Poverty and social status - Essay Example

The Elephant by Aravind Adiga Roll No: Teacher: 27th October 2009 The Elephant by Aravind Adiga The short story, The Elephant written by Aravind Adiga circulates around the character of Chenayya who is the protagonist of the story. The writer portrays Chenayya as a poor carter who passes his days and nights like an animal. For him, his sustenance is a huge burden. He suffers from neck pain regularly because of pulling cart up the hillside but he has to take this route repeatedly. Aravind Adiga depicts poverty in Indian society through the eyes of Chenayya.

Chenayya is in continuous trouble because he dislikes his job. He is unable to bear the pain that he suffers during pulling carts. Because of his overly suffered pains and no gains, he sometimes thinks about stealing from Mr. Ganesh Pai, the owner of the shop.The writer informs about Indian society and the lives of people who are totally different socially such as the politicians, rich children having ice-cream and poor carters laying in rain without any coverage and doing work more than their capacity.

The treatment of rich people towards Chenayya and other people like him was very ill and odd. He was just treated as an animal that should perform his duties without troubling anyone else. Adiga reveals about the low status people of India in the character of Chenayya who compares himself with many animals in the story in order to reveal his position in his society. Firstly, he compared himself to a pig, then to an elephant and then to dogs. He had to continue his job of pulling carts in order to earn his livelihood.

The greatest factor that is revealed through this story is that people do not even pay him according to his struggles. Chenayya is unable to earn good money, is disliked by people and even the prostitute is unable to give him any heed for which, he is very angry. He becomes very angry at times and wishes to hurt someone with his saw. He also abuses people while pulling cart and while moving in the traffic. His abusing and his anger are an outcome of his hardships. He has no place to live except the cart.

He is unable to marry because of his inability to earn a livelihood that is enough for two. The writer of the short story sketches the life of a poor carter who thinks overly about his state of living and wishes to bring in some difference. However, the carter is unable to earn enough money even to fulfill his needs. The story reveals about poverty faced by the lower most class of Indian society.Works CitedAdiga, Aravind. The Elephant. The New Yorker, 2009. Accessed on 27th October 2009 from http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2009/01/26/090126fi_fiction_adiga?

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