subject: Dr. Rakesh Ravi's Evaluation of Mulk Raj Anand's 'Untouchable' [print this page] Mulk Raj Anand's popular novel Untouchable was published in 1935. The novel exposes Anand's sympathy with the underdog or the weaker section of the society. Untouchable was Anand's first novel and it proved to be a great success. It is the shortest of all his novels, yet it made such an effective impact on Indian readers that they felt inclined to think over the problem cause by undesirable sense of superioty or inferiority.
Aspirations of a Modern YoungmanIn this novel, M. R. Anand succeeds in exposing aspirations of a modrn young man through the character of Bakha. He is a modern Youngman who has a wish to live well. He wishes to dress well. He is eager to be educated but the local school is not ready to give admission to a boy of lower class. He tries to learn English from the elder son the babu. Bakha is a man of self respect. He does not wish to be taught for nothing. He offers to pay an anna per lesson. He smokes like other Youngman but dislikes when she shopkeeper throws the cigarette to him in place of handing over as he does to other customers. The same thing is repeated at the sweetseller.
Narration of Social InjusticeMulk Raj Ananad's narration of social injustice makes this novel immortal in the histoy of social change. Bakha is a victim of social injustice and persecution. Bakha's duty is very hard. He gets up early in the morning to do his work of cleaning the public latrines. This is a tiring hard work because everyone wants a clean latrine and that too very early in the morning. If somehow because of any reason he gets late, he is rebuked. Even Bakha's father, Lakha does not wish to feel his son's suffering and always shouts at him for just as well as unjust causes like bitterness of cold and poor condition of the blanket. Certainly, Bakha is helpless before both the factors. It is the highlight of the novel that so called upper caste priest forgets his custom on seeing a young girl though an untouchable and attempts to seduce Bakha's sister Sohini. When she protests, he blames her for polluting the holy place.
Incidents of a Particular Day: Unity of Place, Time and ActionIn this novel, Mulk Raj Anand observes the unity of place, time and action. The story puts stress on a particular day. Bakha is ordered to get up early by his father as well as Havildar Charat Singh. Charat Singh is waiting for him outside the latrines. Bakha is ready to finish his work. It is his misfortune that his father Lakha too is not willing to go on duty of sweeping streets. Bakha is forced to do this work also. When Bakha goes into the town to sweep the streets he passes through physical as well as mental suffering. Bakha is extremely tired. Bakha's heart is broken when he is insulted, scolded and slapped by Hindu businessmen. The cigarette-seller does not hand over cigarette to him but throws it towards him; the sweetseller too throws jalebi to him though they do not feel hitch in taking his money. Just then a Hindu businessman alleges that Bakha has touched him and thus polluted him. Bakha tries to plead that he has not touched him yet the shopkeeper used abusive language calling him the son of a bitch or a pig. Bakha's jalebis fall down and all call him guilty of polluting a high caste Hindu. He feels so much hurt that tears come into his eyes. Unpleasant experiences disappoint him. For example, a Hindu housewife throws a chapati towards him from the top storey of her house. Bakha feels degraded while picking up the chapati from the pavement on which it had fallen. In the afternoon of the day, Bakha plays hockey with his friends. A boy is injured there. Out of sympathy, Bakha takes the boy to his home. It is ironic that Bakha is severely rebuked by the mother of this boy. According to this woman Bakha has polluted her house by entering it. The bitter experiences dishearten Bakha.
Message of HopeIt is the duty of a great work of art that it should give the message of hope. Mulk Raj Anand shows that a ray of hope is awakened in Bakha's heart towards the end of the novel when he listens to a speech by Mahatma Gandhi. Besides, a discourse by Iqbal Nath Sarashar, a poet-cum-journalist makes him hopeful of a better future. Bakha is an artistic creation by M.R. Anand. Through some pleasant experiences of Bakha Anand shows how a boy like Bakha should be treated by society. It is necessary to treat every body as a man having respect for the dignity of labour. Bakha has some pleasant experiences on the day of his great suffering and insult. Bakha is gifted with a hockey-stick by Havildar Charat Singh and Bakha feels greatly grateful to him.
ThemeIt is a social novel based on the theme of the evil of untouchability in India. To expose the evil in an impressive way, the novel records the experiences of Bakha, an eighteen-year-old sweeper-boy in the course of a single day in the town of Bulandshahr. The sweeper-boy, Bakha has work of keeping the public latrines of the town clean. It is very tedious and laborious as well as degrading. It exposes him to the scornful attitude of the caste Hindus and gives him the name of an untouchable. It is a stigma lebelled agaist him. It is highly ironic that he disgraced not for neglecting his duty but doing of it. This novel shows Anand's sympathies with the underdog or the weaker section of the society in India.
Style and Technique: Psychological and Stream of ConsciousnessThe novel impresses with its style. There is employed the traditional method of narration in the novel. But the new technique of the psychological novel leading to stream of consciousness too is employed. This aspect of Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable makes it a psychological novel that deals with what goes inside the mind of its characters more that what goes outside as physical action. Psychological novel soon developed with the novel of Stream of Consciousness, a literary technique. It reveals the character's feelings, thoughts, and actions without following a logical sequence. Untouchable is undoubtedly a success as a novel because it does hold the reader's attention from beginning to end, because it arouses in the reader's heart several emotions one after the other, and sometimes simultaneously, and because the characters in it have realIy been made to live. Although the novel is, on the whole, bleak and even depressing, it contains a few comic situations too.
Dr. Rakesh Ravi's Evaluation of Mulk Raj Anand's 'Untouchable'
