Age of Vice

The novel often uses stark contradictions, juxtapositions, and macabre humor to depict the extremes of wealth and poverty that define its universe. Toward the end of the book, an intoxicated Sunny Wadia, satirically compared to an imprisoned emperor, looks out of the giant bay windows of his suite to survey “the manicured lawns, the sanctuary of woodland on the horizon, the hundreds of workers in the crisp sunlight” (480). Sunny’s leisurely enjoyment stands in stark contrast to the hundreds of working-class people milling about to prepare the lawns for his wedding celebrations. The glass between the workers and Sunny is a metaphor for the unyielding wall of class difference, nearly impossible to breach.

If Sunny surveying the workers illuminates the extremes of poverty and wealth, Gautam’s Mercedes killing the pavement-dwellers defines it. Here, the impoverished laborers are literally crushed by wealth. Forced to sleep on the pavement because they cannot rent even a hut, they die under the wheels of a giant Mercedes. The Mercedes is driven by a young royal who preys on the servant girls of his household, and whose weekend trips during university in England are described as “pure bacchanalia.” The scene is all-too real: Kapoor draws from similar real-life incidents in India.

This juxtaposition of extreme poverty and wealth is repeatedly emphasized throughout the text. Ajay’s family is so poor they only eat leafy greens they grow in ditch water. When Ajay’s father is beaten nearly to death, the family have to borrow 150 rupees, which in 1991 would roughly be equivalent to $5 in the US. From these beginnings, Ajay arrives at the Wadia household, where his job includes preparing and laying out delicacies for Sunny. The text reiterates that Ajay’s poverty is not just the opposite of Sunny’s wealth: Ajay’s poverty is necessary to create Sunny’s wealth. Because the world has limited resources, a concentration of wealth can only be created by taking away food from someone’s mouth.

Kapoor suggests that consumerism, globalization, and the legacy of colonialism exacerbate the problem of inequality. Colonialism siphoned wealth out of India and crippled domestic industries, aggravating the class divide. The economy was opened to foreign investment in 1991, decades after India’s independence from the British, ushering in an era of liberalization. However, liberalization did not lead to uniform development. New spaces were created for industrial expansion by removing the poor from their land, illustrated in the novel by the slum demolitions around the Yamuna. Thus, the novel suggests that consumerism and decontextualized development make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The people who are killed by Gautam’s Mercedes are sleeping on the pavement in the first place because their slum around the Yamuna was demolished the previous day. Thus, extremes of development murder the marginalized.

The novel’s many graphic descriptions of violence often feature the poor, Dalits, queer people, and women as survivors. It shows how violence is used as a tool to control communities on the bottom and margins of society. Even when a marginalized person, such as Ajay, is the perpetrator of violence, the victims are rarely the wealthy. The powerful are typically protected from punishment and violence, further frustrating people like Ajay and causing them to harden and lash out. Ajay erupts into unnecessary violence to gain an illusion of control over his life. Thus, the cycle of revenge, retribution, and violence is perpetuated repeatedly. Men like Sunil Rastogi turn to violence because violence is meted out to them. In a world where the ordinary person is powerless, violence and annihilation become the only accessible power. That is why Rastogi slips so easily from life as a petty chain-snatcher to a ruthless killer.

Violence in the novel has to be read in the context of caste, class, and gender inequalities. The abuse and trauma of Ajay’s family is an example of caste-based violence. Ajay’s family are among the most marginalized of Dalits, forced to manually clean toilets. As part of caste prohibitions, they are not allowed to drink from the common village well or enter the village’s Savarna areas. When their goat strays into a Savarna neighbor’s field, the act is considered one of caste pollution. Ajay’s family symbolically transgress their boundaries. Therefore, they must be violently punished to be reminded of their place in the social order.

Similarly, Prem transgresses the boundaries of masculinity by appearing softer and more feminine. Sikander violates Prem both for sadistic pleasure, as well as to remind Prem of his crime of being an atypical man. Sunil Rastogi, who abducts a woman at gunpoint, thinks his victim has transgressed the boundary of decorous womanly behavior by not resisting his abduction: “I kept thinking, why hadn’t she run? If she had any honor at all, she would have resisted me until her dying breath” (445). To punish the girl for her “shameful” act, Rastogi accelerates the bike and scares the woman till he can feel her “whimpering and crying in her body” (445). He lets her off, having delivered a violent warning for her to remember her ordained social behavior.

Neda too oversteps her boundaries when she tries to gain restricted information and comes between Bunty and his son. Bunty has Neda physically threatened for exercising her agency as a journalist and an independent woman. His intimidation ultimately ensures that Neda leaves India altogether.

While violence is used to control marginalized people, it also controls Savarna, wealthy, and heterosexual men, considered among the most privileged in society. Men must participate in violence to prove their masculinity. For instance, Sunny does not win Bunty’s respect until he exhibits ruthlessness by framing Ajay and punching Neda until she blacks out. Vicky wants to train Sunny to be man by inviting him to assault a 15-year-old girl from an impoverished family. In this way, the text explores the complex link between violence and toxic masculinity.