Balram And Kino's Death

As Romain Rolland, a great French philosopher, once said, “Fatality is the excuse of souls without a will.” However, not everyone in the society, especially for lower class people, has the courage to change the fate, unless they are forced by some significant factors. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga and The Pearl by John Steinbeck describe how do two people from a lower social class try to change their fates with the help of others. The impact of the family drove Balram in The White Tiger and Kino in The Pearl to fight against their own established fates.

The personality and behavior of Balram and Kino were influenced by their family, such that Balram tried to pursue success and to escape from the control of grandma while Kino embarked on
the fate-changing road in order to protect and give his family a good life. Balram was born in poverty. During his growth, he was deeply affected by his father, which developed a desire for him to escape the poverty and be a successful man. Vikram, Balram’s father, was a rickshaw puller. He worked extremely hard to support his family. However, he did not get any respects as a human, just because of his lower-class identity. “My whole life, I have been treated like a donkey. All I want is that one son of mine- at least one- should live like a man.” (Adiga, 26) Vikram’s complaint and wish had been branded deeply in Balram’s mind. Balram would never forget how his father was treated by the rich. He realized that the rule of "no pains, no gains" did not exist in this society, working hard did not mean having a good life. He also learned that only a higher-status person can enjoy the basic living rights after his father died, due to the poverty and lower-status identity. Vikram was sick in tuberculosis, however, there was no doctor in the public hospital who could cure him. The doctors merely worked for the rich, the only way for them to make money, in some private hospitals. Owing to the lack of treatment, Vikram died eventually. Balram witnessed his father's death. It buried a seed of resentment in Balram's subconscious; he blamed the corrupted society for his father’s death, which inspired him to murder his Boss, Mr. Ashok later. Under the impact of Vikram, Balram had totally understood that most poor and lower-status people's fates were died in poverty. It tremendously stimulated Balram to be a successful man in this society. Only when he was rich, could he enjoy the basic living rights, the respects of others and everything he wanted. His mind was full of ambitions. He knew that after he killed Mr. Ashok, his family would be revenged and killed. However, the most important, in the earth, for him, was being rich and powerful. Nothing can be compared with that. So, it was not a surprise when he sacrificed his family for achieving his goal, changing his position in society. Besides the impact of Balram's father, the controlling of his grandma also encouraged him to pursue freedom and to be the master of his own life. Balram was bored about being forced to send money back by the power of his grandma, especially when he was controlled by Mr. Ashok and Mongoose, Ashok's brother. Balram desired the freedom, he was enjoying about being free when he wear T-shirt hanging in the mall. Thus, Balram's family drove him to be a successful and libertarian man. The positions in society are similar for Balram and Kino. Kino was born in poverty as well, working as a pearl diver and living in a brush house by the sea with his family. However, by contrast, Kino was driven by the duty of family to embark on the fate-changing road. "In Kino's head there was a song now, clear and soft, and if he had been able to speak of it, he would have called it the Song of the Family." (Steinbeck, 6) As for Kino, the family took the first place in his life. He loved his family so much. Staying with his family, there were peace and joy for him. Despite the fact that he was poor, he could still feel fulfilled about his wife and his son. But, one day, his son, Coyotito, was stung by a scorpion suddenly. His son’s in danger and family duty force him to embark on the treatment-seeking road. It is not common and easy for low-status people, who live under the fear and oppression of upper class, to ask help from high-status people. "And Kino saw her determination and the music of the family sounded in his head with a steely tone." (Steinbeck, 13) This was a power of family, which helped Kino overcome his fear and hesitation. Although he did not know what would happen and if the doctor in town would treat his son, he still decided firmly to go to the town, where was a totally different world to him. In terms of Kino, Coyotito was his first baby, it almost means everything in his world. Nothing could be worthier than him. He could loose everything but his family. All he wanted to do was to protect and give a good life for his family. However, the world was realistic, the doctor in town, who only cures the rich and powerful people, refused to treat Coyotito, due to Kino’s poverty and lower-status identity. For people who living in town, they did not care about lives of the poor, all they cared was how to "steal" much more money from lower-class people. Kino started to realize that money was extremely crucial for him to get a treatment for his son, and can help his family escape from poverty, and can help him to be the master of his own life. At that point, Kino's mind was totally changed. He would not just accept his fate, living in poverty for a whole life, and watch his son died in the lack of treatment. He backed to home, drove his boat, and went diving pearls. He would not be satisfied if there was only a small pearl. He desired a huge pearl, which could change everything for his life. So, Kino started to embark on the fate-changing road in order to protect and give his family a good life. Both Balram and Kino were driven by the powerful impact of family to break their established fates.

Whereas both Balram and Kino refused to accept their fate as determined at birth, Balram achieved his goal by using violent and immoral methods but Kino failed when he lost his only son.
When Balram backed to his hometown, he was treated differently as before. All the villagers expressed their respects to him though Balram was only a driver for Mr. Ashok. Balram understood the importance for him to improve his position in this society. He asked another driver about how he can change his life. However, there was no one could answer and help him. But, Balram did not give up. He was continuously observing Mr. Ashok about how he could make money, where was his success from, besides his inherent wealth. During the time when Balram worked for Mr. Ashok, he saw Mr. Ashok’s change, being persuaded to be corrupted by the greed and dark side of society. After a long-time witnessing the bribery and fraud that Mr. Ashok made, Balram was convinced that the only way to achieve success is through corruption. He witnessed that Mr. Ashok bribed the officers in government to ensure he can still evade tax in a maximum way. However, as for Balram, a lower-class person, there was no way to use corruption to gain success. To be more specific, Balram did not even have money to bribe some higher-class people. The extreme ambition of being a successful man drove Balram to use violence as a measure to gain success. When the only chance appeared, killing Mr. Ashok and stealing his money, Balram caught
and made it. "I rammed the bottle down. The glass ate his bone. I rammed in three times into the crown of his skull, smashing through to his brains." (Adiga, 245) Balram murdered Mr. Ashok successfully. Earth-shaking changes have taken placed in his life. His established fate had been broken. Balram made a huge transfer about his identity from a lower-class servant to a higher-class person. He was no longer a servant. He was his own master of his life. He became a powerful, rich, privileged and successful man. However, compared with Balram, Kino was not lucky enough. Kino failed in fighting against his established fate. When Kino went diving for pearls to get the treatment fee for his son, Kino found the largest pearl he had never seen before, the pearl of “the whole world”, which could totally change his life and make him successful. Kino could not wait to sell his pearl in town. He believed deeply that he could change his fate and provide a good life for his family by the wealth this pearl brought. Luck and misfortune comes in turn. The pearl, which should take the fortune and blessings to him originally, became an evil and misfortune. It provoked the greed of human beings. Everyone in the society desires and wants the pearl. People used fake gestures to get close to Kino in order to steal his pearl. For example, the priest who was an upper-class person came to visit him, owing to the attraction of the pearl. The doctor came and treated his son, which was driven by the desire likewise. When Kino went to town, the well-organized and corrupted dealers cheated him, who was a representative of low-status people, desperately and together that the pearl was worthless. Human’s greed has been displayed totally. Kino found he was extreme helpless in his city. He could not achieve his goal, changing his fate. His power was too weak to conquer his fate and escape from this corrupted society. But Kino did not give up. He decided to leave his hometown, the “darkness”, and went to the capital city, the “brightness”, where he thought he could sell his pearl for a good price. However, his son became a victim of human's greed on the journey, Coyotitio was killed by the trackers who followed Kino and hoped to steal the pearl. "And then Kino's brain cleared from its red concentration and he knew the sound- the keening, moaning, rising hysterical cry from the little cave in the side of the stone mountain, the cry of death." (Steinbeck, 92) Kino lost his only son, which was an actual whole world for him. The pearl became worthless to him. Not only did Kino fail to fight against his established fate, but also he lost everything.

Can lower-class people change their determined fates by themselves?
It is still an unsolved mystery. Both Balram and Kino have similar positions in society, however, the impact of family has affected them in a totally different way. The diverse impact of family has built different personalities for Balram and Kino, which also causes their different behaviors. Owing to their different personalities and behaviors, their results are different as well. The reason why Balram achieves changing his fate is he can give up everything to win freedom and gain success, even to abandon his family. By contrast, Kino still puts his family in the first place even when he has the pearl. In conclusion, the essential condition for lower-class people to break down their established fates is to not believe in the fatality. And the impact of family usually plays a significant role in driving people to change their
fates.