Indian lit. in english paper
The Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand
Mulk Raj Anand, one of the most highly regarded Indian novelists writing in English, was born in Peshawar in 1905. He was educated at the universities of Lahore, London and Cambridge, and lived in England for many years, finally settling in a village in Western India after the war. His main concern has always been for "the creatures in the lower depths of Indian society who once were men and women: the rejected, who has no way to articulate their anguish against the oppressors'. His novels works have been translated into several world languages.
Untouchable (1935)
Coolie (1936)
Two Leaves and a Bud (1937)
The Village (1939)
Across the Black Waters (1940)
The Sword and the Sickle (1942)
Private Life of an Indian Prince (1953)
The Indelible Problem: Mulk Raj Anand and the Plight of Untouchability
Andrew M. Stracuzzi The University of Western Ontario
Mulk Raj Anand, speaking about the real test of the novelist, once said:
It may lie in the transformation of words into prophesy. Because, what is writer if he is not the fiery voice of the people, who, through his own torments, urges and exaltations, by realizing the pains, frustrations and aspirations of others, and by cultivating his incipient powers of expression, transmutes in art all feeling, all thought, all experience - thus becoming the seer of a new vision in any given situation. (qtd. in Dhawn, 14)
There is no question that Mulk Raj Anand has fashioned with Untouchable a novel that articulates the abuses of an exploited class through sheer sympathy in the traditionalist manner of the realist novel He is, indeed, the "fiery voice" of those people who form the Untouchable caste. Yet if the goal of the writer, as Anand himself states, is to transform "words into prophecy," then the reader's struggle for meaning in the closing scenes of the novel become problematic and contestatory. It is reasonable to assume -- and as I would argue, it is implied -- that Anand has ventured to address a specific question with writing Untouchable; this is, how to alleviate the exploitation of the untouchable class in India? He then proceeds to address this question through the dramatization of Bahka, the novel's central character. Having said this -- and taking into account Anand's notion of the novel as prophesy -- I will argue that the author has failed to fully answer the question he has set before him.
In an article entitled, Exciting Tales of Exotic Dark India: Aravind Adiga 's The White Tiger, author Ana Cristina Mendes describes the many attributes of the poor proletariat class of India. Mendes shows how “dark India,”
Good vs. evil; one of the most popular storylines to do. None ever quite capture how dual man is. Human are one of the most complex beings on Earth; and Jekyll and Hyde captures that. The fascination and obsession one can feel towards their
Stevenson uses the characters of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to expresses his beliefs about human duality by introducing them as two contrasting characters, instead of just one character. Using two completely different characters with different names and appearances gets his message of human duality across more effectively rather than using just one character that turns a different colour when its angry, for example.
“Despite so many reforms, the idea of untouchability is still very much a part of Indian life." (doc A) There are hundreds of millions of people trapped under the poverty line in India, who can’t escape. They are kept in a cycle of poverty with no end. However, instead of getting the help that they need, they are being pushed further down into poverty, leading to generations of families trapped. The cycle of poverty in India is being pushed along by discrimination of the poor. The poor are discriminated against by being denied health care, pushed out of school, and targeted by officials, which leads to more poverty.
In the novel, The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga the main character, is Balram, one of the children in the “darkness” of India. Adiga sheds a new light on the poor of India, by writing from the point of view of a man who was at one time in the “darkness” or the slums of India and came into the “light” or rich point of view in India. Balram’s job as a driver allows him to see both sides of the poverty line in India. He sees that the poor are used and thrown away, while the rich are well off and have no understanding of the problems the poor people must face. The servants are kept in a mental “Rooster Coop” by their masters. The government in India supposedly tries to help the poor, but if there is one thing Adiga proves in The White Tiger, it is that India’s government is corrupted. Despite the government promises in India designed to satisfy the poor, the extreme differences between the rich and the poor and the idea of the Rooster Coop cause the poor of India to remain in the slums.
The focal point of Stevenson’s novella is the division of human nature. In the story, Henry Jekyll is a wealthy upperclassman, known for his benevolence and charitable deeds. However, the man admired and embraced by society harbors a secret known only by himself: a second identity that indulges in acts of immorality and sin. In his moral state, the scientist discovers “the thorough and primitive duality of man” (Stephenson 48) and that, of the two
Soccer is one of the sports that has the biggest disparities in pay between male and female players, and has recently raised controversy over whether men and women players should receive equal pay. It is noteworthy that, due to the existence of the ninth legislature and the rapid growth of amateur league (Frick, Prinz and Winkenlmann, 2003) and the growth of women's universities, the first women's union in 1995 was established. When the women's national team was established, the men's group had existed since its establishment in 1913. The women’s soccer won its first gold in the 1996 Olympics and later the 2000 Women’s World Cup. Due to financial constraints, the team experienced some setbacks, but then there has been a rebound. However, due to years of success, more women's groups have been attracted, but the number of women is still less, despite the fact that the American Football Confederation brings more income than male counterparts. This article will analyze the issues surrounding the dispute and propose a solution to the problem
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson elicits duality to further in depth show the contrasts between good vs evil, characteristics, and before and after to the reader. Accordingly, Stevenson utilizes duality to bring light to the differences of good vs. evil. For example, in the novel, Dr. Jekyll was the better version of himself while Mr. Hyde was the “more wicked, tenfold more wicked” (Stevenson 169) of Dr. Jekyll. The reader is able to grasp the contrast of these two personalities represented by its duality. This is shown in a very blatant display that everyone has a good and an evil side to themselves. This might make the reader ponder on him or herself on the horrible aspects of their own character.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dual nature of man is a recurring theme. Jekyll constantly struggles with good and evil, the expectations of Victorian society, and the differences between Lanyon and Jekyll.
“Conformity means changing attitudes or behavior to accommodate the standards of peers or groups. The pressure to conform can be immense, even if subtle. Wearing a thin tie when wide is in vogue makes many men uncomfortable, as does wearing the wrong brand of tennis shoes for many teenagers” (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, p. 653). Conformity happens when the individual gives into the requests of the group, although the feelings of the individual are to do otherwise. The individual is persuaded to comply with the group to belong to the group.
For untouchables ignorance showed by the social world hues untouchable’s identity. Whether untouchables who are assigned as "various" don't consider themselves to be 'dalit', poor, handicapped, or creature, these terms by the by depict a key reality in society tuned to the oppression of ‘dalit’ and
Conformity describes the typical American, with a goal of achieving the American Dream. They go about this by going to college, getting a good job, meeting someone else who is typically successful, and then building a family. Many people are able to do this in some shape or form, even though it often requires taking out loans and paying the bank back monthly for these loans, cars, and houses. Conformists are usually seen as college students or people working “nine-to-five” jobs. These are people who are following the paths laid out for them in order to reach the ultimate goal of
Caste system has been the scourge of Indian civilization and culture. The battle against this oppressive and inhuman is older than even some of the great religions of the world. The first warrior to wage against this system was probably Gautam Buddha who waged the war against this inhuman system in 6th century B.C. No doubt, Buddha was able to put some dents in the system, but after the Nirvana of Buddha, the system once again rose like a phoenix and gained strength to crush humanity. In fact, the system has proved to be the most agile and resilient against the liberal human traditions. According to Porter:
Ong, Walter. “Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought.” Writing Material. Ed. Evelyn Tribble. New York. 2003. 315-335.
“The only people for whom we can even begin to imagine properly human, individual, existences are the literate and the consequential, the wazirs and the sultans, the chroniclers, and the priests—the people who had the power to inscribe themselves physically upon time” (Ghosh 17). History is written by the victorious, influential and powerful; however, history has forgotten the people whose voices were seized, those who were illiterate and ineloquent, and most importantly those who were oppressed by the institution of casted societies. Because history does not document those voices, it is the duty to the anthropologist, the historiographer, the philosopher as well as scholars in other fields of studies to dig for those lost people in the forgotten realm of time. In In An Antique Land, the footnotes of letters reveal critical information for the main character, which thematically expresses that under the surface of history is something more than the world can fathom.