Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand - Essay Example

?Literary Analysis Literature has played an important role in the society. It can be felt from the literary works by d centuries back. Literary works represent an actual picture of how the author sees it during the time it was made. It may depict the social standards, the norms, the culture, the politics, and the economic status during the period it was made to tell its readers the exact feel during that time. Literature as part of a culture provides writers the great power for freedom of different kinds. The freedom to put everything the way an author wants the world through the use of his words. This power of the pen upon an authors hand is said to be mightier than the sword. This is based on the fact that it can create a world of opinion and challenges that can cause peaceful revolts for a change without the use of force or war. Some of these great literary works can be found from the works of Rudyard Kipling, Mulk Raj Anand and Timothy Touchstones, these great writers differently described India and Britain’s relationship during the time of the Great British colony from different points of views and different ways of expressions to readers written in their masterpiece. Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand: A social cry for freedom Mulk Raj Anand’s ‘Untouchable’ is a portrayal of India during the cruel times of social discrimination. It is the story of how a day was in the life of Bakha, an 18 year-old sweeper boy belonging to the lowest caste of the Hindu society and his struggle to surface beyond what the unjust system has brought upon the fate of the many. The author of the book described the way India was before it was captured and at the same time it described comparatively the greater leap the western world has made, surpassing the greatness of India behind (Gutte, 2009). Bakha’s character, as the protagonist, is the representative of all down trodden society in pre-independence of India which is the figure of suffering because of having been born to the lowest caste. Bakha symbolizes the exploitation and oppression which had been the fate of being an untouchable. Bakha, as the story tells a day in his life, represents the anguish, the humiliation and the suffering of whole outcastes and the underdogs. In this novel Bakha is a universal figure that shows the oppression, injustice, humiliation to the whole community of the outcastes in India (Gutte, 2009). The variations of the Indian society are reflected in the story especially how the caste system has made a great wall of social injustice amongst its people. Bakha’s family lived in mud-walled cottages huddled colony where people were scavengers, the leather-workers, the washer men, the barbers, the water-carriers, the grass-cutters and other outcasts. The lower castes people were suffering as they were born an outcast e.g. from getting a decent jobs thus a chance for a higher cost of living (Gutte, 2009). Schools were meant for the babus not the bhangis (Anand and Ram, 2006, p.115), as the author of the novel illustrated how education then was unjustly given. It showed how lower class people were not allowed to have a decent job or to attend school. Even the simplest dream to study in school to read and write never stood a chance all because the caste system branded the likes of Bakha as slaves and stripped them off equal rights and treatment amongst the upper class people. Based on the said social system, the lower class people ought to be of service to people of higher caste for a lifetime because religion dictates it so. But Bakha’s initiative to learn did not stop from being a dream instead it made a way to bribe the sons of the babu in return for a lecture (Anand and Ram, 2006, p.114-116). The author of this novel has succeeded in opening the minds of its readers to the social oppression that has been going on and the struggle of these people to live beyond the shadows of their fate. Even the simplest freedom to feel, or for this matter to touch, was forbidden amongst the marginalised sector of the caste. Bakha’s people were believed to be dirty during then, because of having the dirty jobs (Mohan, 2005, p. 54), and a touch or a presence can cause pollution to the person or to a place. The irony of the story happened to Bakha that day having the taste of every suffering and belittling a person could get from violations against the caste norms which are obviously out of bounds not in a contemporary but on a humanistic point of view. Touching a person of the upper class caste accidentally and the curiosity of seeing the inside of the temple and knowing that his sister almost got harassed by a priest were some of the misadventure Bakha had to go through. This was an example of the hypocrisy of the other castes in their attitudes towards the untouchables. The higher castes viewed the bhangis as impure and made them do all the menial labour, yet they were not adverse to sexual relations with them. It seems the idea of impurity was only there to when it suited the higher castes desires (Mantooth, 2005). British, on the contrary, represented the free civilization that catered human equality that fascinated Bakha because he had worked in the barracks of a British regiment and had been caught by the glamour of the British life. The Tommies as Bakha called the British treated him with respect despite his caste- the thing Bakha was aiming for from the members of the upper caste yet was able to solicit from foreign people and not from his. Amazed as ever the simplest way for Bakha to imitate the Tommies was through their 'fashun' by wearing trousers, breeches, coat, puttees, boots, etc. Imitating and trying to rise above the caste by westernizing ways seemed to be the only way Bakha can remove himself from the injustices of the caste (Mantooth, 2005). The influence of British colonialism can be seen in the children’s eye for hockey as shown in the story. The implication for change revolted upon the words of the novel. The reality of the system and its injustices were made clear of the oppression brought upon to the untouchables of India and of the world as well. The novel served an analysis of how to alleviate one’s own suffering and exploitation despite the dictates of the society. The world has gone a long way since then, time and evolution paved the way for the most civilized humanitarian approach in bringing independence and equality to man away from the forces of social injustice, oppression, war and violence. ‘Kim’ by Rudyard Kipling: The Diversity of British India Rudyard Kipling's love of India can be seen in one of the author’s novels, Kim. His love and admiration for the country and its people reflected the epic plot of descriptions regarding the scenic beauty of the country. The novel embodied a panoramic celebration of India and presented a magnificent picture of its landscapes, both urban and rural, and a fascinating array of native characters that, for the most part, were warm, generous and tolerant (Mackean, 2001).The story of Kim’s adventure portrayed a vivid descriptions of Indian life and India's native people (Kipling’s Kim: A study Guide, 2010) from the scenic description of the story to its wonderful variety of characters of different personalities and cultures. Kim was born an alien in India, was seeking to find a rightful place in the country while at the same time struggling to find, or create, an identity. 'Who is Kim?' is the main question that the character Kim in the story kept on asking himself at several points in the novel and the ways of finding the personal truth seems to be the flow of the story. The plot has a loose structure, being held together by a journey along the greatness of India in search of the truth (Mackean, 2001). India through Kim’s perspective can be viewed as a very powerful symbol of a nature intrinsically hostile to man, the figure of a world inimical to his physical and moral survival. It can be described as a potent image of the forces of persecution ranged against the individual in his struggle to sustain identity. India was viewed as the negative pole in that ubiquitous structure of oppositions deployed by dominant orders to legitimate relationships of power (Parry, 1988, p 50). India then was under the British colonial rule. British presence seemed to be okay during that time as no hostility can be observed from the natives of India but through this story it can be felt that even Kipling was very doubtful about the pomp and circumstance of the British presence in India, complete with viceroy and jubilee (Viola, 1997, p 63). Within its colonial power, British people seemed to be the protector of India and its wonders mainly against Russian threat. British, as the researcher sees it, is a giant who is thirsty of rule and power that without proper hold it could have unleashed a great threat not just to India but the whole world. Kipling made use of information about India's roads, rivers, plants, stones, and customs along the story that readers have a taste of his fascination and knowledge of India. This information were collated and collected by the protagonist making it available to the British government which was essential to the proper exercise of British power. And it is Kim, the sahib who can pass as any one of India's many people, raised amongst the natives, who has access to the secrets of all India (Parry, 1988, P54). Kipling presented the imperialist presence in India as unquestionably positive. This was shown most effectively in the main plot of the novel which was the endeavours of Indian and British spies to protect the northern border of British India from the encroachment of Russia, thus protecting the imperial interests of the British Empire. Indian spies were significantly shown protecting British interests. Kipling by this demonstration showed an India in which the native population supported the British Empire and thus presented Britain's imperialist presence as a positive force (Eye on Palestine, 2010). The triumph of Britain extended from the conquest of the physical environment to autocratic relationships within the domestic society of India and other colonies. The British believed that the white colour of the skin dominates that of others. On that basis the British had stereotypically misjudged people of the Indian and Asian decent to be uncivilized and the need for British interruptions to civilize those people was essential. These inscriptions of an outlook constructed in an historical moment continue to offer rich pickings to a militant conservatism and seek sanctions for authoritarianism, social conformity, patriotism, and Britain's commanding world role. To a criticism concerned with mapping the exclusions and affirmations of an imperialist culture whose legacy has still not been spent, these same texts can be made to reveal both imperialism's pretentious presentation and those inadmissible desires, misgivings, and perceptions concealed in its real purpose (Parry, 1988, p. 62). Kipling's work has brought about a nationalistic interest in the novel, especially its role in and its use of historical occurrences of British India, from interest in the Great Game of espionage between Russia and Britain to examinations of how Kipling portrayed The Great Mutiny of 1857. Today, Kim was considered a minor classic, more for its historical interest than for its artistry (Eye on Palestine, 2010) and has paved way for truth of imperialism during the time it was written that somehow awakened the patriots against the imperial rule. During the 1890’s, England commanded the largest worldwide empire, spanning the globe, of which India was one of the largest and most important components. However, despite Britain's attempts to keep control over the vast subcontinent, army mutinies and the growing educated class of Indians created increasing opposition to British rule that has led to independence (Eye on Palestine, 2010). Today the British colonies are solely standing independently amongst the influences of the British rule that can be seen in culture, politics and religion. ‘Tea and Sugar’ by Timothy Touchstones: A Poem for a change Tea and sugar by Timothy Touchstone is a poetic portrayal against the abuses of the British reign. Through the use of poetic words, the description of the condition of poor India beyond the loot of Britain of its resources being under its control was presented. The British activities can be felt strongly during the time of its reign over India through activities of the East India Company, a company made for the exploitation of the British colonies such as the East, Southeast Asia and India. Malachy Postlethwayt (1750, cited by Green, n.d.) described the company as the most flourishing trading company and likewise one of the greatest of Europe. India was one of the principal sites for transactions of the East India Company and was a lucrative opportunity for investment (Green, n.d.). British was represented in this literature as that of a sucker of its colonial territories, making exploits of the resources for a one way gain and not merely making trade on their biased intentions. The fabulous private wealth acquired by the East India Company’s succession of leaders among the company officers in India and the suspicion that much of that wealth had been gained through plunder, rapacity, and villainy gave rise in the 1760s to the creation of a new social type, the Asiatic plunderer, who violated all metropolitan standards of morality and decency in a frenetic and totally unprincipled quest for gain. It resided as a symbol of the betrayal of British values beyond the line in the voluptuous East that the metropolitans applied the term nabob (Greene, n.d.). Nabob then was a slanderous label and a slur. It was a ready-made insult, available to everyone and broadly applicable. The most prominent was Robert Clive, a name synonymous to British India as well as the excesses that were brought to characterize the nabob class (Nechtman, 2010, p. 148). During the publication of Tea and Sugar in 1972 (Touchstone, cited by Greene, n.d.), the disgraceful reputation of the nabobs had been already established. Touchstone lyrically versed his poem with observations from ill gotten wealth and prominence of the nabobs. The poem gave its readers a picture of an abused India in the hands of advantageous British Indian leadership like that of Clive. The poem further discussed that nabobs were not of Indian origin but that of the British decent to put such misery over India. Touchstone versed India’s suffering as a shame and a curse being under the British rule right in the footstep of the people’s native land and letting the latter sip its natural richness. Touchstone has written: ‘Tis British NABOBS’S claim my tuneful verse, My Country’s shame, and poor Hindostan’s curse Such, who from very nothings have begun; Further exploitations were revealed of the Imperial British rule. Citations of how rich plunderers were freely lurking in the luxuries of India, exhausting its natural riches, and depleting the country eventually with one’s own sources of gold, silver, sparkling gems and even the rich culture bestowed from the ancestry of the land were expressed. Such acts left the country exploited and defenceless against the consequences of its submission to British power (Touchstone, 1972, cited by Green, n.d.). The poem presented a description of how half of India is weakened by the drain of supply the conqueror has made: That pow’r, which made, at least, half INDIA droop, It’s native Princes, to a Conq’ror stoop. Touchstone in the purpose of his poem carefully put the nabobs’ exploits into context and spelled out the meaning for the readers. Touchstone rhymed in conclusion (Green,n.d.): Some, for love of gold, have famine caus’d, Nor, until thousands perish’d, ever paus’d: While others, fortunes make, by unjust wars, The meaning of these last few verses somehow summed up man’s never ending unsatisfied and materialistic search of power to be the root of all the colonialism that has been. The search for priceless materials in lieu of the welfare of others are always taken for granted. It is embedded in the history of man that the wars that happened out of this very dominantly inhumane act of craving for possession have caused millions of people to die before finally realizing the unworthy and barbaric claims for power. Literary and its societal significance Literature holds the history of the society. Its importance lies in the context of its message that calls for nationalism and unity. The representation of India and British varies in all three literary works of Rudyard Kipling, Mulk Raj Anand and Timothy Touchstones due to the differentiation of the time or era they were made and so as to the different social and political issues present during then. Kipling wrote to defy the caste system and to make known to the readers the injustices it brings to the society. Anand, on the other hand, described in a travelogue the beauty of India and the harmonic relationship between it and Britain against the threat of the Russia while Touchstone courageously flouted the ways of the British in abusing its hold over India. All these were made to call a sense of national awareness that paved way for the eventual gratification of their freedom out of the mutiny and revolution of different ways of the will-powered people against the colonial regime. Thus, a pen is really mightier than the sword for it brings knowledge and awareness upon man with a peaceful revolt. 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