The Emasculated Male Servant in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss and Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger

Abstract

Ramu Kaka is a name synonymous with the figure of the servant in Indian Hindi cinema — a greying old man, full of paternal love, affection and most importantly, loyalty for the family he serves. He is more of a family member than a servant. It is often argued that the stereotyped “Ramu Kaka” is an endangered, if not extinct species, in the modern materialist world. “Because of the long history of servant employment in India, we often do not reflect upon the institution — or if we do, it is to wish that servants these days were as loyal as servants of the past,” notes Raka Ray in an article in The Hindu titled “The Everyday Embrace of Inequality”. This paper is an attempt to study the representation of the servant in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss and Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. Both these novels won the Booker Prize, which is regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in the English speaking world.