The New Literature

Sem : 4
The General
Strain Theory in
“ The White
Tiger ” by
Aravind Adiga
Prepared by : Ravina
● Objective of the Presentation
● Author and text’s Introduction
● What is Strain Theory ?
● General Strain Theory (Robert
Agnew)
● The Strain Theory and The Table of contents
White Tiger :
● Three main sources of strain
● Which kind of pressure Balram
had :--
● Textual evidence
● Conclusion
● Objective of the presentation :--

● To discuss what is the meaning of Strain Theory.

● How we can apply the strain theory in literary text.

● How The White Tiger is the perfect example of

Strain Theory

● What are the aspects speaks about the strain

theory in The White Tiger

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○
 The White Tiger
● It was published in 2008.

● The novel won the 40th Man

O Aravind Adiga (23 Booker Prize the year 2008.
October 1974) is an
Indian writer and ● The novel examines issues of the
journalist. Religion, Caste,Loyalty,
Corruption and Poverty in
O His articles have India.
appeared in ● The novel deals with the raw
publications such as practicality of Indian lives and
the New Yorker, the discovers the greyer shades of
Sunday Times, the human nature, needs and
Financial Times, and desire.
the Times of India.
❖ What is strain theory ?

● Strain theory is a sociology and criminology theory

developed in 1938 by Robert K. Merton.

● Strain theory states that social structures within society

may pressure citizens to commit crime.
● Harder time for minority group to achieve better
education and respectful lives. (Robert Merton)

● Merton added that when individuals are faced with a

gap between their goals and their current status,
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strain occurs.
❖ What is General strain theory ? (,GST)

● GST developed in 1992 by Robert Agnew.

● Emotion as the motivator for crime.

● The core idea of general strain theory is that people who

experience strain or stress become distressed or
upset which may lead them to commit crime.

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❖ General Strain theory and the white Tiger :--
The protagonist Balram Halwai who was the victim of the Indian
society.

He was mistreated by the upper class society. He is portrayed as

an untouchable, marginalized, dehumanized and oppressed
person.

Basic human tendencies work here ' if you have power and money
then and then you will get respect.'

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Loss of positive stimuli Presentation of

negative stimuli The inability to
( death of family or (physical and verbal reach a desired
friend) assaults) goal.

● Three main sources of strain such as: ( Raymond

Paternoster)
 ❖ Which kind of pressure Balram have :--
● He has to leave his early education.
● His father died because of don't getting medical treatment.

" The diseases of the poor can never get treated.

My father had TB and it killed him." ( The White Tiger)

● Working as a servant. (Slavery)

● Discrimination of laws in India

"A man on a bicycle getting killed—the police don't even

have to register the case. A man on a
motorbike getting killed—they would have to register that.

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would have thrown me in jail."( The White Tiger)
Agnew and Broidy investigated the different types of strain that women
and men experience. Here we have male character Balram Halwai, so let's
their investigation appropriate to Balram or not :---

Concerned with material success – thus higher rates of property and violent
crime. ( Balram attracted towards the house, cars and lifestyles of Mr. Ashok )

Face more conflict with peers and are likely to be the victims of crime. ( He
conflict with the Mr. Ashok)

Failure to achieve goals may lead to property and violent crime. ( He had failed
to achieve his goals)
( William O Grady)

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● Textual Evidence :--

" All I wanted was the chance to be a man—and for that,

one murder was enough." ( The White Tiger)

" I'll say it was all worthwhile to know, just for a day, just for an hour,
just for a minute, what it
means not to be a servant." ( The White Tiger)

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● Conclusion :--

● Thus, the application of Strain Theory is clearly visible in the

fiction of Adiga’s The White Tiger. ( A. Hariharasudan & S. Robert
Gnanamony)

● Murdering is essential in the first stage of upheaval, says Sartre,

eradicating in one go off tormenter and subjugated: getting a man
dead and others set free (Sartre)

● The poverty space widens in India, caste-based violence is flashing

throughout the country. This nasty circle needs to be broken.
Strategies of admittance from marginalization have to be worked

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out.
Citation :--
● Adiga, Aravind. The White Tiger. HarperCollins, 2008.

● Agnew, Robert. "Building on the Foundation of General Strain Theory: Specifying the Types of Strain Most Likely
to Lead to Crime and Delinquency". Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 38 (4): 319–361.
doi:10.1177/0022427801038004001. S2CID 15329824.
● Agnew, Robert, and Timothy Brezina (2010). Strain theories. In Sage handbook of criminological theory. Edited
by Eugene McLaughlin and Tim Newburn. London: SAGE.
● Hariharasudan, A. and Gnanamony, S. Robert, An Application of Strain Theory in Aravind Adiga's Postmodern
Indian Fiction: The White Tiger (July 18, 2017). Journal of Adv. Research in Dynamical & Control Systems,
07-Special Issue, July 2017 - Special Issue on Management Studies , Available at SSRN:
https://ssrn.com/abstract=3073487.
● Merton, Robert(1938). "Social Structure and Anomie". American Sociological Review. 3 (5): 672–682.
doi:10.2307/2084686. JSTOR 2084686.
● O Grady, William (2007). Crime in Canadian Context: Debates and Controversies. Oxford. p. 107.
● Paternoster, Raymond; Mazerolle, Paul 1994. "General Strain Theory and Delinquency: A Replication and
Extension". Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 31 (3): 235–263.

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doi:10.1177/0022427894031003001. S2CID 145283538.
● Sartre, J.P. Colonialism and neocolonialism. Psychology Press, 2001.
 If you have any
questions then write in
comment section.
ravinaparmar827@gmail.com

Batch year 2019 - 2021 Thank you

Department of English, Maharajah
Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar
University