LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:5 May 2015
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)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Sufferings of Poor and Downtrodden in Mulk Raj Anand’s Novel
Untouchable

T. Panimalar, M.A., M.Phil.


Abstract

This article discusses the portrayal of the sufferings of poor and downtrodden in Mulkraj Anand’s novel Untouchable. The sufferings of poor and downtrodden have been a familiar sight in India throughout the ages. Poverty is glorified in theological terms, but in real life the poor and the downtrodden are looked down upon and ill-treated. Anand’s novel Untouchable created a writer’s revolution both in the writing in Indian languages and in Indian Writing in English. Anand has located the protagonist, Bakha, in a fixed reality in the hope of capturing the essence of the sweeper’s existence. The one day action of the hero is intended to represent a fairly complete sociological experience.

Key words: Mulk Raj Anand, Untouchable, Bakha, sweepers in India, social status and caste exploitation, ill-treatment.

Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable

Mulk Raj Anand started his literary career as novelist with his first novel Untouchable under the deep influence of Gandhi. The novel attained fame all over the literary circle of the world and it is also generally regarded as one of his best novel. He focuses on the oppressed downtrodden, and thus brings their problems to the surface so that an average reader might be able to understand the plight of the innocent creatures who suffer for no fault of their own but simply because they are the outcastes as they are born in that particular class of untouchables.

One Day Action

Anand has located the protagonist, Bakha, in a fixed reality in the hope of capturing the essence of the sweeper’s existence. The one day action of the hero is intended to represent a fairly complete sociological experience. An uneducated young man of eighteen years, he is not dull-witted. Like others of his community he is subjected to humiliation and indifference by high-caste people. He is aware of his low position and also conscious of his inability to offer resistance against the inhuman treatment ruthlessly meted out to him. He is born in a sweeper family, so he is never provided proper upbringing to become a civilized man.

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

Panimalar

T. Panimalar, M.A., M.Phil.
Vellalar College for Women
Erode - 638012
Tamilnadu
India
panimalar415@gmail.com
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