White Tiger and Collector of Treasures: The Morality of Using Violence

Often times, when someone says violence, he is always referring to the abuse of violence, such as gun violence, sexual violence, or school bullying, which hurt others. Abuse of violence has become a social problem that is being unsolved since the beginning of human society until now. However, violence is sometimes necessary and can be used in a good or beneficial way. For example, violence can be used to maintain order of the society, and that’s why police needs to carry guns, so that when the safety of the majority was being threatened, the police can enforce protection by beating down or even shooting the criminals. In the book of The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga and story of “The Collector of Treasures” by Bessie Head, violence is used for self-defence, for relief from torture, and for self benefit.

Why does every nation needs armies and weapons? All nations have their own defence system so that they can protect themselves from invasions by foreign countries. According to Tom Ruys, he recorded a US note that says “ There is nothing in the ... treaty which restricts or impairs in any way the right of self-defence... Every nation is free at all times and regardless of treaty provisions to defend its territory from attack or invasion.”(Ruys p.54) Just like nations need self-defence, each individual also needs self-defence when the government cannot provide immediate protection for its citizens.Violence is necessary as a tool for self-defence. Self-defence is not a privilege, it is a human right, no matter what race, what class, or what gender, that everyone can have.

In The White Tiger, Balram intentionally killed his own master. He did this because he knew the fact that his master was going to fire him and replace him with another servant, and definitely, it would make him harder to look for another job. Balram wrote to Wen Jiabao that “India is two countries in one: an India of Light, and an India of Darkness.” F(Adiga p.12) As a servant living in the dark side of India, he could hardly find another job that pays him a fair wage and find a nice master like Ashok. Therefore, he decided to kill Ashok and take his money before Ashok fire him. His violent action protected him from losing the job and uncertainty in the future, and even granted him to rise from a low class and gave him a brighter future.

On the other hand, Dikeledi also used violence as a self protection. Since, Garsego, her husband, was being a bad influence to her and her children, she decided to kill him so that her children can be protected from his influence. Garsego was an irresponsible man who slept with women from village to village, and he did not care about his own family because he “left his wife and three sons” (Head p.163). To avoid Dikeledi’s children from learning his behavior and to protect her children from the bad reputation brought to them by Garsego, she killed him. In the story, violence is again used as a tool of self-defence and protection, protection for Dikeledi’s children.

Another way that violence can be used in a good way is that it can save people from torture. In the darkest side of society, many people, such as students, women, or poor people, are suffering injustice from other people. Some decide to keep silence and live under the oppression, but some decide to fight against the situation. Sometimes, violence is the only way to save people from tortures.

In The White Tiger, Balram lived in “an India of Darkness.”(Adiga p.12), where he began “his life as the ultimate cipher, not only faceless in society, but anonymous even within his family.” (Schotland p. 5) He was given the name “Munna” which means “boys.” His parents and grandparents did not even care about him, and thus he was raised in a family without love. In order for him to get out from the “Darkness,” he made a decision to kill Ashok and change his identity from a servant to a master. He knew that killing Ashok is the only way to save him from being a servant and from those non-humane treatment. Being unable to stand those unfair treatments, Balram finally released himself by using violence.

Also, in “The Collector of Treasures,” Dikeledi saved herself and her children from tortures of Garsego. After marriage, Garsego left the children to Dikeledi and did not support the family anymore. Besides her children, life with Garsego after marriage was terrible for her. Unlike her neighbors, Paul and Kenapele, she did not receive true love and care from her husband, because he left the family to their own and did not even came back and visit them for eight years. (Head p.167) As a woman, Dikeledi had to raise three children by herself, and she found that really hard to pay for their tuition fees even if she worked everyday. Since Garsego was the father, he was supposed to be responsible for the family, but he left all the responsibilities to Dikeledi. At last, Dikeledi decided to end his life so that she can gain a relief from those tortures, tortures of raising a family with three children. Even if she loved her children very much, she was still a woman - a woman striving hard to raise three kids by her own.

Besides self-defence and relief, violence can also be used to gain benefit, although this always ends up hurting others. Why did Hitler began one of the most intense world-wide wars? Hitler started war because he wanted to gain fame, money, and power, and violence was being used as a tool for gaining these benefits. Even though the act of killing other to gain one’s own benefit is not a proper action, sometimes people have to do this if he wants to survive.

In The White Tiger, Balram killed Ashok not only because he wanted to get rid of the identity as a servant, also because that there was a chance in front of him. Ashok was carrying thousands of rupees with him that day, and if Balram kills him, he could take all his money and become a rich people. (Adiga p.241) He could start his own business, he could buy a new house, and most importantly, he would no longer be a servant. Being overcome by all these greedy thoughts, Balram decided to kill Ashok and eventually gained fame, money, and power as he wished. Although he could have gained all these in a different way without killing Ashok, violence seemed to be the easiest, fastest, and safest choice at that time for Balram.

In “The Collector of Treasures,” Dikeledi also used violence to get benefits, even though she was being imprisoned after the crime. Since the children is the only concern of her, she would not care whether she was in prison or not, all she wanted was that her three young children can receive good education, and she wanted them to grow up in a good environment. After the death of the father, and since the mother is in prison, the money of the father and mother most likely went to the children of the family. When Dikeledi was being asked in prison that whether her children were in good care, she answered yes. ( Head p.161) After Garsego was dead, his money would probably be spent for the education of the children, and Dikeledi’s neighbors were willing to take care of the children for her while she was in prison, and Paul promised her that he will “take them as my own and give them all a secondary school education.” (Head p.172) Providing children with good education was Dikeledi’s greatest desire, and killing her husband benefits both herself and the children.

From these two stories, one can see that violence is not always bad; it depends on how people use it. Even in the Bible, God allowed the Israelites to fight against other nations to protect themselves and to gain resources. Also, God released them from slavery by killing Egyptians. In The White Tiger and “The Collector of Treasures,” the two main characters used violence as self-defence to protect themselves or their family, and they can save themselves from tortures with the use of violence. Also, they gained benefits through their violent actions. Although the abuse of violence causes social problems, violence is still necessary for human-beings in politics and military to punish the evil and wicked.