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Exam date: 23/4/2018

B. Vijay Kumar

Prof. Salve Sonba

H00MAELI20170011

LIT253 Introduction to literary criticism

Department of English Literature

The English and Foreign Languages University.

Post-colonial theory application to Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable

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The aim of this research paper is to examine Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable (1935)

novel in the light of post colonialism. This novel shows a realistic picture of all the oppressed

section of the society during the pre-independence period of India. The pre independence seen

through the curious eyes of young boy Bakha and as the story unravels, it brings out the multiple

post-colonial themes like loss of culture, identity crisis, and the discrimination. Anand’s

Untouchability is unique in the sense that it tells the story of under privileged and exploited

society who has no voice for themselves. However, Untouchable novel by Mulkaraj Anand

draws our attention towards the main concept of post-colonialism. The novel explicitly mirrors

the idea of post colonialism. The whole novel Untouchable built on the aesthetic grounds of

post-colonial theory. In fact, many aspects in the novel portrayed by Mulk Raj Ananda cling to

bottom roots of colonial and post-colonial theory. One must acknowledge the truth that, Mulk

Raj Anand demonstrates the grimmer realities of society through the aspects of post colonialism.

The idea of post colonialism played a significant role in many works of Mulkaraj Anand,

especially in Untouchable novel. Anand used his novel as a tool to demonstrate the theory of

post colonialism simultaneously he exhibited reality behind the scenes. The Untouchable novel

created a platform for Anand to expound theory of post colonialism. My aim is to demonstrate

the theory of post colonialism with reference to Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable novel.

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 is an innovator in Indian literature. He is one of the first

Indian authors write in English about the humanitarian dilemmas facing India during the mid-

twentieth century. His compassionate objective is to produce an awareness of the cruelty and

inhumane practices of untouchability and social class distinctions and to seek the

enlightening prospects of progress and modernity. Mulk Raj Anand is considered by many as

the father of the Indian novel. Many of his works address the concerns of colonized as well as

postcolonial India including the issues of the collision of the two cultures, the observation of
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the “other” by the natives, the function of racism and the dilemma presented by the Indian

caste system, as well as the quandary of preserving Indian traditions while moving forward

with progress. Anand sought to enlighten the worldly public to the predicament of the Indian

population. Anand’s most famous novel, Untouchable, was written in this fashion as he

recounted the goings on of a single day in the life of the protagonist, Bakha.

We have to acknowledge the truth that without colonialism there would be no post-

colonialism. Colonialism is about the dominance of a strong nation over another weaker one.

Colonialism happens when a strong nation sees that its material interest and affluence require

that it expand outside its borders. Colonialism is a process where the sovereignty over the

colony is claimed by colonizer. If we look at the roots of colonialism and post colonialism we

can’t find much difference. Its roots were in the Columbus arrival for the new found land.

Simply we can defines the colonialism is physical occupation territory and post colonialism

deals with the effects of colonization on culture and societies. Once-colonized countries can

be seen as properly post-colonial. Post-colonial theory looks at issues of power, economics,

politics, religion, and culture and how these elements work in relation to colonial hegemony.

One of the most exciting features of English literature today is the explosion of

postcolonial literature. Post-colonial literature comes from Britain's former colonies in the

Caribbean, Africa and India. If we keenly observe many post-colonial writers they mainly

focus on common themes such as the struggle for independence, emigration, national

identity, allegiance and childhood. Postcolonial theory is a literary theory or critical approach

that deals with literature produced in countries that were once, or are now, colonies of other

countries. Post-colonial is the outlook as the studies as response to colonial subjugation. It

may also deal with literature written by citizens of colonizing countries that takes colonies or

their peoples as its subject matter. The theory is based around concepts of otherness and

resistance.
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Post-colonial theory critically examine the ways in which writers from colonized

countries attempt to articulate and even celebrate their cultural identities and reclaim them

from the colonizers. They also examine ways in which the literature of the colonial powers is

used to justify colonialism through the perpetuation of images of the colonized as inferior. It

focuses particularly on the way in which literature by the colonizing culture distorts the

experience and realities, and inscribes the inferiority, of the colonized people on literature by

colonized peoples which attempts to articulate their identity and reclaim their past in the face

of that past's inevitable otherness. It can also deal with the way in which literature in

colonizing countries appropriates the language, images, scenes, traditions and so forth of

colonized countries. Postcolonial writings can be considered as the historical marker of the

period because it deals the literature which comes after decolonization.

The theory of post colonialism doesn’t only confine to English literature but it also

became a prevalent subject in Indian literature. Postcolonial era was a significant

development in Indian English literature. There are many authors come up with idea of post

colonialism, among them Mulk Raj Anand is one of them. Mulk Raj Anand presented the

radical social and national issues in his novels. Untouchable novel deeply rooted in post-

colonial perceptive. Anand mainly focus on common issues such as the struggle for

independence, caste system, discrimination and sufferings of lower caste people, and social

identity. These issues depicted in the novel Anand displayed in the light of post-colonial

perspective.

We have to realize the truth that post colonialism doesn’t only talk about white men

suppressing the black men, but it has several other faces to this relation. Dalit’s in Mulk Raj

Anand’s Untouchable can be taken as the subjects of colonization under the rule of Savarna

Hindus. Caste is “the most telling reminder of the postcolonial character of India’s
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contemporary predicament” (Nicholas dirks 294).This binary relation between classes and

castes, dominating and dominated, can also be studied under the lens of colonial structure.

The notion of the subaltern became the issue in post-colonial theory. In literature,

subaltern is a post-colonial concept, which is generally used for downtrodden belonging to

the lower cast and class, weak sex and economically poor group .This binary relation between

classes and castes, dominating and dominated, can also be studied under the lens of post-

colonial structure. The novel explores the tension between the caste system, with its division

of human beings into high and low based on birth and caste. Through the Untouchable novel

Anand tackles the India’s most enduring demon, Untouchability and it discovers the tension

between the caste systems.

(Manu Smriti code I-31 "law of all the

social classes")

Since our birth on the face of this earth we have been hearing the stories of Indian

Social Hierarchical system, how the people divide based on their caste. The illustration above

portrays that each caste has been endowed with a significant role which they performing

throughout their lives. For instance, the Brahmins are bound to perform for the Gods, in other

words to perform prayers to the deities in the temple. The temple, according to the law of

Hindus, is the holiest place in the world so only the holy ones are allowed to enter. The

second caste is the Kshatriya: the warriors who protect the kings and the country. They are
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also regarded as the controllers and given high respect. The third caste is the Vaishya, the

agriculturists. They tend to the paddy fields and provide rice, grain, flour and other forms of

food and services to the upper castes. The fourth place is occupied by the Shudra, who serve

the three upper castes. Their role is to be the servants of the upper castes, reprising the role of

labourers. They perform the tasks of leather workers, washer men, and barbers. And the final

group, which is situated outside the hierarchy, is the untouchables. These members of the

group perform menial jobs and the most polluting work of all: scavenging the dirt and filth of

the society. Mostly, they are the toilet cleaners, sweepers, and the cremators of the dead

bodies of human and animals. Due to their work which deals with excrement, they are not

included in the social hierarchy and regarded as the outcastes or the untouchables.

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 in the beginning of the novel. The novel

Untouchable opens with a description of the outcaste colony, where they were living without

any facilities, since thousands of years. Their colony is portrayed thus in the novel. The out

caste, were the lowest stratum of Indian society, they suffer extreme economic and physical

deprivation. He paints a stark picture of the condition in which these people live.

“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.”( untouchable:9)

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These sections of people suffer because they are by birth regarded as outcastes by others.

Anand demonstrates the idea of colonialism and caste discrimination through the eyes of

Bakha. 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 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.” (Preface to Untouchable: Forster).

The novel begins with an autumn morning in Bakha's life. He is in bed, half-awake.

"Covered by a worn out greasy blanket, on a faded blue carpet which was spread on the floor,

in a corner of the cave-like, dingy, dark, one-roomed mud-house."(10)

The morning abuses starts his day and he welcomed by the abuses of his father and is

forced to clean the latrines with a brush and a basket. Bakha comes out of his reverie as he

hears the shouts: "Ohe, Bakha! Ohe, Bakha! Oh, scoundrel of a sweeper's son. Come and

clean a latrine for me!" from the upper caste person (15). When he gets to the end of his work

in the third row of latrines for the second time during the morning, he feels a cramp in his

back and stretches himself out from the bent posture he has maintained all the while. After

the process of cleaning the latrines in the final fourth round, he feels extremely exhausted but

he is intuitively reminded of his next job. The real suffering for Bakha begins when he goes

into the town to sweep the street as a substitute for his father who has said that he was not

feeling well. When Bakha is going in the streets for sweeping unfortunately he touches the

Hindu merchant. Bakha is not only scolded but also slapped by a Hindu merchant who

alleges that Bakha has touched him and thus polluted him. He called Bakha
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“You son of bitch why don't you call, you swine, and announce your

approach! Do you know you have touched me and defiled me, cock-eyed

son of a bow-legged and scorpion! Now I will have to go and take a bath to

purify myself. And it was Characterisation a new dhoti and shirt I put on this

morning. (51)

Bakha is completely taken aback and his hands an instinctively join together in

apology without uttering a single word. He only bends his forehead over then and mumbles

something but the 'touched' man does not care to hear what he says as he is not satisfied with

Bakha's dumb humility. The people gather around the scene and abuse Bakha. He pleads but

no one feels pity for him. The defiled man gives a slap on Bakha’s face and leaves the place.

That domination of upper caste people extremely disturbs Bakha’s mind but still eventually

he feels that he is helpless.

Through this pathetic incident of Bakha’s life Anand exhibit the idea of domination of

upper class people over on untouchable’s life. They were not allowed to speak or raise the

voice against the upper caste people. Anand demonstrated the idea of colonialism through

this incident. Colonialism is about the dominance of a strong over another weaker one. Here

Hindu merchant represent the image of colonizer and Bakha represent the image of

colonized. For the first time in his life Bakha is made aware of his status as an untouchable.

The cruelty and orthodoxy of the Hindus is thus sharply focussed.

Bakha is reminded that his father has asked him to collect food for the family. He

goes to backstreet for begging food. He starts shouting for food but nobody responds. Tired

of the hectic schedule he sleeps on the wooden platform in front of a caste Hindu’s house. A

high caste woman comes out of the house on the call of a Sadhu. She shouts at Bakha for

polluting her house. She asks him to clean the drain to get a piece of bread. She is a high
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caste woman comes out of the house on the call of a Sadhu. She shouts at Bakha for polluting

her house. She asks him to clean the drain to get a piece of bread. She considered his touch

and presence is made her home impure.

After the humiliation of Hindu caste women Bakha psychologically disturbed. And in

order to get rid from that disturbance Bakha goes to the playground to play a hockey match.

The son of a high caste Hindu is hurt in the quarrel that takes place after the match. When

Bakha takes the wounded boy to his house, his mother, instead of giving thanks shouts at

Bakha for defiling her son and the house. This confuses his mind and infuriates his heart.

Bakha is ill-treated by people even though he showed his compassion, love and concern

towards them.

We witnessed the worst situation of Bakha in the streets of Bulanshahar. With his

own money he buys jelebis from the sweets shop but the owner of the shop has thrown it at

him, as if he was a street dog. It was believed by the upper caste that by the direct touch of

untouchable would be defiled. After getting Jelebis in his hands, Bakha was lost in his own

world, thinking of the taste the sweet syrup. Unknowingly he touched the caste Hindus

consequently both his Jelebis and felicity mixed into dust.

E.M. Forster comments on this aspect of the novel in his preface to Untouchable:

“The untouchable in this case 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 cannot escape and where he is excluded from social

intercourse and the consolations of his religion. Unclean himself, he pollutes others

when he touches them. They have to purify themselves and to rearrange their plans

for the day” (6-7)

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Bakha was dissatisfied with his profession as a toilet cleaner and wanted to pursue a

better life by educating himself but he was not permitted to enter into the public schools. And

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 Kali Nath 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.

Here we see that Mulk Raj Anand has brought to lime light the artificiality and

hypocrisy of the upper caste men especially men like Pandit Kali Nath 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. Bakha 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 Kali Nath 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
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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.

Another incident also explicitly demonstrates the Hindus domination over on lower

caste women. When Sohini reached the well, she saw there was none to give them water. She

anxiously felt for her brother who was tired and thirsty. Since no passer-by was in sight, she

patiently and resignedly sat with other untouchables. Gulabo, the washer women was also

there. She was a fair complexioned, middle aged woman who had been very beautiful in her

youth. She was jealous of Sohini’s blooming beauty. Now Sohini being the lowest caste

among the out caste would naturally be looked down upon by Gulabo. The delicate features

of her rising beauty had added fuel to Gulabo’s fire. Gulabo hated the very sight of her

innocent, honest face, though she would not confess even to herself, that she was jealous of

the sweeper girl.

“There is no one to give you water here! And, at any rate, there are so many of us

ahead of you Bitch! Ari you Bitch! Do you take me for a buffoon? What are you

laughing at slut? Are not you ashamed of showing your teeth to me in the presence of

men. You prostitute” (17)

Sohini bore all humiliation and insult patiently due to her helplessness. The idea of

exploitation is best expressed through the character of Sohini, Bakha’s sister. She not only

exemplifies caste exploitation but also sex exploitation. As a caste-exploited, she I shown

waiting patiently for a long time when she goes to fetch water from the caste well. “She had
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in her docile and peaceful bearing.” (33-34) Gulabo, a washer woman, a caste superior to all

other outcastes Gulabo, a washer woman, a caste superior to all other outcastes exploits

Sohini. “Now Sohini, being of the low caste among the outcastes would naturally be looked

down upon by Gulabo”. (34) She not only abuses the sweeper girl but also rushes to hit her.

She becomes the victim of sexual exploitation due to her caste and poverty. She is very

beautiful but she has not enough clothes to protect her beauty from the hungry eyes of the

male.

We can see the submissive nature of Bakha’s father Lakha is the symbol of passive

submission to the exploitation by the high castes. He represents the force of tradition,

orthodoxy and conservation. He does not blame the high caste for the exploitation but blames

himself for this fate. He believes that his birth in the low caste is the result of their sins

committed by him in the previous birth. He does not get angry even when Bakha tells him

about the molestation of his daughter. He cannot even think about revolt against the stubborn

order. He is so afraid of them all that when Bakha talks about retaliation, he says,

We cannot do that. They are our superiors. One word of theirs is sufficient

against all that we might say before the police. They are our masters. We must

respect them and do as they tell us. Some of them are kind.”(109)
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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. Bakha is an exploited person in

terms of oppression, injustice and humiliation. All these issues inflicted upon him and made

him rebellious. Excessive abuse and insult makes his think about retaliation. At such

moments, he feels like a tiger at a bay. Though Bakha has a number of characteristics of a

hero, he cannot revolt openly against exploitation due to their helplessness and because of

their limitation of caste.

At one point we can notice that, due to the domination of Hindus over on

untouchables lives brought certain kind of an abominable outlook in Bakha’s mind on

orthodox Hindu system. Bakha most of time asks himself why he was treated in such an

abusive and insulting manner by the Hindus.

“Why are we always abused? The sanitary inspector that day abused my

father. They always abuse us. Because we are sweepers. Because we touch

dung. They hate dung. I hate it too. That’s why, I came here. I was tired of

working on the latrines every day. That’s why they don’t touch us, the high

caste”. (43)

Bakha’s life is full of alienation that results in identity crisis. His alienation occurs in

every stratum of his life. And Bakha’s life is accursed caused by the unavoidable conflict

between the individual and the society. The cruelty of Hindu orthodox system led him to

deviates from the notion of caste and religion. The upper class society became an oppressive

weapon always looks down upon him and constantly reminds him of his lowest origin that
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results in his complete alienation and identity crisis. Thus Bakha becomes a nonhuman and

stranger to the society, family and even to himself.

At one point the domination of Hindus became unbearable to Bakha and it physically

and mentally disturbed him. The result of Hindus over on untouchables created a new path to

Bakha for escape from such discriminated society. The first result of Hindus supremacy

transformed Bakha’s life to look at the new society where he actually considered as human

being by other. Bakha extremely fascinated by British culture and their customs. Bakha

fascinated by British culture primarily because he didn’t find such practices like caste system

and Untouchability in British culture. The British culture gave new insights to him and it

became a one of the source to explore the happiness.

Bakha in most of his actions tries to imitate the British culture and their customs. He

has strong desires, ambitions, and sensations to live "the Whiteman’s life." He is eager to

wear western dress, study English.

And being a marginal, he sees the English as the best source of life worthy of living.

Bakha worked in the barracks of a British regiment for some years and was ‘caught by the

glamour of the white man’s life’. He is obsessed with sahib. “I will look like a sahib”, he

desires. This process of liking British style of living attracts him which is very natural,

because Bakha has never been recognized as human being in his own society. He is an

outsider, though the people of his society exploit him by enjoying his labour. But the British

treated him ‘as a human being’, and he learnt to think of himself as ‘superior to his fellow

out-castes’. For the first time in his life he can feel that he is a human being and worthy of

living. He appears to be concerned only with himself rather than with the community. This

passion for a better way of life as seen in Bakha is symptomatic of the social and humanistic
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aspiration of thousands of such outcastes who are denied recognition and acceptance, to

establish a new social identity and to interact with society as human beings.

Perhaps the psychology behind Bakha’s acceptance of a white man’s culture and

system may be his desire to beat his oppressors at their own game. Bakha preference for the

Tommies over the caste Hindus is likely the natural outcome of his hatred towards his

oppressors. "In Bakha’s scale of values, the White Sahib is far superior to a caste Hindu, and

so in his land of the heart’s desire, he would like to be not a caste Hindu but a White

Sahib."(34). We see that Bakha in every attempt tries to get out of the clutches of an orthodox

Hindu society tries to become a White Sahib rather than a caste Hindu.

Religion played an important role in the novel; 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. 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. However Bakha is skeptical about converting his own religion and is suspicious about

the missionary’s intention. More than Christianity Hinduism played a significant role in all

untouchables lives. The whole lives untouchables experienced through the eyes of high caste

Hindus. All the immoral and hypocritical activities of Hinduism made him to walk out from

the religion. In fact Bakha has lost the respect in religion by experiencing the harsh realities

of the society. 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.

Anand feels that somehow Hindu religion itself is responsible for this social

discrimination. He condemns the temples as being the instruments of exploitation. He makes

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sarcastic remarks on Hindu gods and rituals. He laughs at the multiplicity of Hindu gods. The

high castes use their gods for their own advantage. They create fear in the minds of the

outcastes. While going to the temple Bakha feels ‘The temple seemed to advance towards

him like a monster” (82). Anand expresses his anger, agony and despair of the exploitation of

the outcastes in the name of religion. Through the miserable plight of untouchables he wants

to make the reader aware of the horrors of the poverty and sufferings. He makes us sensitive

to the heartlessness of a few who thwart the promising life of the helpless young low caste.

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.

Because of Hindus domination untouchables lost their identity. The untouchable’s

individuality always identified as 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. The entire

life and identity of untouchables confined to such minimal work. The untouchable’s identity

nowhere identified as human being. But Mulk Raj Anand cast off all these stereotypical

believes through his protagonist character Bakha. Through the transformation of Bakha,

Anand seems to insist that man must assert his individuality and human dignity, instead of

trying to escape his miserable identity by such means like religious conversion or aping some

ways of life alien to him.

When we read Mulk Raj Anand works, immediately we get the visualization of B.R

Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi ideology. In fact Anand is a great admirer of Gandhi and
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Ambedkar. There is a close proximity between Anand’s life and his art as we find in Gandhi.

Anand himself has observed as: “The connection between my life and my writings is more

intimate than in other novelists. I write as I like. My life is my message”(Anand 1986:95).

Eventually we have to acknowledge the truth that, Mulk Raj Anand came under the influence

of Gandhi.

At the end of the novel we notice, Gandhi’s significant presence in Untouchable.

Gandhi inspirational lectures transformed Bakha’s character entirely. 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. By Gandhi’s spiritual message, Anand brings Bakha back to his normal senses.

Gandhi’s words ‘Harijan’ and ‘cleaners of Hindu religion’ (194) replace his humiliation by

pride. The discussions which follow the speech make us realize that Gandhi’s spirituality,

supported by modern technology can give us a genuine solution of using flush system to the
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problem of Untouchability. However on one occasion Bakha 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. 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. Gandhi opposed untouchability on social, political

and humanitarian grounds. He felt that the untouchability was a curse and a kind of disease to

Hindu society.

Ambedkar also mainly emphasized on the idea of caste discrimination and

untouchability. He completely opposed the idea of caste system. The human beings are

divided themselves ‘high’ and ‘low’ based on their caste.

Ambedkar has written about its function;

“Caste has killed public spirit. Caste has destroyed the sense of public charity.

Caste has made public opinion impossible virtue has become caste ridden has

morality has become caste bound. There is no sympathy to the deserving.

There is no appreciation to the needy. There is no charity but it begins with

caste ends with caste. There is sympathy but not her other caste” (Annihilation

of caste: 62)
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As we know that during the period of colonization the British viewed Indians as

second-class citizens and denied their independence. British viewed Indians as second-class

citizens but in the case of Mulk Raj Anand’s novel, Hindus viewed untouchables as second

class people. And here, the colonizer is not British but the higher caste Hindus, and the

second class citizens are untouchables.

As mentioned earlier, we have to realize the truth that post-colonialism doesn’t only

talk about white men suppressing the black men, but it has several other faces to this relation.

The untouchables in Mulk Raj Anand’s novel also can be taken as the subjects of

colonization under the rule of Savarna Hindus. Once-colonized countries can be seen as

properly post-colonial. The Post-colonial theory looks at issues of power, economics, politics,

religion, and culture and how these elements work in relation to colonial hegemony. In the

novel Mulk Raj Anand Anand analysed all these issues in the light of post-colonial

perceptive.

The primary concern of Post-colonial literature is to demonstrate the consequences of

the domination or colonization. In the novel Mulk Raj Anand vehemently traces out the

significant consequences, after the Hindus domination over on untouchables. The first

significant result in Bakha’s life is giving up the religion. And another significant change is

fascination towards British culture. Further the untouchables lost their identity in the society.

Their whole life is dedicated to serve for the upper caste people. And here the upper caste

people represented as “colonizer” and the untouchables represented as “colonized”. The so

called Hindus look down upon untouchable’s lives and they treated them like slaves. The

Colonizers {Hindus} imposed many rules on colonized {untouchables} people. And the

untouchable’s lost all the charm of life and they are not allowed to enter into the main stream

society.
 20

Eventually, we notice that Untouchable novel is a faithful record and a transcription

of the pathetic plight of untouchables who are subjected to immitigable social indignities,

"only because of their lowly birth." It can be understood from this paper that the struggle of

the subalterns cannot end so easily. The writers have expressed their hope for the future

relying on their own times’ expectation. Anand tries to pin his hope for betterment of the

situation on the dream of Ghandhian ideology and vision. Anand not only throws light on

their abject poverty and suffering but also focuses its attention on their low-caste. The novel

has a tragic beauty of its own. The will to revolt and the sheer impossibility of successful

doing so under the circumstances constitute the basic tension in the novel. The hero is

simultaneously a rebel and victim. His anguish becomes our sorrow. But Bakha has no tragic

status as scapegoat and a victim, tyrannized by a recalcitrant society. He is the lowest of the

lowly whose destiny does not suffer any appreciable erosion. Ultimately we notice that the

theory of post colonialism is the most prevalent subject matter in Mulk Raj Anand’s

Untouchable and simultaneously we have to agree that this novel establishes post colonialism

in the significant manner.

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Work cited

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2014.

Anand, Mulk Raj. "Why I Write?" Kakatiya Journal of English Studies, vol. 11, No.1 Spring

1977.

Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. New Delhi: Arnold, 1991.

Berry, Margaret. Mulk Raj Anand: The Man and the Novelist. Amsterdam, Netherlands:

Iyengar, K.R. Srinivasa. Indian Writing in English. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1984.

Iyengar, Srinivasa K.R. Indian Writing in English. 1962. 2nd Ed. New Delhi & Bombay,

India: Asia Publishing House, 1974.

Maheshwari, V.K. Preface to Perspectives on India English Literature, New Delhi: Atlantic

Publishers and Distributors, 2002.

Naik. M.K. A History of Indian English Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Werni, 1982.

Oriental Press, 1971.

Paul, Pramila. The Novels of Mulk Raj Anand: A Thematic Study, Delhi: Sterling Publishers,

1978.