Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand
Preamble
Muk Raj Anand wrote the novel Untouchable. It was published in 1935 and follows the events of one day in the life of a young man named Bakha. Bakha is an Untouchable, a term used to describe people who are so far below even the lowest caste in Indian society that they are considered outside of the system. His duty is to clean streets and latrines for the higher class, who are not allowed to clean or handle human waste. Bakha’s job will be his entire life because he was born as an Untouchable until India transforms. The entire narrative is set on one day in Bakha’s life, a day when his tolerance for the abuse of the lower castes begins to deteriorate.
Plot Summary:
Bakha is reporting for another day of toilet cleaning at the request of his father, an ill-tempered bully named Lakha when the novel begins. The man invites Bakha to meet him later in the day while cleaning the latrine of a famous street hockey player named Charat Singh. He promises Bakha a hockey stick as a present.
When Bakha returns home, his sister Sohini goes to bring them some water. She makes her way to the communal well. The Untouchables, on the other hand, are unable to dip their own water because higher caste Hindus think that the touch of an under caste will pollute the well, which would then require lengthy and expensive cleansing rituals. A priest named Kali Nath appears and agrees to pour water for Sohini since he is smitten with her beauty. He then invites her to the temple courtyard later that day to clean it.
Bakha sweeps his way through the streets. He unintentionally rubs up against a Brahmin Hindu, who proceeds to yell that Bakha has contaminated him. As a group gathers around Bakha, the man shouts abuse at him. The man smacks Bakha before a Muslim cart driver intervenes and disperses the crowd. The Muslim man is unconcerned about Hindu castes because he is likewise classified as an Untouchable.
Bakha enters the temple and peeks inside, which is against his rules. But, before he is apprehended, Sohini appears, weeping. The priest who had invited her to clean the temple is present and accuses her of polluting him with her touch. Sohini alleged he sexually abused her as she was cleaning the restroom by groping her breasts. She had only touched him when she rejected him and he began screaming. Bakha tells her to go home and claims he will be in charge of obtaining food.
He spends the rest of the afternoon begging for food, while the upper-caste Hindus treat him to various humiliations and cruelties. He is increasingly disgusted with his mistreatment, and when he returns home, he informs his father about the man who attacked him. His father believes that the top Hindus are good and caring, and recalls Bakha that when he was a baby, a Hindu doctor came to their house and saved Bakha’s life when he was sick with a fever.
Bakha attends the wedding of one of his friend’s sisters. After telling two of his buddies about the man who hit him, one of them suggests that they exact revenge on the offender. Bakha thinks about it, but he realizes that retaliating will only get him and his family in trouble. The Untouchables have no legal redress.
Bakha joins a game of street hockey after receiving his hockey stick from Charat Singh. A brawl breaks out during the game, and the two teams start throwing pebbles at one other. One of the rocks strikes a young youngster in the head. Bakha delivers him to his mother, who recognizes him as a street sweeper. Despite the fact that he is attempting to assist her, she yells that he has defiled her son.
Bakha’s father is enraged that Bakha has been gone all afternoon. He evicts Bakha from the house. Bakha travels to a train station after hearing a report that Mahatma Gandhi will be giving a speech there. Bakha will remain until Gandhi arrives. Gandhi’s speech attacks the caste system and encourages people to follow in his footsteps through nonviolent resistance. Bakha is inspired by Gandhi’s lecture, but he lacks the knowledge to assess whether Gandhi’s proposals are naive.
Following Gandhi’s speech, Bakha overhears two educated men, a poet and a lawyer, debating the speech’s merits. Gandhi’s goals, according to the lawyer, are juvenile and foolish. Long-standing customs are rarely altered, and he believes that the caste system will continue to exist despite reform efforts. The poet believes that the caste system’s barbarism will be removed, especially since the flushing toilet is believed to be coming to their town. Once the citizens have flushing toilets, the Untouchables will no longer be required to dispose of the town’s garbage, which would necessitate a reconsideration of their function and obligation to society.
The author’s experience as an Indian, as well as the fact that Untouchable was written when the caste system was still in force, lend realism and veracity to the work, making it easier to empathize with Bakha and his family. Untouchable provides readers with a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience the plight of victims of the caste system. Simultaneously, the novel reveals the ambiguities of Indian identity after World War I as India transitions from postcolonialism to globalism.
Themes of Untouchable
Discrimination and Segregation
Anand is moved by the horrible plight of the untouchables. The untouchables are separated from the rest of society and discriminated against. There are several outcasts in the colony, including washer men and leather workers, but scavengers are at the bottom of the caste structure. According to the age-old Vedic tradition, they deserve the least amount of human affection and sympathy. They have been classified as subhuman. Animals are better than untouchables in certain ways since they may use their environment without polluting them.
Anand never dwells on the subject of romantic love affairs. The topic itself was an audacious step toward deterring untouchability. He went against the grain by making a sweeper the protagonist of his story, earning him the anger of conservative and fanatical caste Hindus. Anand vividly depicts this situation.
“The outcastes were not allowed to mount the platform around the well, for if they were ever to draw water from it, the Hindus of the three above castes would deem the water unclean. They were also not permitted to utilize the neighboring brook since their use might taint it. They didn’t have their own well. They had to collect at the base of the Hindu caste’s well and rely on the generosity of some of their superiors to fill their pitchers.”
The Social Realism Theme
Anand’s principles and worldview are not irrational. In his approach to the subject of untouchability, he is highly pragmatic and realistic. The novel’s theme is inspired by his childhood experiences. Anand has intimate knowledge of the untouchables and their environs. He used to play with the untouchable boys when he was a kid. Bakha, the hero’s life is true. As E.M. Forster puts it,
“Untouchable could only have been written by an Indian, and by an Indian who was on the outside looking in. No sympathetic European, on the other hand, could have invented the figure of Bakha since he would not have known enough about his hardships.”
The Untouchability Theme
The violence and tyranny inflicted on Bakha were unique to the untouchables, despite the fact that they shared the same suffering and indignity as other outcastes. Everyone recognizes them and despises accepting or giving anything to them. When Bakha exchanges the currency for sweets, the confectioner chooses it after washing it. They wrap them in paper and give them to the dogs like a butcher throws a bone to a dog; they are not entitled to fresh and fine food, so they depend on food leftovers and stale food, which is considered magnificent enough for the untouchables. Even though they are Hindus, they are denied entry to the temple. They think that the untouchable can pollute gods and goddesses, as well as the temple grounds. Anand depicts the hypocrisy of Hindu tradition beautifully.
“Get off the stairwell, scavenger!” You’re out! You have desecrated our temple! We will now have to pay for the purification ceremony. “Get down, dog! Get away!”
The Dangerous Circle
Slavery for a thousand years has left indelible traces on the lives and psyches of the untouchables. Weakness corrupts, and extreme weakness utterly corrupts. Bakha, a scavenging youngster, is trapped in a vicious spiral with no way out. Destined or forced to clean excrement and live in poverty, he must survive on food left over by Hindu castes and rely on the kindness of so-called Hindu patrons for water. Health and cleanliness are meaningless to them. For them, a neat and clean life is still a faraway dream. The fact that they are untouchables appears to be the only reason for their ostracism to continue, and their sufferings seem to merge with eternity.
The Servility Theme
Lakha and Rakha are sedentary, indolent, and sluggish. They sit inert and suffer, but they do not even consider denouncing social injustice and exploitation. Bakha, who has a sense of self-esteem, has the power to resist untouchability, which has left him embarrassed, but generations of servitude have paralyzed him and sapped his ardor and strength to retaliate. When a caste Hindu says, “Keep to the side of the road, You low-caste vermin,” his senses are paralyzed. He is startled to hear someone shout at him, “Why don’t you call, you swine…”
Pundit Kali Nath is encouraged to molest Sohini because of the untouchables’ servility. Sohini’s submissive and subservient nature compels her to submit to the libidinous and hypocritical priest. She is too naïve to discern the priest’s evil motive.
Equilibrium and Impartiality
Anand’s portrayal of their intercourse and relationship is neutral and balanced since he understands the psyche of both caste Hindus and untouchables. He does not exaggerate or exaggerate the unfairness and cruelty meted out to the untouchables, nor does he condemn all caste Hindus for being heartless and unscrupulous. His caste Hindu characters are not all tyrants, nor are all of his untouchables nice and admirable. Pandit Kali Nath, a hypocritical character, stands in stark contrast to Habildar Charat Singh, a compassionate caste Hindu who has overcome caste biases.
The East-West Theme
The Bakha-Tommies, Bakha-Hutchinson, and Bakha-Iqbal-Bashir relationships have all contributed to the East-West theme. Bakha is deeply influenced by the alien characters, particularly the Tommies. Bakha recognizes them as his ideal. He attempts to imitate them. He feels liberated and self-confident while imitating the Tommies. Although Iqbal and Bashir have little influence on Bakha, Bakha admires them for their reasonable and bold thinking. The most beneficial component of Western influence was that it facilitated overall change.
Characters in Untouchable
Anglophile Bakha and His Relatives
Bakha is the title character of the work, as implied by the title Untouchable, and his career reflects this. He is not your typical untouchable. He is agile, dexterous, well-built, and attractive. He has a strong sense of self-worth and is meticulous about hygiene. He is an Anglophile by disposition since he enjoys looking distinctive and being recognized by passersby. Another important cause for his Anglophilia is that he despises caste Hindus for their callousness and nasty demeanor. He has a soft spot for the English since they are generous and friendly. Bakha stands out since he is dressed in an army coat, army boots, breeches, and puttees. Bakha enjoys smoking because he is driven by a desire to seem as an English gentleman. But he is a man with few resources.
He strives to transcend his dirty surroundings of untouchability, but his constraints render him useless. His father, Lakha, is the Jamadar of all sweepers in the town and cantonment and is officially in charge of the three rows of public latrines that lined the colony’s extreme end near the stream. Because of his utter humility and servility, he is a typical untouchable. “She had a sylph-like form, not thin but full-bodied, within the limits of her graceful frame, well-rounded on hips, with an arched narrow waist from which descended the folds of her trousers and above which were her full, round, globular breasts, jerking slightly for lack of bodice, under her transparent muslin shirt,” Anand writes of Bakha’s sister. However, Rakha is the only member of his family that appears to be a typical untouchable, disgusted, lethargic, and crass in manners.
“He seemed a true child of the outcaste colony where there are no drains, no light, no water; of the marshland where people live among the latrines of townsmen, and in the stink of their own dung scattered about here, there, and everywhere; of the world where the day is as dark as the night and the night pitch-dark,” Anand describes. He’d wallowed in its muck, bathed in its marshes, and played among its garbage heaps, and his listless, sluggish demeanor was a product of his circumstances. He was the carrier for a life force that would never reach its peak because Malaria lingered in his bones, and Malaria does not kill but only wastes energy. He had been friends with the flies and mosquitoes since his boyhood.” Nobody cares about him.
Bakha’s Friends
Bakha has no friends among the scavengers, but Chota and Ram Charan, the washer man’s son in the outcastes’ colony, are both socially superior to him. However, Anand has provided few specifics concerning their treatment of him. The three friends share a warm and friendly friendship. They take a break from their work and go somewhere quiet and peaceful to relax. Bakha confides in when he is feeling down and frustrated. They answer peacefully and console Bakha’s bereaved soul. Bakha seeks refuge in their company. Bakha runs to his pals and unburdens his sad heart after the torturous and humiliating harassment of Sohini at the hands of Pundit Kali Nath. His buddies boost his morale and encourage him to give the hypocritical priest a lesson.
There are two juvenile characters from the Hindu caste, one of whom participates in the hockey game and the other who is excluded due to injury. Bakha catches the injured infant in his arms and runs to his house, fearing that he will bleed excessively and not receive timely treatment. Bakha, on the other hand, is met with invectives and insults for allegedly corrupting a caste Hindu child. Anand demonstrates his unrivaled expertise and multidimensional genius in the portrayal of these two children.
Hindu Culture and Tradition Supporters
Untouchable’s portrayal of caste Hindus can be divided into two categories: sympathetic and harsh. Havildar Charat Singh is a kind and generous man who does not appear to have inherited the caste Hindu complex of filth. He provides Bakha with a new brand hockey stick and shares tea with him. He scolds and insults him if the latrine isn’t clean enough for him to use, yet he lavishes praise on his exceptional dexterity. “Perhaps his devotion in his occupation gave him the look of distinction, or his exotic clothes, however loose and ill-fitting, that lifted him above his odorous milieu,” Anand adds. In Anand’s words, Charat Singh’s “immaculate hygiene” puzzled him. Pundit Kali Nath, a harsh and hypocritical cleric who molests Bakha’s sister, stands in stark contrast to the kind Charat Singh.
An Unknown Character in the Market Place
During his visit to the city to sweep the main road and the temple courtyard, Bakha encounters two unidentified characters in the market place. Except for two Mohammadan characters (who Anand admires for their belief in human equality and for forbidding (untouchability), all are savage and barbarian. There’s a betel-leaf vendor who hands Bakha smokes as though he were tossing one to a persistent dog sniffing around a butcher store.
The shops regard Bakha’s money, which was swapped for items, as tainted. Bakha is treated with heightened brutality and hatred by the sweets vendor. Despite the fact that Bakha pays for the jalebis, he is handled as if he were an animal. The enraged crowd swarms around him, accusing him of contaminating and defiling a Hindu caste. Bakha is surprised, ashamed, and terrified since he is unaware of his crime or guilt.
The mob, made up entirely of caste Hindus, is rude, nasty, and brutish. There isn’t a single caste Hindu who comes to Bakha’s aid, despite their age-old tradition. Only the Mohammadan tonga wallah reaches Bakha and brings him to safety. Anand correctly condemns Hindu castes. He is not prejudiced. This is not a case of personal vengeance. “Mr. Anand is in a perfect position,” writes E.M. Forster. He is a Kshatriya by caste, and he may have inherited the pollution complex. However, as a boy, he played with the children of sweepers assigned to an Indian regiment, and he came to like them and comprehend a tragedy that he did not share. He possesses the perfect combination of insight and detachment, and his background in philosophy has given him depth.”
Characters from the Fanatical and Orthodox Temples
Bakha has no romantic interest in any of the orthodox temple characters. He nursed and nourished his concept of vengeance after his sister was violated by a fanatical temple priest who prefers hedonism to religious ceremonies. The pusillanimous priest flees to a safe haven, knowing Bakha is capable of wrenching his neck. Anand describes two other temple devotees. “A priest sat partly naked, with a tuft of hair on the top of his shaven head, overly apparent as it knotted itself in an inexplicable knot.
A platform in front of him held an open book… A tall man, clearly a priest, stood up and blew a conch shell, nude save for a loin cloth, dark-haired and supple, with a sacred thread highlighting the delicate curves of his graceful physique. Bakha saw; he squinted, stared intently, and realized that the morning service had begun.” Although he is not a priest, but rather a devotee, he rushes out of the temple when he hears the raucous cries of ‘polluted, polluted’.
He chastises and discourages Bakha for coming upstairs and tells him to get off the temple steps. ‘He was terrified, and his eyes were obscured by darkness. Nothing was visible to him. His throat and tongue felt parched. He wanted to cry out in fear, but his voice failed him. To speak, he extended his mouth wide. It was useless. Sweat beads clung to his brow. He attempted to rise from his awkward position of prostration, but his limbs had no strength left in them! For a split second, he appeared to be dead.”
According to the priest, while Bakha has not defiled the worship, he has polluted the temple precinct, which necessitates a costly purificatory procedure to de-pollute. Following that is a subtle and high explanation of pollution levels. They talk about the subtleties of pollution. Some followers, though, murmur that a temple can be defiled from afar. “The distance, the distance!” the believers shouted from the top of the steps, according to Anand. According to the Holy Books, a temple can be contaminated by a low caste man coining within 69 yards of it, and he was actually on the steps, at the door. We’ve been wrecked. To purify ourselves and our temple, we will require a sacrificial fire.”
The Three Redeemers
Colonel Hutchinson, Mahatma Gandhi, and Iqbal Nath Sarshar are the three saviors who come to save the untouchables from injustice, exploitation, and the stigma of untouchability. Although Bashir is a fascinating guy, he disagrees with Gandhi and Sharshar. Colonel Hutchinson is a diligent and determined missionary. He is driven to convert the untouchables to Christianity, but he is a disaster. His deep knowledge and understanding of Christian theology, theosophy, and theophany play no role in any miracle because he is unfamiliar with Indian culture and tradition. He is a wealthy guy who is fed up with his nagging wife. The characterization of the missionary is the weakest in the story, and it exposes the novelist’s personal dislike of Christian missionaries. It is a mockery of Christian missionaries who live a contradictory existence.
In comparison to the Christian missionary, Mahatma Gandhi’s character is more sublime and divine. It entails some mysticism and divinity. Gandhi appears as a savior for the untouchables, enlightening the uneducated untouchables with his radical and sage teachings on piety, honesty, patriotism, and enormous devotion to the cause of the untouchables and the clown-trodden. Sarshar, a devout Gandhian with a twist, supports contemporary machines such as the flush system.
He proposes the appliance as a solution to the untouchability problem. Sarshar is really worried about the advancement of untouchables. Bashir’s viewpoints are highly Westernized. With his indigenous spinning wheel, he mocks Mahatma. He is unfamiliar with Gandhian philosophy. In many ways, Iqbal Nath is superior to Bashir. Iqbal is anchored in Indian soil and considers Gandhi as “the most liberating force of our period. He has flaws, but he is fundamentally sound.” R.N. Bashir depicts the westernized Indians who laud and eulogize the English. His portrayal is a parody of the British’s Indian sycophants.