In Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger, Balram Halwai is a man who committed murder in order to become an entrepreneur. Adiga uses language and the concepts of capitalism to tell Balram's "success" story. He does this with a great humor and sarcasm. Throughout the novel Balram speaks as if everything is a business deal. He is trying to sell himself to the Premier of China by playing up his entrepreneurship: "Don't waste your money on those American books. They're so yesterday. I am tomorrow" (4). It is as if he is throwing out a sales pitch and waiting for Mr. Jiabao to fall prey to it. Balram goes on to say "(But if you absolutely must find out more about me, just log on to my Web site . . . That's the URL of my start-up!)" (38). Adiga uses this type of framework to poke fun at the capitalist ways. Balram achieving success in business through theft and murder, and him believing this is a moral and valid way to get ahead in life, shows the dark side of capitalism. The shadiness is within, yet everything on the outside seems perfect.
Entrepreneurship is seen in a negative light, not only in The White Tiger, but throughout the business world as well. However, many people have become very successful by starting their own businesses and promoting their ideas. People who are self employed are also considered entrepreneurs. "According to the 2008 reports from the US Census, almost 2,356 people move to entrepreneurship per day. This is a big figure. Even though not all of them succeed, the report puts entrepreneurship efforts of such people at 78% of US small businesses, whereby the overall earnings are estimated at a whopping $951 billion per year!"
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