Cleanliness in "Untouchable"

In Untouchable, cleanliness is a symbol of status. To the upper castes, the simple touch of an untouchable would "taint" a public facility, rendering it useless until someone of a higher caste was able to come clean it.  If an untouchable touched a person of an upper-caste, the person would have to clean themselves, "Now I will have to go and take a bath to purify myself" (37). In the novel, people who were able to keep themselves immaculately clean were seen as superior, whereas people who did not have access to clean themselves properly, like the untouchables, are seen as inferior. However, even though Bakha keeps himself clean despite his dehumanizing job of cleaning other peoples' feces, he is still seen as disgusting and literally untouchable. "And though his job was dirty he remained comparatively clean. He didn't even soil his sleeves, handling the commodes, sweeping and scrubbing them. 'a bit superior to his job,' they always said, 'not the kind of man to ought to be doing this.'...Here was a low-caste man who seemed clean!" (9). Nonetheless, to Bakha, cleanliness, like his eclectic English-Indian wardrobe, is a symbol of escape from his position in the caste system. Cleanliness represents hope, defiance, and suppresses Bakha's sense of inferiority to other castes.

Clothes in "Untouchable"

In the novel Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand, Bakha differs strongly from most of the people in his caste. Though many untouchables accept their position in the social hierarchy due to their faith, Bakha is more philosophical and often questions why he is where he is. Throughout the novel, Bakha is fascinated by the English, referred to as the "Tommies." To Bakha, the traditional Indian customs and garb represents something old and outdated, much like his feelings towards the cast system in its entirety. On the other hand, the Tommies display a fresh, new, and exciting way of life. He even felt ashamed about some behavioral customs of his people just "because he knew the Tommies disliked it" (12). Bakha's divergence from tradition is further demonstrated through his fascination with clothing. In the novel clothes are a symbol of identity and escapism: "he kept up his new form, rigidly adhering to his clothes day and night and guarding them from all base taint of Indianness, not even risking the forcefulness of an Indian quilt, though he shivered cold at night" (6). Though he does not have complete control over his clothing choices, Bakha takes every chance he gets to wear clothes worn similarly by the Tommies, thus giving him a very eclectic and non-traditional style. Furthermore, Bakha's sacrifice of comfort and practicality to dress and act somewhat like an Englishman maintains his clash of his expected identity and his desired self-identity in the caste system.

Storytelling - Susan Sontag

 In the article, Susan Sontag states that a great writer of fiction not only creates, but also responds to a world: "They evoke humanity in narratives with which we can identify, even though the lives may be remote from our own." Sontag understands that telling every story in humanity is impossible so we must choose which central story we want to convey. Although we must exclude parts of the story to convey this central theme, a good storyteller makes sure the aspects excluded are still reflected. Sontag also states other factors of a good story: a purposeful beginning, goal, and end. A story comes to a finite, definitive ending, satisfies the reader by giving him closure: "A novel is a world with borders. For there to be completeness, unity, coherence, there must be borders." Then, at the end of the article, she reiterates the importance of literature and storytelling for the expansion of the human mind and perspectives. "Literature involves. It is the re-creation of human solidarity. Television (with its illusion of immediacy) distances — immures us in our own indifference." 

Why We Read

"My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others." - C.S. Lewis

Throughout our history, especially during the Great Depression, literature has served as a form of escapism from the stale and fraught moments in life. However, over the past century, literature as a form of escape has been largely taken over by the movie business. As a result, people have become less admiring of the art of literature. British novelist C.S. Lewis believed that literature expands the minds of people by seeing through the eyes of others and that literature serves as an imaginative rejuvenation: "I become a thousand men and yet remain myself." Unlike movies and television shows, literature allows us to imagine our own characters and invent the worlds depicted through the words of others in our own minds. Furthermore, literature can expand our perspectives by seeing life through the minds of the author "without undermining the privilege, of individuality." Despite the ease of escapism through television and movies, literature is largely important in today's society because it leaves more room for interpretation and for our own mental growth.