Modern India reflected in Aravind Adiga's Last Man in Tower
Authors/Creators
Description
This paper endeavors to show
that colonialism and imperialism are not
at all defunct even after their formal
termination and how Globalization has
affected the social as well as cultural
values. It analyzes how globalization as a
form of neocolonialism in the
postcolonial period influences English
literature with special reference to
Aravind Adiga’s novel Last Man in
Tower. Aravind Adiga was born in
Madras in 1974. A former India
correspondent for Time magazine, his
articles have also appeared in
publications including the Financial
Times, Independent and the Sunday
times. He is the author of three critically
acclaimed works of fiction: the Man
Booker Prize-winning novel The White
Tiger (2008), the short-story collection
Between the Assassinations (2009) and
the novel Last Man in Tower (2011). In
Last Man in Tower Adiga has depicted
Mumbai as a commercial and financial
hub which has emerged as place of
assorted opportunities. To have a pucca
house in Mumbai is a distant dream of
middle class because of the corrupt
politicians and their intimate relations
with the developers. The inhabitants of
Tower A represent the middle class
psyche of Mumbai trying to share the
rapid economic expansion, sudden
fortune and unimaginable riches on
account of globalization. The novel
revolves around two antithetical forces:
the retired school teacher who signifies a
postcolonial resistance and the greedy
developer who stands for neo-colonial
paradigm. The dignified old man is made
to confront certain conflict with an
impatient and impetuous younger
generation that has successfully
acclimatized itself to face the
opportunities, chall.