Reading 1001 discussion
This topic is about
Untouchable
1001 book reviews
>
Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
Published: 1935
Tags/Categories: Indian author, 1001 books, social commentary, India, caste system, Hindu
Review: This is a short read that depicts a day in the life of a young 18 y/o man of the lowest caste in India. While this was not a thrilling novel to read I found it interesting and also uncomfortable. I never realized how difficult life for an untouchable was. What a system which really is a system of bullying. It appeared to me that an untouchable did all the work no one else wanted to do to make life good for the other castes but then was dependent on good will of others to give them water, food, (was this how they were paid)? How did they get paid? To stand around and wait for water when one was so thirsty. Such a needed commodity. I was horrified. This did not make me at all impressed with a religion that treated others this way. I really question all people who seek this kind of religion that treats other people this way and criticizes Christianity in the same breath. Anyway, back to this book. I was surprised at how Bakha who was 18 seemed so very young. He wasted a lot of his day wandering around in his thoughts but in this way the reader gets to see the community, how he is treated, how they live, interact and the hopelessness. The ending of this book is what some people have trouble. It is kind of an abrupt change. Bakha in his wanderings comes across a gathering of peoples across social classes who are there to hear Gandhi. Gandhi speaks out against the system of untouchables and encourages the people and then he leaves. This gives hope to Bakha who heads home to tell his father. I looked up stuff as I tend to do. The system of untouchable still exists even though there are laws against it now. There are still people cleaning latrines. Gandhi spoke against untouchables but didn’t really understand that it wasn’t something you could just walk away from. Overall, an interesting look at the social culture of India.
First Sentence: The outcastes' colony was a group of mud-walled houses that clustered together in two rows, under the shadow both of the town and the cantonment, but outside their boundaries and separate from them.
Words:
bakshish: tip
sepoys: Indian soldier serving for Britain
issat: prestige
Maidan: a city square in south Asian
Habiliments: clothing
Solar Topee: a type of hat worn by the British
Quotes: this forgetfulness or emptiness persisted in him over long periods. It was a sort of insensitivity created in him by the kind of work of work he had to do, a tough skin which must be a shield against all the most awful sensations.
He had been startled into an awareness of the mystery of vegetable moods.
He didn't know that with the growth of years he had lost the freedom, the wild, careless, dauntless freedom of the child, that he had lost his courage, that he was afraid.
Last words: And he proceeded homewards.
This novel about a young man of the lowest caste in India takes place over one day and in that day we get to see the pride he takes in his work, the teenage conflict with his father, a hockey game that gets out of control, a wedding of a good friend's sister, a youthful rebellion against his work and his seeing and hearing Mahatma Gandi speak to a crowd . However, what the book really focuses on is the horror of being born into a caste where you have to call ahead to let people know that you are coming so that you do not accidentally touch them and thereby pollute them, the horrors of not having any way out of that caste system or that caste designated work no matter how competent you are or how hard you work. Your potential to pollute means you can not go to school, you can not pull water from the village well, you can not shop in a store to purchase your food and you can not enter a temple. Even the great Gandi who spoke out against this system could not see how impossible it was for the Untouchables to do anything about their fate. Our main character cleans latrines and cleans up cow dung from the street and Mahatma admonishes his kind to become clean so that no one can hold filth against them. It is disturbing and educational read.
Mod
****
A couple of years ago, I watched a television report about an NGO helping women in certain parts of India who were labelled 'Untouchables'. As their occupation still involved manual scavenging and cleaning latrines, the NGO's aim was to help these women find other types of work, in order to stop this practice which had nevertheless been outlawed in the 90s. This was still a very arduous challenge, as the local population still entertained the prejudices attached to this label and refused to give work to somebody related to this lowly caste.
Hence my interest in this book. It traces a day in the life of Bakha, an 'Untouchable', going through his duties as a sweeper and latrine cleaner with his family. He has to face many situations where he is humiliated and exposed to various injustices due to his status as a lowest-caste member. The novel concludes with a scene depicting a speech made by Gandhi calling for better treatment and more freedom for the Untouchables.
This was an excellent portrayal of the plight suffered from the people belonging to the lowest rungs of the Hindu caste system. Despite having been written in the 30s, it took a very long time for the Indian society to change its mindset and abandon some of the discriminatory practices arising from the caste system. And it looks there is still some way to go, as I remember, for example, hearing some years ago that it was only recent that membership of the Indian cricket team was finally open to other players than the higher castes'. Also, The White Tiger by Adiga, only written a few years ago, deals to some extent with these caste differences, still being applied in remoter parts of India.
This is a fictional account of one day in the life of young Bakha, a road sweeper and cleaner of public latrines. Because of his occupation, he is at the lowest level of his caste, the Untouchables (now usually referred to as Dalit, the book was written in 1935). Mulk Raj Anand provides a compelling and realistic account of Bakha’s life - the injustice and violence meted out by higher caste Hindus, surprising acts of kindness that lift his spirits, the struggle of his job, and a glimpse of a different way through a chance encounter with a great man.The clarity and directness of the author’s writing works well to highlight the dehumanising aspects of the caste system as applied to one ordinary man and his family. The details of the small cantonment town are carefully chosen, and the beauty of the landscape is vividly contrasted with the dust and dirt surrounding Bakha. The early episodes of cruelty and unfairness were very affecting and I was rooting for Bakha to get some luck. The final section, where Bakha begins to grapple with political and philosophical ideas, was less engaging but did fit with the way the author is documenting and challenging the system.
Mod
This short book packs a big punch. I enjoyed the story of Bakha, a day in the life of a sweeper and toilet cleaner in the Indian caste system. Through this day I learned about his thoughts, aspirations, friendships, hardships and hopes for the future. Even though Bakha was condemned at birth to a life- long profession, I found his story inspiring. “He was a pioneer in his own way, although he had never heard of that word, and was completely unconscious that it could be applied to him.” 'I regard untouchability', the Mahatma was saying, 'as the greatest blot on Hinduism. This view of mine dates back to the time when I was a child.'
Untouchable sheds light on what it is like to be a member of the lowest caste in India's caste system. The protagonist is a social outcast. He has a job nobody wants - the cleaner of the latrines. His family is so poor they have to eat rats. He isn't even allowed to enter the temple. Others keep away from him to keep from becoming defiled by his touch or by something he has touched. This is his lot in life from birth, established hundreds or maybe even thousands of years before he existed. He notices that the British don't regard him in the same way and he contemplates how his life could be different.
The writing isn't stunning but the message is important and skillfully handled. The author depicted the protagonist as human and full of complex thoughts and emotions during a time when people of his station were treated as anything but human. This isn't historical fiction, either - it was actually written when the caste system was very much in force.