corruption and oppression can be very difficult for only one single person to overcome. It seizes control of the government and law control officials who are the people who can break the corruption cycle but do not do so. This is why gaining the attention of the international public would be very essential to restrain the level of corruption in the country. In Venezuela, they have been battling political corruption and oppression for many years, but change has just recently been made since they gathered the attention of the international public. When international news agencies pick up such news, it can quickly spread to powerful people in different countries who can help any country rethink and rebuild the governmental system to ensure everyone is being treated equally and no one is benefiting while others are suffering. Many of these countries do at times minimize corruption but corruption can resurface by having unethical political officials take advantage of such fragile countries. These citizens need to learn to start electing more ethical people in their government who will look out for their rights and their safety instead of selfish officials who only want to achieve personal gain. If these countries were to follow through and elect ethical people into power, oppression would be eliminated as everyone would be able to speak freely and there would be much less corruption as the most powerful in the country are looking for the health of their citizens instead they’re own personal gain.
Work Cited
- Adiga, Aravind. White Tiger. Atlantic Books, 2018. By. “From Oppression to Corruption to Failure.” RSS, www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/from-oppression-to-corruption-to-failure.
- e.V., Transparency International. Transparency International - What Is Corruption?, www.transparency.org/what-is-corruption#define.
- Šumah, Štefan. “Corruption, Causes and Consequences.” IntechOpen, IntechOpen, 21 Feb. 2018, www.intechopen.com/books/trade-and-global-market/corruption-causes-and-consequences.
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