UNTOUCHABLE

Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand

■ Plot Summary:

■ Untouchable depicts the daily life of Bakha, an 18 year old of the lowest sector of India’
s Untouchable caste. As an untouchable, Bakha has the job of cleaning public toilets and
 sweeping streets. The novel documents the many trials and tribulations   he   faces  
being   of   the   lower   caste,   including   constant   abuse,   ridicule,  
and discrimination. Bakha is forced to beg for food and is humiliated as he walks throug
h the town. Through the eyes of Bakha, readers are able to witness the plight of the Unt
ouchables who are forced to do the filthy and dirty work of society. Bakha’s experiences
 expose the harshness of the Hindu caste system and the need for reform, change, and ac
ceptance. 
PS-

■ Published in 1935, Untouchable is Mulk Raj Anand’s first major novel. The novel’s

format is very simple—it follows the day in the life of an “untouchable,” a member of
India’s lowest social caste. Despite its simplicity, Untouchable is a powerful work that
exposed the “dehumanizing contradictions” and systematic oppressions inherent in
India’s stratified society. Though intelligent and handsome, the book’s main character,
Bakha, is an outcast and forbidden from improving his life situation because his touch
and presence are considered impure and corrupting. Using Bakha's story as a vehicle,
Anand challenges the barriers and rules that inhibit the lives of untouchables and argues
for the education of untouchables.
Theme

■ Casteism in India
■ Untouchability
■ Religion
■ Class Struggle/Conflict
■ Rejection of Indian Roots
Characters:
■ Bakha, son of Lakha
An 18-year-old Indian youth, Bakha is a sweeper and the protagonist of Untouchable. Strong and able-
bodied, he is fascinated by the life and ways of India’s English colonizers. His position as an
untouchable has resulted in high levels of self-deprecation and depression. Bakha can be judgmental and
at times helps perpetuate the very system that keeps him oppressed. Paradoxically, he still questions the
status quo and challenges a caste system that is supposedly “set in stone.”
■ Chota
The son of a leather-worker, Chota is one of Bakha’s best friends. Though they are of the outcaste class,
Chota is higher than Bakha in the caste system’s hierarchy. Like Bakha, he is also obsessed with the
English.
■ Ram Charan
Ram Charan is the washer’s son and Bakha’s other best friend. He is also higher in the hierarchy than
Bakha because his family only washes other people’s clothes (an act deemed cleaner than clearing
refuse).
Characters :
■ Lakha, Jemadar of the sweepers
Bakha’s father. A lazy, abusive man that takes advantage of his children. He resents Bakha’s
obsession with the English and urges Bakha to be satisfied with their family’s lot in life as
untouchables and sweepers.
■ Rakha
Bakha’s younger brother. Somewhat of a foil to Bakha’s character, he is described as “a true
child of the outcaste colony.”
■ Sohini
Bakha’s younger sister, Sohini is described as nubile and beautiful. Patient and resilient, she
bears the brunt of her family’s frustrations. Her altercation with a member of the high caste
is one cause of Bakha’s existentialist woe.
Characters:
■ Havildar Charat Singh
One of Bakha’s heroes, Singh is a famous hockey player. His personality is jocular, his
mood extremely changeable. At the beginning of the novel he harangues Bakha to clean the
latrines but later on he gives Bakha a brand new hockey stick. His willingness to share his
afternoon tea with Bakha illustrates his lack of belief in untouchability.
■ Ali
A young man of Bakha’s age group, Ali is the son of a regimental bandsman and Muslim.
Bakha asks him questions about Islamic practices and is accused of insulting the religion.
■ Ramanand 
Described by Bakha as a “peevish old black moneylender,” Ramanand is of a higher class
than Bakha. He interrupts Bakha’s morning musings by shouting at him to clean the
latrines.
Characters:
■ Gulabo
A washer woman, Gulabo is Ram Charan’s mother. She has a superiority complex because
she has a high place in the hierarchy of the low castes/outcastes. She resents Bakha’s
friendship with her sons and hates Sohini.
■ Waziro
Waziro is the weaver’s wife and prevents Gulabo from hitting Sohini.
■ Pundit Kali Nath
He is one of the priests in charge of the temple in Bulashah, the town Bakha and his family
live outside of. He sexually assaults Sohini and then accuses her of defiling him.
■ Lachman
A Hindu water-carrier, he is 26 years old and attracted to Sohini.
Characters:
■ Hakim Bhagawan Das
A local doctor, Hakim Bhagawan saved Bakha’s life when he was a small child.
■ Ram Charan’s sister
Bakha’s childhood crush, Ram Charan’s sister is a symbol of the things Bakha is barred
from because of his low status in the caste system.
■ Colonel Hutchinson 
The chief of the local Salvation Army, Hutchinson is a Christian missionary tasked with
converting Hindus to Christianity. The face of the Christian religion in the novel, he
symbolizes one facet of England’s colonization of India.
Characters:
■ Mary Hutchinson
Mary is the Colonel’s irreligious wife. Miserable about their life in India, she constantly
demeans and disparages her husband’s work amongst Indian peoples, who she refers to as
“blackies.”
■ Mahatma Gandhi 
One of several real-life people alluded to/featured in Untouchable, Gandhi was one of the
leaders of India’s independence movement. In the novel his purpose is to offer a religious,
moral, and political denunciation of untouchability
■ Kasturabai Gandhi
The wife of Mahatma Gandi. Like her husband, Kasturabai was heavily involved with
India’s independence movement. In the novel she accompanies Gandhi during his visit to
Bakha’s town.
Characters:
■ Miraben Slade
Another real-life person that makes an appearance in the novel, Miraben was the daughter
of a British admiral. She left Britain to work at Gandhi’s side for India’s independence in
1925. In the novel, she also accompanies Gandhi during his visit to Bakha’s town.
■ Iqbal Nath Sarshar 
A young poet who defends Gandhi despite his misgivings about the revolutionary’s political
and economic views. Sarshar offers up a Marxist interpretation of the plight of the
untouchables and suggests a Marxist solution.
■ R. N. Bashir 
An Indian lawyer that studied at Oxford. Bashir is highly critical of Gandhi and the Marxist
solution suggested by Sarshar.