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Pages 43–73
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Untouchable, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Inequality, Harm, and Internalization
Coming of Age and Inherited Prejudice
Nature vs. Society
Bodies and Cleanliness
Summary
Analysis
Of course, Bakha has not been invited to this wedding; Gulabo would not want him at her daughter’s ceremony. But Bakha needs to get away from home—and more than that, he wants to catch a last glimpse of Ram Charan’s sister, with her shaved head and her wistful gaze. When they were little, Bakha used to play with this girl, pretending to be husband and wife. Though Bakha has known of this impending marriage for a year, he is surprised at the sudden strength of his desire for the bride-to-be and at his sense of loss now that she will be wed.
Romance, whether sweet or illicit, is forced to the corners of Bakha’s life, perhaps because the daily struggle of life as an outcaste does not leave him time for the kind of internal reflection and attention that attraction calls for. Again, Gulabo takes every opportunity she can to assert her own meager degree of superiority over other, lower-ranking outcastes.
Themes
Then another memory comes into Bakha’s brain: one day, several years ago, he saw Ram Charan’s sister relieving herself. For the first time, he was seized by an almost animal desire to hold her naked body. The vision frightened him—how could he be a good, respectable boy and want these things? To distract himself from this memory and the shame it carries, Bakha turns off onto a side road, where some of the washermen are working.
The Pundit Kali Nath and Lachman, another Brahmin, felt no compunction about their strong physical desires for young women. The fact that Bakha does suggests that, even though he spends his days working in close proximity with human bodies and their waste, he still strives to be spiritual and thoughtful in a way members of the priest caste often fail to do.
Themes
As a child, Bakha longed to be a washerman, until Ram Charan pointed out that Bakha would never be able to rise in station in such a way. Bakha decides to head back to the wedding, but he feels self-conscious about the idea that he will arrive uninvited. Fortunately, when Bakha arrives at the wedding, he sees that Chota has had a similar thought and is standing on the outskirts of the celebration. Gradually, as Bakha and Chota take in the fancy dress and upbeat music of the celebration, they shed their shared anxiety.
As young children, the distinctions of caste were almost nonexistent between Bakha and his two best friends. But as they got older, Ram Charan started to inherit his mother’s own sense of hierarchy—and now, sidelined on the edge of this wedding, the subtle gradations between the young men feel more tangible than ever.
Themes
Chota calls to Ram Charan, who is wearing a ridiculous combination of English clothing: a large topee (sunhat) and shorts. At first, Ram Charan is too lost in some sugarplum desserts to notice, but eventually, he walks toward his friends. Though Gulabo shouts at him for associating with people beneath him, Ram Charan is able to sneak away, promising that he has brought sugarplums along.
Though Westerners would consider the English clothes Ram Charan is wearing informal (and though the clothes look ridiculous to Bakha), the mere fact of their Britishness makes Ram Charan see them as fancier than any nice Indian clothes. Again, the presence of sweets (in this case, sugarplums) helps the boys distract from their unpleasant daily routines.
Themes
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The boys now leave the village, climbing the grassy slopes of the nearby Bulashah Hills. Bakha lets his friends walk ahead so he can take in the nature all by himself. Bakha feels happy to be away from people, and he recalls with pleasure the battle games he and his friends used to play here when they were young. Then, before he can get sad about his current lack of such leisure time, Bakha switches back to thinking about the landscape.
Bakha’s sense of ease and peace in nature reflect the earlier glimpses of calm he felt whenever he stood in the sun. Interestingly, two of the novel’s core themes come together here: Bakha associates this freer, natural state with a childlike sense of innocence and naivete, before the rules and expectations of caste were burned in his brain.
Themes
Bakha is cheered by the beautiful flowers around him, but he has never been given the time or freedom to truly appreciate nature. Yet, though Bakha lacks so many experiences by virtue of his restrictive lifestyle, he has a powerful “sense of the world […] such as the peasant has who can do the job while the laboratory agriculturalist is scratching his head.” A strange intuition takes hold, and Bakha finds himself filled with energy. He rushes towards a pool of water and lies down next to it, falling asleep.
Later in the novel, Mohandas Gandhi himself will testify to the virtues of physical labor and tangible knowledge. And indeed, the narrative has shown over and over again that those with power and privilege—like the “laboratory agriculturalist”—are confused and out of touch with the world they aim to govern and interpret. By this logic, only lower-caste folks like Bakha, who deal with everyday life as it happens on the streets, can truly “do the job.”
Themes
Chota wakes Bakha up by tickling his face with a straw, but rather than receiving this joke with his usual good humor, Bakha still feels upset from the events of the morning. The boys try to shake it off, teasing each other for trying to be “gentreman” as per usual. But when Ram Charan tries to give Bakha a sugarplum, the sweeper will not accept it unless Ram Charan throws it to him—the first time Bakha has ever treated their friendship as if it abides by the subtle gradations of caste.
This upsetting interaction shows that, despite his growing awareness of the injustice of caste, Bakha is still not able to separate others’ cruelty from his own feelings of shame and self-loathing. And though moments ago Bakha relaxed into childlike pleasure at the nature around him, now, he himself is the one who brings the strictures of societal hierarchy to this peaceful place.
Themes
Chota and Ram Charan want to know why Bakha is so down. Bakha explains what happened with the touched man and the Pundit and the local woman. Chota swears to help Bakha get revenge on the Pundit, while Ram Charan just feels embarrassed by the whole thing. But Bakha finds that sharing the story with his friends unburdens him. He takes in the mushrooms and mango groves that dot the landscape, feeling that, for a moment, his outcaste neighborhood “has been effaced clean off the map of his being.” The boys agree to play hockey later that afternoon, and Bakha resolves to get the promised hockey stick from Charat Singh.
Bakha’s ability to ignore painful stimuli—to erase his most hurtful memories “clean off the map of his being”—is another survival strategy, just like his ability to focus on pretty nature and pleasant sensory details helps distract from his work with waste.
Themes
When Bakha arrives to the barracks, looking for Charat Singh, he is surprised to find them empty. The only thing he sees is a solar topee (sunhat); many rumors circulate about this hat, including that it is has been left here as a symbol of sahib power. And though some believe the solar topee is haunted, everyone from little children to the sepoys who guard the hat secretly covet it. After all, “the spirit of modernity had worked havoc” on nearly everyone in Bulashah, and nothing signifies “modernity” like European clothes.
Now, the symbolic English clothing takes on almost magical significance, as Bakha feels himself drawn by the power of this sunhat. Furthermore, while Bakha may not be able to articulate the connection between modernity and the end of his own plight, the novel will later make this link clear: as India modernizes, getting new flush toilet technology, sweepers could suddenly become a thing of the past.
Themes
Bakha wonders if he could quietly steal the hat or befriend one of the officers guarding the barracks and ask for it outright. For a moment, Bakha lets himself fantasize about wearing the hat, which he has wanted since he was a little kid. But then he stops himself short, feeling strange about his obsession with English clothing. Bakha heads to the Havildar’s quarters, trying to shake off his feelings of embarrassment. As always, he is “ashamed of feeling seen.”
As always, Bakha’s desire to escape to this fantasy of sahib life stems from his own self-consciousness. This is not the first or the last time that, because he is so often treated as a pariah, Bakha wishes to be invisible instead.
Themes
Worrying that Charat Singh has forgotten his promise, Bakha lays down under a tree to wait. Charat Singh is one of Bakha’s childhood idols; it is rumored that he has as many scars on his body from playing hockey as the great Rajput (warrior) men of olden days had from their battles. Charat Singh even has gold teeth because his natural teeth were knocked out in a game.
The rumors about Charat Singh, comparing him to the warriors of old, show that caste hierarchies and myths can persist, in new forms, even as India modernizes.
Themes
At last, Charat Singh emerges, chiding Bakha for working too hard (though just that morning, he yelled at Bakha to work harder). Charat Singh asks Bakha to get him two pieces of coal for his hookah, a task most high-caste Hindus would not entrust to a sweeper because it would be seen as “polluting” the coal. This trust makes Bakha feel overjoyed, as if he would “do anything” for Charat Singh. When he goes to get the coal from the cook, the cook is surprised that anyone so dark-skinned should be given such a task.
Any tasks that involve water or cooking of any kind are considered especially subject to pollution, so Singh’s request to Bakha to deal with his pipe preparation represents an unusual break with routine—though again, Bakha seizes on Singh’s kindness not to question caste divisions but to mentally affirm them. In addition to caste and racial hierarchies, this passage also makes clear that colorism is a large part of the way Bakha’s society is structured.
Themes
Bakha returns with the coal, and Charat Singh casually uses it to smoke. Better still, when Charat Singh’s servant brings him tea, he offers some to Bakha, instructing the sweeper to drink from the same pan that the sparrows use. Bakha drinks his tea quickly, and when the two men have finished, Charat Singh rises to give Bakha a hockey stick. When Bakha realizes that the hockey stick is brand new, he feels overcome: “he was grateful, grateful, haltingly grateful, falteringly grateful, stumblingly grateful.” In fact, the stick feels so perfect that Bakha worries Charat Singh has gotten confused and made a mistake.
Because it is so rare for higher-caste people to show even basic decency to outcastes, Bakha finds Charat Singh’s generosity almost impossible to bear; it “halts” Bakha in his tracks, making him “falter” and “stumble.” In other words, because the demoralizing routines of caste are so deeply ingrained in Bakha’s mind, the absence of expected cruelty feels incomprehensible.
Themes
Bakha heads back home with his stick, feeling almost perfect happiness. With each step, he sticks his chin out and struts—until he catches sight of himself and grows suddenly self-conscious. Feeling embarrassed by his earlier confidence, Bakha wishes that Chota would come, though he knows that Ram Charan might only make things worse, making comments that would disparage his new hockey stick. He also wishes the two babu’s sons would make good on their promise to teach him to read.
Again, Bakha does not want to be seen, likely because the gap between his internal life (where he relaxes into fantasies and feels some measure of pride) is so far from how he is perceived. Bakha’s differentiation between Chota and Ram Charan perhaps reflects how much Gulabo has instilled her own prejudices in her son.
Themes
A little while later, Bakha runs into the younger brother from earlier in the day. Bakha likes these brothers: despite their high caste and their father’s prominent position, they are always kind to Bakha. Now, Bakha shows his stick to the younger brother and is disappointed to learn that Charat Singh gave almost an identical hockey stick to this young boy just a few hours ago. The younger brother begs to play hockey, but Bakha holds him off, insisting he is too young.
In one of the novel’s subtlest moments of tragedy, the very hockey stick that seemed so unfathomably exciting to Bakha is an everyday occurrence for the babu’s younger son. In addition to facing daily indignities and challenges, then, Bakha must also now consider all the simple, quotidian pleasures he misses out on as an outcaste.
Themes
Ram Charan and Chota arrive, alongside the elder brother, and the game begins. Bakha feels bad for the younger brother, and he does his best to comfort him, telling him to “keep a watch” over his jacket so the little boy will feel like he has something to do. But Bakha is about to score a goal, and he cannot concern himself with the younger brother’s feelings for too long.
Bakha’s warring instincts, as he flips back and forth between comforting the little brother and getting lost in the game, epitomize the moment of transition 18-year-old Bakha is in: he is not yet able to give up the impulsive joys of youth, but he is also learning to take on more responsibility with every passing moment.
Themes
Eventually, Bakha does score—and, defeated, the rival goalkeeper tackles him. Soon, that offense turns into an-all out brawl between the two teams of local boys. Chota suggests that his team (known as the “38th Dogras”) should throw stones at their opponents, and the rest of the players soon follow suit. But unfortunately, a bad throw from Ram Charan hits the younger brother, who screams and falls unconscious.
In naming their team after a British-led military regiment, the boys once more try and attach themselves to the power of the colonizing force.
Themes
Having heard the fighting, the boys’ mother rushes out, terrified that her son is dead. Immediately, she accuses Bakha of being a “dirty sweeper” and blames him for the incident, even when the elder brother explains what really happened. Bakha mourns the incredible injustice of these accusations, lamenting that his happiness from the encounter with Charat Singh can only last for such a short time. “Pollution, pollution,” Bakha reflects, “I do nothing else but pollute people.”
The younger brother’s mother’s anger is particularly ironic given that, just moments ago, Bakha was doing his best to care for and entertain the little boy. Thus, even though the entire narrative has demonstrated Bakha’s vast and nuanced capabilities, Bakha can “do nothing else but pollute people”—because the people around him refuse to see anything but “pollution.”
Themes
Bakha returns home, hiding his hockey stick in the bushes so that Lakha will not be angry with him. Immediately, Lakha begins to berate his son for having been gone so long, but Bakha cannot engage; he is too exhausted from the day to respond. Even Rakha joins in on the chants of “dog” and “pig,” helping to mock Bakha for wanting to “be a sahib.”
Bakha may try to copy English mannerisms and styles, but Lakha and Rakha have absorbed the language of their oppressors even more, repeating insults much like the ones Bakha has heard from the local woman or the touched man.
Themes
Eventually, Lakha’s rant escalates, and he tells Bakha to leave the house and never come back. Bakha would normally be able to ignore such a statement and patch things up, but today, he has none of this restraint. His body feels powerful and controlled as he runs out of the house and heads to the river, where water crashes dramatically into high boulders. Being here makes Bakha think about the morning, when the rising sun made him feel full of the “spirit of adventure.”
This familial rift suggests that caste, with its cruel hierarchies and confidence-destroying assumptions, has infiltrated even the most intimate human spaces. It follows, then, that Bakha can only seek solace in the untouched natural world, seeking to learn strength not from his father but from the powerful sun—in some ways, the only constant in Bakha’s life that caste logic has not yet corrupted.
Themes
Bakha now reflects on another time his father threatened to kick him out of the house, the winter after his mother died. That time, Lakha would not let Bakha in for an entire night, even though Bakha had nowhere to sleep in the cold. Bakha struggles to reconcile this version of his father with the story Lakha told about trying to get his baby medicine. Still, Bakha wonders if his father’s harsh punishments motivate him; after all, he became a much faster worker after that awful winter night. Bakha takes a moment to feel proud of his strong body and work ethic before grumbling that Rakha probably got him in trouble on purpose.
In this critical moment, Bakha sees that Lakha, whom the higher-caste Hindus have abused, has repeated that cycle of abuse in his own family, abusing his own sons. But just as Bakha comes to that realization, his own internalized bias cuts him short—and just as Lakha accepted the high-caste mistreatment as a valuable lesson, Bakha now attempts to justify his father’s cruelty in similar terms.
Themes
