The White Tiger

The River Ganga (Ganges) symbolizes corruption in India, especially in the “Darkness.” The polluted river serves as the demarcation point for the Darkness (which includes Balram’s village of Laxmangarh), “a fertile place, full of rice fields and wheat fields and ponds […] But the river brings darkness to India” (12). Opposed to the ocean, the River Ganga connects places with ample natural resources and stifling poverty, with dark water and mud that swallow everything that touches them. Balram’s mother’s body is burned on the riverbank, reinforcing the river’s connection to corruption: With banks “full of rich, dark, sticky mud whose grip traps everything that is planted in it, suffocating and choking and stunting it,” the river demonstrates how political and social corruption spread throughout India, preventing growth and trapping the poor (12). The river’s mud, the destination of almost every living thing in the Darkness, demonstrates that corruption doesn’t end with the landlords or ministers in Delhi, or even the Great Socialist. These individuals’ actions seep into the lives of everyone they touch, like mud. For example, a teacher sells his students’ uniforms because a lower-level official stole his paycheck, and the regional public hospital meant for residents of the Darkness proves inadequate—the latter leading to the death of Balram’s father.