22 Untouchability: Mulk Raj Anand: Untouchables
Ananya Bhattacharjee
Introducing the Author
Mulk Raj Anand was one of the most prolific writers of the period who is best known as a social realist and a humanist. He was born in Peshawar in 1905 and received his early education in Khalsa College Amritsar. Later he went to England and got admitted to University College London as an undergraduate. He then attended Cambridge University and got his Ph.D. degree in 1929. There he had close acquaintance with the Bloomsbury Group and even spent some of his time in Geneva. Anand lived his life partly in London and India. During the period of India’s Independence movement he showed his concern by writing propaganda on behalf of the Indian cause. He also worked as a journalist and supported freedom elsewhere in the world especially Spain during the Spanish Civil War. At the time of World War II he was a scriptwriter for the BBC in London and became one of George Orwell’s good friends. In 1946, Anand came back to India and carried on his literary career as a writer. Most of his novels deal with the representation of the lives of the downtrodden people and used literature as a medium to highlight the exploitation of the impoverished section of the Indian conservative society.
Mulk Raj Anand’s career as a writer was shaped much by his family tragedy especially the strictures of caste system that prevailed in the society. His first essay was written under the influence of the incident of his aunt’s suicide following her excommunication by her family as she had shared meal with a Muslim lady. His first novel Untouchable published in 1935 was an indictment on the orthodox Indian society which discriminated people belonging to the lower strata. His vision of a humanist and a reformist is seen in this novel which gave him immense popularity. His other humanistic novels are Coolie (1936), Two Leaves And A Bud (1937), The Village (1939), Across the Black Waters (1941), The Sword and the Sickle (1942) and The Big Heart in 1945. Anand has also written seven collections of short stories – The Child and other Stories (1934), The Barber’s Trade Union and other Stories (1944), The Tractor and the Corn Goddess and other Stories (1947), Reflections on the Golden Bed and other Stories (1953), The Power of Darkness and other stories (1959), Lajwanti and other stories (1966) and Between Tears and Laughter (1973). His other works include Indian fairy Tales (1961), The Old woman and the Cow (1960). It was followed by The Road (1963) and The Death of Hero (1964). Seven Summers, Morning Face, The Confession of A Lover and The Bubble are his autobiographical novels. He was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for Morning Face (1968).
Mulk Raj Anand was the founder of a literary magazine named Marg and also was a member of the International Progress Organisation. He had delivered a series of lectures on prominent Indian personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru highlighting their contribution towards India and their progressive views on humanism. Anand has also written many short stories about India’s rich culture and tradition. His later works are regarded as an attempt to undertake a spiritual journey searching for one’s higher level of self-awareness.
Introducing the Novel
Untouchable is one of the most celebrated novels in Indian English literature for its realistic rendering of the life of a sweeper boy named Bakha who is an untouchable. E.M. Forster describes him in the Preface to the novel, “Bakha is a real individual, lovable, thwarted, sometimes grand, sometimes weak and thoroughly Indian. Even his physique is distinctive; we can recognize his broad intelligent face, graceful torso, and heavy buttocks as he does his nasty job or steps out in artillery boots in hope of a pleasant walk through the city with a paper packet of cheap sweets in his hand.” This novel shows a realistic picture of all the oppressed section of the society during the pre-independence period of India. Bakha, the protagonist of the novel, is representative of all the downtrodden people of the country who faced discrimination and suppression due to their caste. Bakha and other characters in the novel suffer due to the fact that they belong to the lower caste. We get a bleak vision of their place of living as described in the beginning of the novel, “The outcastes’ colony was a group of mud-walled houses that clustered together in two rows, under the shadow both of the town and the cantonment but outside their boundaries and separate from them. There lived the scavengers, the leather-workers, the washer men, the barbers, the water-carriers, the grass-cutters and other outcastes from Hindu society.” These sections of people suffer because they are by birth regarded as outcastes by others. Mulk Raj Anand has brought to lime light the artificiality and hypocrisy of the upper caste men especially men like Pandit KaliNath who preaches good things in life but is himself corrupted to the core.
Untouchable is the story of a single day in the life of Bakha and gives an account of the humiliation and struggle that he and other lower caste people had to go through. Bhaka was dissatisfied with his profession as a toilet cleaner and wanted to pursue a better life by educating himself. The lower caste people were restricted from drawing water from wells, enter temples or touch anything as it was believed that things would become polluted if they were touched by untouchables. Bakha was also subjected to mental and physical abuse mainly by the upper caste Hindus. Even his sister was sexually assaulted by Pandit Kalinath who called her to clean the courtyard of his house. He was attracted by Sohini’s youthful beauty and tried to touch her but when Sohini shouted the Pandit turned the situation by claiming that he was touched by an untouchable and puts the blame entirely on Sohini. Bakha arrives at the place and sends Sohini back. Although he was furious with anger, he did not say anything and left the scene. He comes home and tells his father that people think they are dirty simply because they clean the dirt. He feels that it is a curse which he should destroy as soon as possible. That afternoon he attends the marriage of Ram Charan’s sister whom he loved once but could not marry due to their class difference. Later in the evening Bakha goes to play hockey match at Havilder Charat Singh’s place. In the midst of the game a little boy is wounded and Bakha tries to help him but he is rebuked by the boy’s mother for having polluted her son. Bakha feels quite dejected as he faces humiliation all around him. However on one occasion Bhaka gets inspired after listening to Gandhi’s thoughts about untouchability which he regarded as a malpractice and wanted people to get rid of it. The novelist provides three different alternatives to ensure a better life to the protagonist and the people of his community. Bakha was advised by Col. Hutchinson to convert to Christianity that is devoid of any caste system and he would never face discrimination in his life any more. Moreover Gandhi’s views on untouchability and the education he imparted to these outcasts have enlightened people to a great deal. At the end of the novel, we find that Bhaka meets a poet named Iqbal Nath Sarshar who informs him about a new technique of cleaning faecal matter automatically, that is, toilet-flush machines. This would not require human effort to clean excreta and put an end to manually cleaning toilets. Bakha regards this to be a solution for his problem and feels that a transformation will surely take place to improve his condition of living.
Characterisation in the novel
Bakha-He is the protagonist of the novel and introduced to the readers as a young man who has a strongly built body. He works as a sweeper and cleans public toilets. Bakha maintains cleanliness throughout his work and remains cautious so as not to spoil his sleeves while doing his job. The hard labour that he puts in his work is responsible for the making of his strong physique. Bakha is a representative of all the underdogs who suffer at the hands of the society for their low caste. Throughout the novel we see that Bakha struggles for the search of his own identity and tries to find the significance of his life.
Lakha-He is Bakha’s father and a Jamedar of the sweepers of Bulandshahr. He is left with three children after his wife died. He accepts that he occupies an inferior status in the society and is submissive towards the upper caste Hindus.
Rakha-He is Bakha’s younger brother who is not involved in cleaning and sweeping work and does not possess a good appearance as his brother’s.
Sohini-She is Bakha’s sister and is described as an attractive woman who has a sylph-like form and a slender waist. She is an important character in the novel as it is through her Anand exposes the corruption of the upper caste Hindus. She takes take care of her family and manages the household chores. Pandit Kalinath’s attempt of her molestation is a significant episode in the novel that highlights the hypocrisy and injustice done by the upper castes towards the down trodden people.
Charat Singh-He is a Havilder in the army and also a good hockey player who belongs to the 38th Dogra battalion. He is a kind hearted person and is free from any kind of caste prejudices. He treats Bakha affectionately and is seen as a contrast to the orthodox priests.
Col. Hutchinson-He is one of the English characters in the novel who dresses in a funny way mixing Western and Indian outfits. He is the person who advises Bakha to become a Christian.
Iqbal Nath Sarshar-He is a young poet with revolutionary ideas and a progressive outlook who is strongly against the practice of untouchability. He provides a solution to eradicate this curse of the society. According to him, the introduction of flush system in toilets will help to remove this evil.
Themes and Issues in the Novel
The Practice of Untouchability
Mulk Raj Anand’s purpose in writing Untouchables was to bring about a change in the perception that people had in their minds regarding the untouchables. He says in “Why I Write”,
Untouchable depicts the lives of the marginalized and the destitute people of an orthodox Indian society. The practice of untouchability is rampant as the author tells the story of Bakha, an untouchable sweeper boy. The novel is an indictment of the snobbery and hypocrisy seen in the upper caste section of a Hindu society. The untouchables referred to as the Panchamas are forced to live the life of an outcast in a deplorable condition. E.M. Forster opines, “The sweeper is worse off than a slave, for the slave may change his master and his duties and may even become free, but the sweeper is bound for ever, born into a state from which he can’t escape and where he is excluded from social intercourse and the consolation of his religion. Unclean himself he pollutes other when he touches them…”
The untouchables live an isolated life far away from the village. In the novel we are told that they cannot even draw water from the wells as it might be contaminated by their touch. One can refer to Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things where Velutha also faces a similar kind of discrimination. In Untouchables, the Panchamas wait for long hours in the hope that some people of an upper caste might come and be kind enough to draw water for them. Bakha’s sister, Sohini, also goes through the same situation and waits near a well for someone to come and pour water into her pot. After a long wait, Kalinath who is attracted by her beauty arrives and helps her but his intention was to take advantage of her by calling her to his house and molesting her. Bakha is outraged by the incident and complains to his father about this. His father, Lakha remains indifferent and does not react at all as he has compromised with his state of living. He readily accepts the Hindu system of untouchability and thus this practice is passed down to their next generations as there is no fight against it. The Panchamas are quite responsible for their own miseries.
We get the description of the uncongenial place where these untouchables live, “The absence of a drainage system had, through the rains of various seasons, made of the quarter a marsh which gave out the most offensive smell.” The people of the untouchable caste were washer men, grass cutters, water men, sweepers, barbers and others who lived in mud-walled cottages huddled with each other and are socially isolated from the rest of the village. One day Bakha had accidently touched an upper caste Hindu in a market place. That person was so infuriated that he abused Bakha by addressing him as a ‘swine dog’, ‘dirty dog’ and so on. Every one present in the situation saw him getting insulted but no one spoke a word against it. Bakha ashamed as he was fell down on his knees and silently listened to all the insults that were targeted to him. At last a Muslim tongawallah rescued him from the situation. Bakha was so shattered by the incident that he burst out into anger,
Untouchability is one of the most evil practices of caste system in India which prevails even now in many of the socially and economically backward places. Great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar have spoken on this issue and its eradication from the society for the upliftment of the people. They have opined that no society can ever progress if its people are prejudiced against this kind of casteist mentality. In the novel we see that Gandhi appears on the scene where he delivers a lecture on untouchability which comforts and encourages Bakha and other people of his community,
Social Realism: Religion and Caste Discrimination
Mulk Raj Anand has been truly regarded as a social realist for the themes and issues that he brings forward in his works. The social aspect of the novel that is the treatment of religion and caste discrimination has been delineated in a realistic manner. The novelist begins with a realistic description of the untouchables’ colony,
The central character of the novel, Bakha, is ill-treated by the high-caste people throughout the novel. The novel comprises of events of a single day and from the morning itself we are given a glimpse of how Bakha is subjected to abuses and treated like an animal. A high caste Hindu throws away a packet of cigarette at him and when he is hungry he is given chapattis in a way as food is thrown to a dog. His experience with a Hindu at a market place is suggestive of how much the place was steeped in caste-discrimination,
Bakha is humiliated but helpless and remains silent at the situation. Later his frustration is seen when he says, “…All of them abused, abused, abused why are we always abused? … Because we are sweepers… I am a sweeper, sweeper-untouchable I am an untouchable!”
Religion plays an important role in the novel for we see its influence upon the people of the society to a great extent. Col. Hutchinson urges Bakha to adopt Christianity to overcome his deplorable condition. However Bakha is skeptical about converting his own religion and is suspicious about the missionary’s intention. Bakha thought, “If he (Lakha) saw him (Colonel) in the distance, saying that the old sahib had wanted to convert them to the religion of Yessuh Messih and to make them sahibs like himself, but that he had refused to leave the Hindu fold, saying that the religion which was good enough for his forefathers was good enough for him.”
Anand captures the predicament of the untouchables and presents a harsh reality. We see that they are denied even the basic need of life that is water. We see how these people were prohibited to touch wells that would otherwise pollute them. The novelist is indeed quite powerful in his rendering of the plight of the untouchables with his acute observation and the regional language that he adopts and the use of abuses clearly shows the social realism with which he has presented the curse of untouchability. Anand has also criticized the followers of the Hindu religion who belong to the upper caste. People in the name of religion have suppressed lives of many innocents who are not given an equal status and opportunity to live in the society. Some religious scriptures have made a division or hierarchical order based on castes for smooth running of the society. But people seem to have misinterpreted and used it for their own ends. In the novel the character of Kalinath presents the hypocrisy and corruption that some people are engaged in to exploit the ignorant and the downtrodden people. Although he is strongly against touching any untouchable and considers it to be a sin but the carnal desire in him for Bakha’s sister, Sohini, speaks of how irreligious he was and the lack of any spiritual quality in him. He tries to molest her by inviting her to his house to clean the courtyard. Through this episode Anand tries to present a harsh reality that not all the preachers of religion are morally right at their heart and that we should not welcome blind beliefs and caste discrimination in the name of religion. His primary concern was to uplift this lot of people who were socially unaccepted and isolated. By bringing in the Mahatma Gandhi’s episode, Anand has not only provided a solution for the plight of the untouchables in the novel but also enlightened his readers about such evil practices that need to be removed from the society. Gandhi comments that the predicament of the untouchables is both a moral and a religious issue. He says that untouchability is the “greatest blot on Hinduism” and regards it ‘satanic’ to think that anyone in Hinduism is born as an untouchable. Gandhi holds the view that untouchables have to “cultivate habits of cleanliness” and be free from unhealthy habits such as drinking liquor or gambling. He also says that they must “cease to accept leavings from the plates of high-caste Hindus, however clean they may be represented to be.”
Gandhi regards all Indians as equal and expresses his desire to be reborn as an untouchable. He addresses them with a new name ‘Harijan’ and considers them to be the cleaners of Hindu religion. Although Gandhi’s words instil a ray of hope in Bakha and other people but Bakha “…..began to move. His virtues lay in his close-knit sinews and in his long breath sense. He was thinking of everything that he had heard though he could not understand it all. He was calm as he walked along, though the conflict in his soul was not over, though he was torn between his enthusiasm for Gandhi and the difficulties in his own awkward naive self.”
The closing of the novel appropriates Bakha’s inner conflicts between enthusiasm and naiveté. This is a consequence of what Bakha has experienced during the whole day and its indelible impact upon him due to which he situates himself within his own culture. Bakha’s interaction with the poet Iqbal Nath Sarshar and his ideas about the flush toilet system also provided him some hope for the future. The novel ends with a hint that the situation of this exploited class will undergo a positive change as Bakha thinks, “Perhaps I can find the poet some day and ask him about his machine”
Narrative Style and Technique
The novel is quite impressive due to its narrative style and technique. Anand employs the stream of consciousness technique which was a dominant characteristic in most of the writings of the period especially by Woolf, Joyce and others. The stream of consciousness method is used to delve deep into the mind of the central character, Bakha, who is tormented by the treatment of the society towards him and his fellow beings. It can be regarded as a psychological novel as well for it gives us a vivid account of Bakha’s thoughts and ponderings most of which are fragmentary in nature. The novel also has a dream sequence in which Bakha finds himself surrounded by a group of monkeys. The novelists purpose through this was to show Bakha’s views about the world which even in his subconscious mind haunts him and confines him within a bleak world. There are also a number of flashbacks used along with symbolic images and thoughts combined with an awareness of the reality that renders a modern touch to the novel. Anand uses a number of images that are recurrent in the novel, mostly the image of the sun and the river. The sun is the symbol of creative and vital force of life and is seen as a contrast to the lives of the people,
The image of the river is symbolic of the anguish and grief of the people as it stands for the flow of existence which is past change. The novelist uses a number of words, idioms and phrases in English which reflect the Indian way of speaking. There are many words in Hindi and Punjabi that have not been translated into English like girja ghar, jalebi, babu, Harijan whereas some abusive words in Hindi have been translated into English like son of a pig, swine dog and others. The aim was to capture the flavor and colour of a particular village in Punjab during pre- independence times and give a realistic representation of it.
Story-board
Mulk Raj Anand: Life and Works
- He was born in Peshawar in 1905 and received his early education in Khalsa College Amritsar.
- While he was doing his Ph.D. in Cambridge University he had close acquaintance with the Bloomsbury Group.
- His most famous novels include Untouchable (1935), Coolie (1936), Two Leaves And A Bud (1937), The Village (1939), Across the Black Waters (1941), The Sword and the Sickle (1942) and The Big Heart (1945).
- He was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for Morning Face (1968).
Untouchable
- This novel shows a realistic picture of all the oppressed section of the society during the pre-independence period of India.
- Bakha, the protagonist of the novel, is representative of all the downtrodden people of the country who faced discrimination and suppression due to their caste.
- He and other characters in the novel suffer due to the fact that they belong to the lower caste.
Themes and Issues in the novel:
- Untouchable depicts the lives of the marginalized and the destitute people of an orthodox Indian society.
- The novel is an indictment of the snobbery and hypocrisy seen in the upper caste section of a Hindu society.
- In the novel we are told that the untouchables referred to as panchamas cannot even draw water from the wells as it might be contaminated by their touch.
- The social aspect of the novel that is the treatment of religion and caste discrimination has been delineated in a realistic manner.
- The central character of the novel, Bakha, is ill-treated by the high-caste people throughout the novel.
- In the novel the character of Kalinath who is a religious man, presents the hypocrisy and corruption that some people are engaged in to exploit the ignorant and the downtrodden people.
Narrative Structure:
- Anand employs the stream of consciousness technique in the novel.
- The stream of consciousness method is used to delve deep into the mind of the central character, Bakha, who is tormented by the treatment of the society towards him and his fellow beings.
- There are also a number of flashbacks used along with symbolic images and thoughts combined with an awareness of the reality that renders a modern touch to the novel.
| you can view video on Untouchability: Mulk Raj Anand: Untouchables | |
Reference
- Anand, Mulk Raj, Untouchable, New Delhi: Arnold Publishers, 1981
- Sinha, Krishna Nandan, Indian Writing in English., University of Michigan: Heritage, 1979 Cowasjee, Saros, So Many Freedoms, Delhi, O.U.P., 1977
- Dhawan, R.K., ed. The Novels of Mulk Raj Anand, New York: Prestige, 1992
- Fisher, Marlene, The Wisdom of the Heart, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1985
- Narasimhaiah, C.D., The Swan And The Eagle, Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1969
- Paul, Premila, The Novels of Mulk Raj Anand: A Thematic Study, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1983
- Singh, P.K., Major Indo-English Novelists & Novels, Jaipur: Sublime Publication, 2001
- Walsh, William, Indian Literature in English, London: Longman, 1990
- Williams, H. M., Studies in Modern Indian Novel in English Vol. I, Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 1973
- isj.org.uk/mulk-raj-anand-novelist-and-fighter/
- ijellh.com/gandhism-mulk-raj-anands-untouchable/