Mulk Raj Anand: Touching the Untouched

Abstract

The paper focuses on Mulk Raj Anand as a pioneer fictionist with a blazing social consciousness as he dared to choose a theme that is in perfect consonance with his humanistic concern for man as man, irrespective of his social status. Untouchable is the first and most famous novel by Anand. The theme of the novel evolves from the problem of the disposal of human excreta and dealing with such a topic is not an easy game either for the Indians or the English. The novel presents before us the stark reality of Indian society. It explains not only the lower strata of society (sweepers) but also the bottom scale of morality. Though Untouchable is a minor classic, published about seven decades ago, it has continued to attract critical attention; for the problems cited in it, still have to be solved and still have relevance. The fact that even after the passing of the Untouchability Offences Act in 1955, the evil of untouchability persists in the country, reflects a deep-rooted prejudice, which affects human behaviour and poses an intractable problem. To have chosen a mere untouchable adolescent as his protagonist, to project the pathetic predicament of a vast segment of Indian society, which has for centuries been the victim of cruel contempt and heartless exploitation at the hands of hypocritical society, is a daring act which establishes Anand, as a fictionist, indeed a step ahead of his illustrious predecessors and contemporaries such as Sarat Chandra, Tagore and Premchand.