LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 13:12 December 2013
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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A Comparative Study of Characters:
Walker’s Grange Copeland and Mulk Raj Anand’s Bakha

Suma Lalit Podnolanna, M.A., M.Phil.

Abstract

This article compares the character of Bakha from Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand, an Indian English writer with the character of Grange Copeland from Alice walker’s novel The Third Life of Grange Copeland. Though the place and incidents which inspired the writing of the two novels are different, the experiences are similar. Caste system discussed by Anand and racism talked about by Walker are very much similar experiences of two different societies. Bakha feels sad for going through the insults and coldness of the upper caste people; in addition to this, he is poor, uneducated, and treated abominably for being born as an untouchable. Like Bakha, Grange Copeland also has undergone the insults and seen the hypocrisy of the whites. Both characters are victims of social injustice and oppression.

Key Words:Mulk Raj Anand, Alice Walker, Untouchable, caste system, racism, exploitation of lower caste, kindness of Blacks, rudeness, upper class.

Alice Walker and Mulk Raj Anand

Alice Walker is an African American woman writer. Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia. She was the eighth daughter of a share cropper Willie Lee and Mennie Lou Grant walker. The Third Life of Grange Copeland is her first novel, published in 1970. Mulk Raj Anand is an Indian English writer. Untouchable is Anand’s famous novel published in 1935. Both of them belong to two vastly different countries, and have witnessed different historical movements in life. They are part of entirely different cultures. Yet this article compares their works because there are some similarities between the two. Walker has seen the evils of racism; similarly Anand has seen the equally disgusting evil of caste system in India. There are some similarities between the two. The two stories and the characters discussed here are the products of certain similar experiences.

Racism and Caste System

Racism is the discrimination committed against the people of a particular ethnic group by another group. Caste system is also the discrimination meted out to a particular group (caste) of the society. Traditionally, Indian society was divided into four groups based on the ‘varnas’. They are: the varna of the Brahmana, commonly identified with priestly class, the varna of Kshatriya, associated with rulers and warriors including property owners, the varna of the Vaishya, associated with commercial livelihoods (i.e. traders) , the varna of the Shudra, the workers, laborers. Among these four, the Shudra was considered as the lowest caste by the Indian society. The untouchables were outside of this system; they were not included anywhere in the varna system. Their duty was of cleaning the town, roads, toilets etc. They worked for the comforts of the upper caste people.

The protagonist of Anand’s novel Untouchable, Bakha belongs to this lowest caste of society. Walker’s Grange Copeland belongs to the African American community, the community which was subjected to discrimination for centuries.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Suma Lalit Podnolanna, M.A., M.Phil.
Research Scholar
Dradvidian University
Kuppam
Andhra Pradesh
India

Postal Address for Correspondence:
203 B Wing, Saileela Apt.
Sector 16, Plot7, New Panvel, Navi Mumbai 410206
Raighad Dist.
Maharashtra
India
suma_adamale@rediffmail.com
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