The White Tiger Board Game by Regina Zbarskaya Text: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga Essence: The

corruption that occurs within an individuals moral code as a result of societys influence. Brief Summary of Text: Balram is born into a poor family with little chance of receiving an education and decently paid job. After being pulled away from the measly education he was receiving, he first worked for a tea shop, but then convinced his grandmother to loan him money to buy driving lessons in order to become a chauffeur. He began working for Mr. Ashok, not only as a chauffeur but also as a servant before multiple complications ensued, Balram being blamed for the death of a person Pinky Madam, Mr. Ashoks wife, ran over, his assistance in her escape back to America, his gaining money in conning Mr. Ashok through his car before finally killing Mr. Ashoke himself and taking the money Mr. Ashoke was going to use to pay off politicians. Balram decides to take his nephew, whom he had been teaching how to be a chauffeur, and run away to start his own car rental service. Prompt: 1976. The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the majority is the recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays. Select the work of an essayist who is in opposition to his or her society; or from a work of recognized literary merit, select a fictional character who is in opposition to his or her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and discuss the moral and ethical implications for both the individual and the society. Do not summarize the plot or action of the work you choose. Thesis: In The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga, Balrams belief in the possibility of living a morally correct life is shattered by the betrayal of Mr. Ashoke, his master, forcing Balram to succum to his societys standards of living a debauched life. Creative Project: A board game based on the game of Sorry equipped with a design focused on a jungle theme, advance cards that allow a player to move forward after making a decision involving a moral dilemma, sorry cards that allow you to take the place of another player at the expense of that player by sending them back to start, and white tiger player pieces; all wrapped up under the title Eat or Be Eaten. Explanation: As Balram begins his journey to his development of moral codes, he encounters an inspector that says, You, young man, are an intelligent, honest, vivacious, fellow in this crowd of thugs and idiots (30). He proceeds to ask him, In any jungle, what is the rarest of animals--the creature that comes along only once in a generations? (30). And Balram answers, The white tiger. (30). The inspector follows by claiming that that is what Balram is; the white tiger in the jungle that represents India (30). I took the idea of a white tiger being honest and pure and incorporated it as the pawns in the game. I decided to use them as the pawns because they represent Balram in his initial phases; he was young, innocent and inexperienced. He was not yet corrupted by the society around him. That is how the players begin in the game. They have not yet experienced tough moral dilemmas, so they have not yet been corrupted either.

Balram went on to describe the society he found himself in, describing India as a chicken coop where a handful of men... have trained the remaining 99.9 percent--as strong and as talented, as intelligent in every way--to exist in perpetual servitude (147). This quote shows the effect of society on individuals thoughts. Balrams society forces people into one set of thinking and does not allow them leeway for their own thoughts. I took this idea of influencing individuals thoughts through the number of spaces rewarded based on choice on the advance cards. Each advance card has two choices. Both choices allow the player to move forward; however, the choice that contains more spaces represents the societys influence, while the other represents an individuals actions. Each choice has consequences; these cards reflect the scruples game, where it is up to the player to decide which choice he wants to make. The only difference is that the society influence rewards the player by having a larger number of spaces to move forward; therefore applying a stronger pressure on the decision of the player. In the middle of the book, Balram describes the retelling of his story as a sorrowful tale of how he was corrupted from a sweet, innocent village fool into a citified fellow full of debauchery, depravity, and wickedness (167). I also took this idea into account as I made the game. I wanted something that would make the players possibly resort to taking a less moral path to win the game so I made the cards with moral dilemmas and with choices that were both immoral and moral. The whole point of the game is to win without sacrificing morality, but in order to win the game, the cards will force the people to take the less moral path, thereby corrupting them, as with what happened in The White Tiger. Balram made the decision to win the game or become an entrepreneur at the cost of his morality. Balram finally decided to start stealing from Mr. Ashoke after feeling betrayed by him, remarking, the more I stole from him, the more I realized how much he had stolen from me. I was growing a belly at last (196). I took this quote into consideration when making the sorry cards. The sorry cards different from the cards in the actual Sorry game because the player no longer has a choice of whether or not to send another player back to start. It is either player1 sends player2 back to start or player1 himself will go back to start. This creates a tense atmosphere between players and creates an environment where revenge flourishes. One player will begin to think that sending another player back to start is just revenge for what happened earlier. It breeds the same kind of thought that Balram was thinking as he was stealing from Mr. Ashoke. As Balram was describing the country he was living in, he referred to it as a zoo, a clean, well kept, orderly zoo that had its cages... let open; and the animals attacked and ripped each other apart and jungle law replaced zoo law... eat--or get eaten up (54). I used this quote when designing the theme of the board game. It is jungle themed, with the players having to go around a jungle centered in the middle where all of the dilemma cards are. I also used this quote as the title because it represent the main essence of the book and the game board; that an individual eventually has to resort to immoral decisions in order to continue progressing down the path they have chosen. In Balrams instance, it was his determination to be wealthy. In reference to the board game, it would be each players determination to win the game.

Eat or Be Eaten For 2 to 4 players Object of the Game To be the first player to get your white tiger pawn from start to finish. Equipment Eat or Be Eaten Game Board Deck of Cards 4 pawns Setup

Pick a pawn. They are numbered at the bottom. Remember your number. Place all pawns on the start block. Shuffle the deck. Pick a player to go first.

Game Play To start a pawn To move a pawn from start onto the rest of the board, the player must draw an advance card on their first turn. If they draw a sorry card, they forfeit their turn and must discard the card into the discard pile. Reading the card The player must read aloud the card they draw to the rest of the players and voice their choice from the two choices provided. Jumping and Bumping A player may jump over another players pawn that is in the way, counting it as one space. But, if a player lands on an already occupied space by an opponents pawn, the must send the opponents pawn back to start. Winning If a player is first to get back to the start square, they win! Notes Two pawns can never occupy the same space. If the deck runs out of cards in the Draw pile, shuffle the Discards and reuse them. The Cards Advance Cards Advance cards contain a moral dilemma with two choice. Once choice allows the player to advance further spaces but be immoral. Sorry Cards Sorry cards allow a player to switch places with another player on the board, but then bump them back to start. If the player decides not to bump another player to start, then they must return their pawn to start.