Aravind Adiga's between the Assassinations: Chronicles of Aspiration and Disillusionment

The present paper attempts to explore how Adiga, inhis second novel Between the Assassinations (2008), depictsthe journey of Indian society from aspirations to disillusionmentby raising very vital issues of national importance such ascorruption, terrorism, religious fanaticism, child labour andsocial discrimination on the grounds of caste, religion, classand gender through a story of ‘everyman’ of ‘everytown’ of theperiod of transition between the assassinations of Indira andRajiv Gandhi viz. 1984 to 1991. The paper describes how Adigapresents a scathing critique of the individual vices such as deceit,hypocrisy, avarice and false pride in one’s social status basedon caste, religion and wealth and rotten religious, social andpolitical systems which are working together for disintegrationof human values and society as a whole. Adiga seems toimplicitly suggest us to get rid of the individual vices, socialevils and rotten systems through revolutionary social, economic,bureaucratic and political reforms. The issues raised by Adigahold perpetual relevance for Indian society.