Globalization and Redevelopment: The Crux of Aravind Adiga’s Last Man in Tower

Abstract

The metro cities of India are under the influence of the real estate business. Mumbai, the center of India's commerce, is not exempt from the gentrification process. Mumbai is a city of new money and rising real estate in the twenty-first century. The novel Last Man in Tower raises the issues of globalization and redevelopment in Mumbai in the last few years. Further, Globalization has widely affected the morals of the social and cultural arena too. The novel also examines how English literature is affected by the ever-evolving current trends in the postcolonial age by globalisation, which is a sort of neo-colonialism. Like his debut novel The White Tiger, this novel also, Adiga has become the voice of the marginalized section by exposing the pitfall of urban development. This propulsive, explosive, insightful story coming out of the signature wit and magic of Adiga presents several interlinked issues of the teeming city of Mumbai. With great courage, Aravind Adiga explores the theme of lawlessness as the protagonist, Master Yogesh Murthy fails to receive justice and support from law, order, and even from the media. The crux of the novel revolves around the duality of human existence in the modern world and raises the question of whose rights should be preserved in case of a conflict between an individual and society. There are grave consequences of the redevelopment of societies which include not the only issue of compensation but also the larger issue of the acquisition of land, resettlement, rehabilitation, and participation in negotiation which can mitigate the darker side of redevelopment. The novel may be acclaimed as an example of post-modernist ethos seeking to explore the modern way of life. The present paper attempts to throw light on redevelopment and its social, economic, and political impact on society.