Indian lit. in english Untouchable Essay Example For Students

Indian lit. in english Untouchable Essay Indian lit. in english paper The Untouchable by Mulk Raj AnandMulk Raj Anand, one of the most highly regarded Indian novelists writing in English, was born in Peshawar in 1905. He was educated at the universities of Lahore, London and Cambridge, and lived in England for many years, finally settling in a village in Western India after the war. His main concern has always been for the creatures in the lower depths of Indian society who once were men and women: the rejected, who has no way to articulate their anguish against the oppressors. His novels works have been translated into several world languages. Untouchable (1935)Coolie (1936)Two Leaves and a Bud (1937)The Village (1939)Across the Black Waters (1940)The Sword and the Sickle (1942)Private Life of an Indian Prince (1953)The Indelible Problem: Mulk Raj Anand and the Plight of UntouchabilityAndrew M. Stracuzzi The University of Western OntarioMulk Raj Anand, speaking about the real test of the novelist, once said:It may lie in the transformation of words into prophesy. Because, what is writer if he is not the fiery voice of the people, who, through his own torments, urges and exaltations, by realizing the pains, frustrations and aspirations of others, and by cultivating his incipient powers of expression, transmutes in art all feeling, all thought, all experience thus becoming the seer of a new vision in any given situation. (qtd. in Dhawn, 14)There is no question that Mulk Raj Anand has fashioned with Untouchable a novel that articulates the abuses of an exploited class through sheer sympathy in the traditionalist manner of th e realist novel He is, indeed, the fiery voice of those people who form the Untouchable caste. Yet if the goal of the writer, as Anand himself states, is to transform words into prophecy, then the readers struggle for meaning in the closing scenes of the novel become problematic and contestatory. It is reasonable to assume and as I would argue, it is implied that Anand has ventured to address a specific question with writing Untouchable; this is, how to alleviate the exploitation of the untouchable class in India? He then proceeds to address this question through the dramatization of Bahka, the novels central character. Having said this and taking into account Anands notion of the novel as prophesy I will argue that the author has failed to fully answer the question he has set before him. In fact, by posing such a question, the possibility of an altruistic solution becomes blurred. Furthermore, the three prophecies or solutions posited by the novel the rhetoric of the Christian Missionary, Mahatma Gandhi, and the poet Iqbal Nath Sarshar fail to present a prescription for freedom accessible to the untouchable community. In order to articulate the meaning of the last section of Untouchable fully, it is important to analyze the construction of Bahka, the protagonist, since his own distinct and honest, though often confusing, gaze objectifies his society. The last passage in the novel is an appropriate place to begin: he began to move. His virtues lay in his close-knit sinews and in his long breath sense. He was thinking of everything 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 naOve self(Untouchable). Anand chooses to close the final scene of his novel by appropriating the inner conflict of Bakha and juxtaposing enthusiasm with naivete. There seems to be an inherent, even subtle, irony in describing Bahka in this manner. On one hand, it carries a strong sense of hope, of self-awareness, of self-appropriation of the individual within the greater scheme of Hindu society There is a strong indication that what Bahka has endured throughout his days journey has had an enormous effect on the way he appropriates himself within his own culture The novel thus ends on a somewhat positive note, with the image of Bahka going home and telling actually vocalizing his story in the hopes that some sort of resolution, or at the very least, some emergence of understanding will occur. Conversely, though, Anand chooses to show him as naive. This is, perhaps, where the inherent problem lies within the text, the construction of Bahka himself. Though Bakha is a young protagonist (or perhaps, anti-protagonist), he is far from being an innocent child. Yet he is constructed with such a damming perception of innocence an uneducated victim of his communitys frustration that he does not fit into the confines of a traditional hero. This is primarily because for him there is no solid gratification or inner resolution gained by the obstacles he is faced with during his day. Furthermore, as E.M. Forester point outs in the novels preface, the reader has every indication that the next day, and the day after that, will be identical to the first. If anything, then, his only heroism lies in his ability to survive the actual days events; but that too is circumstantial. His survival does not rely so much on his inner strength as an individual, but rather it is dependent on the actio n of the others that surround him, namely those individuals of higher caste standing. It is a character like Charat Singh, for example, that determines his survival depending on the degree of pity he is willing to dispense at any particular moment. Anand creates a character in search of his own identity within the very structure that has eliminated the possibility of him having one. The conflict within Bakha is demonstrated repeatedly throughout the text, yet it is in the opening pages of the novel that the reader identifies with Bakhas search for an identity. Bakha clearly has trouble accepting the identity allotted to him at birth. He has a desire to be like the Tommies he sees throughout his village. The narrator tell us that the Tommies had treated him as a human being and he had learnt to think of himself as superior to his fellow-outcasts (9). He attempts to adopt the fashun of the Tommies, becoming possessed with an overwhelming desire to live their life (11). He naively assu mes that the mere adoption of the outward sings of a Sahib will garner him respect. He proceeds through his day wearing the trousers of one of the Tommies, but this assertion of identity fails to produce the desired result. Instead, Bakha looks silly a mere amusement for others to caste their petty jokes and insults. C.D. Narasimhaiahs The Swan and the Eagle maintains that Bakha is desperately trying to escape the connotations the title of the novel asserts over his identity. Bakhas desire to imitate the Tommies is important because he can preserve his identity only to the extent that he can be conscious of his superiority(112). However, Anand quickly dispels Bakhas consciousness of superiority when Bakha comes to the realization that except for the English clothing there was nothing English in his life(12). Narasimhaiah further articulates that in the numerous episodes which he puts his character through, the novelist tries to give him his identity in the very act of our witnessin g the world deny it to him or to those around us(113). Purchasing A Small Business EssayThe representations of both Gandhi and the poet proves also confusing alternatives for Bakha. On the one hand, Gandhi articulates that the plight of untouchability is both a moral and religious issue. He regards untouchability as the greatest blot on Hinduism(146) and asserts that it is satanic to assume anyone in Hinduism is born polluted. Gandhi then recounts the story of a Brahmin boy and a sweeper in his ashram and attempts to show understanding for the sweeper; he feels that if the Brahmin wanted the ashram sweeper to do his work well he must do it himself and set an example(148). Yet this action, while appearing to be sympathetic and understanding, only undermines the very existence of an untouchable because it assumes that the untouchable is incapable of doing such menial work well. Further, it implies and confirms an existing hierarchy of power between the untouchable and other high-caste Hindus because it suggests that they must be taught t o be untouchables, which only perpetuates the cycle of oppression. Gandhi then proceeds to criticize the Untouchables by saying that they have to cultivate habits of cleanliness, that they must get rid of their evil habits such as drinking liquor, gambling and eating carrion. They must, as Gandhi says, cease to accept leavings form the plates of high-caste Hindus, however clean they may be represented to be(148). In essence, he advocates emancipation by purification. Yet there is an inherent dichotomy in Gandhis rhetoric because the existing system does not allow for the untouchables to become purified primarily because their fundamental existence is rooted in the profession of filth. It is as Bakha says to his father, they think we are mere dirt because we clean their dirt(79). Anand, although an avid follower of Gandhi, has Bakha question the Mahatmas speech: but now, now the Mahatma is blaming us. That is not fair! He wanted to forget the last passages that he had heard(148). Th is suggests, perhaps, that Anands view of Gandhi and his political rhetoric cannot be idealized because it too contains elements of oppression. Anand then proceeds to offer his last possible solution to the alleviation of untouchability. Through the poet Iqbal Nath Sarshar, Anand takes the chance to expressing his own Marxist inclinations: well, we must destroy caste, we must destroy the inequalities of birth and unalterable vocations. We must recognize an inequality of rights, privileges and opportunities for everyone (155). He advocates that a change in profession will free the Untouchables and the way to achieve this change is through the implementation of a flush system. William Walsh believes that this last option is most favored by Anand, but admits the obvious complexities in describing the change in this way: He (Anand) is a committed artist, and what he is committed to is indicated by Bakhas mockery in Untouchable: greater efficiency, dictatorship of the sweepers, Marxian m aterialism and all that. Yes, yes, is the reply, all that, but no catch-words and cheap phrases, the change will be organic and not mechanicalHow clearly this kind of thing confirms Anands deficiencies as a thinker and the capacity of his Marxist enthusiasms to glide gaily across the most deeply entrenched differences. This, together with his furious indignation, unself-critical ideology and habit of undue explicitness, make him a writer whose work has to be severely sieved Indian Literature in English, 61. Walsh, here, pinpoints effectively the inherent dangers of relying solely on a Marxist approach to the resolution of untouchabilty. Clearly social rebellion is a viable option, but the closest Anand comes to articulating a traditional Marxist revolution in India is masked, even distorted, in the figure of the poet. Here, Anand only skims the surface of its possibilities; introducing the concept in the very last pages of his novel only weakens the poets arguments because neither the main protagonist nor the reader has enough time to fully conceptualize its implications. Perhaps I have shown an undue harshness in criticizing Anand? However, my purpose here is not to diminish his talent as a writer, for he is, in fact, an amazingly articulate, though-provoking novelist with considerable power. The difficulties of alleviating the stigma of untouchabilty are far too complex for one man alone to tackle, and his novel does serve as a catalyst for change. Nevertheless, as a critical response to the novels implications, I must argue that Anand has failed to convincingly advocate the ending of untouchablity through the choices presented to the protagonist Bakha. His failure in achieving this goal lies not so much in any form of ineptness of his three solutions they are clearly alternatives however, the fault lies in the implied assumption of these choices. All three choices remove the ability of an oppressed and exploited minority to free himself from his own oppression. Clearly Bakha is a rebellious individual within, yet the stifling of this rebellious nature only further asserts the inability of untouchables to free themselves; this is in effect the classical post-colonial conundrum. This challenge is brilliantly captured as previously noted by E.H. McCormick in response to what he believes is the post-colonial condition, and which I have adopted here to epitomize the dilemma of the untouchables by Matthew Arnold in Stanzas from the Grand Chartreuse:Wandering between two worlds, one dead, The other powerless to be born,With nowhere to rest my head,Like these, on earth I wait forlorn (85-90). What else is Bakha but this wandering figure amongst the flowing flux of oppression? He is clearly disenchanted by the confines that the class-system has imposed on him and attempts to appropriate himself amongst the ruling English-class. This produces, in effect, a state of double alienation. As a result, he is both rejected from his own culture, and repelled by the other. Bakha, therefore, exists on the periphery of both worlds. But as Fo rster suggests and what I believe Anand seems to conclude is that on the surface of the earth if not in the depths of the sky, a change is at hand(Untouchable, viii.). Works CitedAnand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. London: Penguin, 1940. Dhawan, R.K., ed. The Novels of Mulk Raj Anand. New York: Prestige, 1992. . Saros Cowasjee. Anands Literary Creed. 13-18. . R.T. Roberston. Untouchable as an Archetypal Novel. 98-104. Narasimhaiah, C.D. The Swan and the Eagle. Delhi: Motilal, 1987. Walsh, William. Indian Literature in English. London: Longman, 1990.