NARRATIVES OF INEQUALITY: A MARXIST READING OF CLASS CONFLICT IN THE MURDER OF AZIZ KHAN AND THE WHITE TIGER

Abstract

This research paper undertakes a comparative analysis of inequality and class conflict as represented in Zulfikar Ghose’s The Murder of Aziz Khan and Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. Although situated in distinct national contexts — Pakistan and India —the two narratives offer incisive examinations of the socio-economic frameworks that entrench marginalization and injustice. Ghose depicts the disintegration of traditional agrarian life under the pressures of relentless capitalist encroachment, whereas Adiga exposes the stark realities of an entrenched class hierarchy upheld by systemic corruption and exploitation. Adopting a comparative perspective, the paper investigates how each author articulates a trenchant critique of class stratification, economic disparity, and the ethical compromises demanded by oppressive social structures. Particular attention is given to narrative perspective, symbolic motifs, and character construction as means of illuminating the intertwined dynamics of resistance and complicity in unequal societies. The research paper concludes that the selected works offer potent indictments of postcolonial South Asian realities marked by persistent class domination and economic injustice. Despite their differing national settings, the novels converge in their portrayal of the entrenched exploitation of the working class by a dominant capitalist elite.