Resilience and Identity in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger, Anita Nair’s Idris: Keeper of the Light, and Jeet Thayil’s Names of the Women
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Contemporary Indian fiction offers a vivid exploration of the country's social dynamics, addressing themes of resilience, identity, and transformation against the backdrop of its diverse cultural and historical contexts.This research article examines the themes of resilience and identity in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger, Anita Nair’s Idris: Keeper of the Light, and Jeet Thayil’s Names of the Women. Each novel offers a different viewpoint on how people overcome social and cultural norms to claim their identities and overcome hardship. This investigation highlights the diverse expressions of resilience by comparing and contrasting Balram's forceful self-assertion, Idris's adaptive resilience, and Thayil's female characters' quiet endurance. This scrutiny highlights the intricate process of identity development in modern Indian fiction by concentrating on these themes, which mirror the characters' experiences navigating social and personal obstacles. Adiga, Nair, and Thayil provide important insights into the study of self-hood and the human spirit in Indian literature by illustrating resilience as a transforming force that enables people to reinvent themselves rather than just as a means of survival.
Author: Farheena Tabassum
Institution: Palamuru University
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4409240761