Gulliver's Travels as a Satire.

Satire.

              

Introduction.

           ‘Tomorrow is a satire on today, and shows its weakness.’

                                                                              Edward Young.   

                                                                    

Satire is one of the genres of Greek origin (satyr) used in literature  where there is a use of different elements like irony, sarcasm , ridicule, parody, burlesque, juxtaposition, exaggeration and so on to simply laugh upon the flaws in the society or to show the foolishness and decay in human personality, organizations and at different places. Although satirical works tend to be very funny, their main object is to criticise the down follies in the surroundings using WIT as a weapon to draw the attention of the society. 

 

 Chaucer, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and many other creative writers who were not primarily Satirists, did make use of this element in their works. For instance, Chaucer disliked the lack of morality in the church. He fired upon the authority simply by laughing at it in the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales.      

 

Weapons used by a satirist.

                        

                             ‘Pen is mightier than ATOM BOMB.’

 

The simple but the mightier weapon used by the satirist is Invective – a violent attack in words. When one slaps or kicks the person, the wound caused by it, may disappear soon. But, when he is attacked with words and when the attack is published in the books, it remains for ever in the shelves of the library and in the minds of the audience. The other weapon used by the satirist is Irony – language of opposite meanings. But, the most important weapon is to amuse and entertain the reader. As mentioned above, satire is to laugh upon the different flaws prevailing in the society, so this prime factor should be fulfilled to the fullest by the satirist.

 

Types of Satire.

It is complex to classify the genre ‘Satire’ There are two types of satires. They are,

1.     Horatian Satire.

 

Tolerant, witty, wise and self–effacing.

 

Example: - The Devil’s dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.

                  The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope.

                   Adventures of Huckleberry Fin by Mark Twain.

                 

2.     Juvenaalian Satire.

 

Angry, caustic, resentful and personal.

 

Example: - Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

                  Brave new world by Aldous Huxley.

                  A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.  

Gulliver’s Travels.

‘Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.’(Gulliver’s Travels)

                                                                                          Jonathan Swift

Gulliver’s Travels is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman named Jonathan Swift. It is known for the Satire on the Human society. It is also well known as a parody of ‘traveller’s tales’. The protagonist and the narrator of the novel is Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon from Nottinghamshire, England. He loves travelling to different continents like Daniel Defoe’s character, Robinson Crusoe. This novel is written in four books. Gulliver goes on a voyage to four places. His first voyage is to a land named Lilliput where he sees the troop of tiny people of six inches height. Then, he goes on a voyage to the land named Brobdingnag where the people are sixty feet taller than Gulliver. His next accidental voyage is to the floating island called Laputa. And then comes his last voyage to the land of Houyhnhnms.

 

Gulliver’s Travels is a multi-layered text. In the very first reading of the book, readers may feel that it is a fairy tale set in a frictional world written to amuse children. But, this book has a deep meaning. The book is thus full of fancy ( secondary Imagination.) images. Swift has very bitterly criticized the man kind by making the horses their rulers in the Book 4 – Land of Houyhnhnms. This novel  is a travelogue and a political allegory. This work stood the test of time, and even now, is remembered as the best satire ever written.

Gulliver’s Travels as a Satire.

Jonathan Swift is well known as a satirist. His works like, The Battle of Books, A Modest Proposal, A Tale of a Tub, Gulliver’s Travels are his best satires which can be attributed.  Gulliver’s Travels was written during the age of Reformation also known as the era of change. It is a Menippean Satire.  Gulliver is the mouth piece of Jonathan Swift through whom Swift has indicted politicians, scientists, philosophers and Englishmen in general. In Gulliver’s Travels, satire is exhibited through setting, narration, plot and characters. The first two Voyages throw light upon the follies or on the various facets of the English Society. The last two voyages criticize the human society in contrast with the Utopian concept.

The Voyage to Lilliput.

In Gulliver’s first voyage to Lilliput, he comes in touch with the troops of tiny tots, just six inches tall in their height. Here, The Land of Lilliput is the representation of England.  Lilliputians are in an illusion that they have controlled Gulliver as he is tied and made to follow the norms laid by the King. At the same time, Gulliver is also in an illusion that he too has controlled Lilliputians as they are very much afraid of him. The Lilliputians are astonished to see the food habits of Gulliver as he gulps the food of the whole nation is a morsel. Hence, it causes famine in the nation. Like England, Lilliput is the small nation. Yet England had the capacity to rule on most of the nations of the world. All the nations that it ruled upon were quite powerful. But, they yet they managed to colonize the nations. But, the way their captive Gulliver had to be set free as they were not able to comfort him, same way, England also had to free the captive nation. We find the same resemblance even in this case of colonizing Gulliver. Although Lilliput is a small nation like England, it is proud of the power and significance that it has. Both the nations don’t believe in the existence of any other world apart from that of theirs.  

 

Swift has criticised on the class differences in the small nation. The kingdom is divided  into two blocs – Tramecksan and Slamecksan. The people are classified on the heights of their heels (heels can also be taken as the symbol of their caste, class, religion.) Further, the kids of the rich were taken or rather, adopted by the Government to educate them and the kids of the labourers were forced to learn farming so that, there will be farmers for the further generations to do farming!!!! 

Although, Gulliver is ten times larger in size compared to the Lilliputians, Gulliver is tied up with strings and is kept in the King’s custody. He is told to undergo a security check before meeting the King and the things which seem to be life threat for the King, will be confiscated. Gulliver agrees to this. But the satire here is, Gulliver himself is a life threat because his one blow of air from the mouth has the capacity of creating a calamity like Cyclone.

 

Gulliver is unaware of the language spoken by the Lilliputians. Rather, Lilliputians are not aware of any Languages except theirs. Swift is mocking on the false importance that the people give to themselves. He is forced to learn the language which Gulliver does. He starts communicating in the language.AS he has now learn the language, Gulliver is told to sign a document where every letter emphasises on his greatness.

 

Political Satire is very much evident in throughout the novel. The satire is an attack on the dominant Whig Party. The courtiers are chosen by the King in a ridiculous manner. They are told to jump through the hoops to get the position in the Court. Even the cause of war between Lilliput (England) and Blefuscu (France) is very comic. They fight just to decide on which end the egg is to be broken. Ones, The Kingdom of the Lilliput caught fire and Queen entangles in it. Gulliver saves her by pissing on her. The Queen is the representation of Queen Anne of England.  

 

The Voyage to Brobdingnag.

In this part (II), Gulliver is the representation of England and Brobdingnag is the representation of Europe.  In his previous voyage, Gulliver was like a Godly figure. But, the situation becomes vice versa here. Gulliver is a tiny tot in the island of giants who are sixty feet tall. The power that he enjoyed in his previous voyage is lost. He is enslaved by a giant farmer. He is forced to dance in the public for the sake of the farmer’s livelihood. When King takes the notice of this little thing, he orders his men to bring Gulliver to his Kingdom. There, Gulliver enjoys all the possible privileges in the small cage. He is used as a plaything.

 

Gulliver, again after a calamity, reaches this strange land of giants where even the grass is much longer than him. He comes in contact with a farmer family. When, he is offered food, he tumbles and falls down due to its large size. He is accommodated in the house of the doll by the farmer’s daughter. His importance is at threat. He is a subaltern of the farmer. When King of the Brobdingnag comes to know about this tiny creature, he orders his men to bring Gulliver.

 

Gulliver at the Kingdom, is enjoying the restricted freedom. His adventure is with insects and rats around him. Gulliver also visualizes the sex politics in this kingdom. Women in the kingdom force Gulliver to walk on their body. Hence, Gulliver finds Brobdingnag’s culture to be imperfect. But, the King is of an opinion that their world very much resembles to the Utopian world. He thinks that there are no vices prevailing in his nation or, he is trying to abolish the existing vice in his nation just like Europeans. But, he fails to do so. The farmer, dwarf in the kingdom are the examples.   

 

Gulliver speaks in English and King laughs on him. It is a satire on English culture. When Gulliver is ready to tell the King of Brobdingnag about the secret behind making the gunpowder in return to get freedom, the King denies. He is simply shocked to know that these tiny people are so much destructive. He criticises on the murders, conspiracies, rebellions, banishments, massacres etc done by the tiny nation of Gulliver. When Gulliver tells him that many books have been written on art of Government in his nation, King mocks by saying that common sense, reasons and justice is needed to run government rather than books. Therefore, King mocks on Gulliver’s (England) culture

The voyage to Laputa.

Like the previous part, Gulliver is the representation of England in this part (III) too. In this voyage, we see the concept of dystopian world. This island is full of flaws, immorality, vices and discrimination. The island of Laputa is a floating island. The government of this land seems to be very lethargic as they do not worry about their public.  People of this island are very absurd. Through this book, Swift has criticised the technology and science. Even in this land, Gulliver faces the issues with language.

 

 In the very beginning of the voyage, we see the conflict of Christianity v/s Heathen. Englishmen on one side, talk about the equality. But, it is very much evident from this incident that discriminations do exist even in their nation. This discrimination continues throughout this part. We see the people with marks on their faces. Such people are differentiated as the illegitimates. Whereas, people with plain faces are considered to be pure. People wear clothes with the design of music instruments which shows their soul interest for them. But, they do not have time even to make love with their wives. The people of this land believe that women should be taxes based on her beauty and her dressing skills.

 

The government of this land is very unpleasant. The government officials are beaten with flappers constantly when they sit for the meeting. This shows how important the discussion would be. The Island of Laputa is constantly floating. This is the distance between the public and the King. King never leaves the Island of Laputa.  The relationship between the government and the people of the land very much resembles with the English government and the Ireland relations.

 

Swift criticises the historians and the literary critics. They call the dead ghost and make the mortal beings in a way immortal by communicating with their immortal souls. (Ghosts) Scientists waste their time and the money of the government by making futile attempts to extract sunbeams out of the cucumber, to convert human excreta into food and many others. All these in vain attempts are made in the Academy of Projectors in Lagado. They try to interfere in the natural things. Hence, the education of the highly educated people is of no use. Swift critically passes a satire on such issues in this part.

 

The voyage to Houyhnhnms.

 In this part (IV), Gulliver who is very much in resemblance with Yahoos, is the representation of Human society and European society. These Houyhnhnms, are the representation of the animal world. Swift hates the human mankind. Thus, he has very bitterly criticised the human race mentally and morally by empowering the animals – Houyhnhnms (horses) as their rulers. Gulliver tries to adapt all the customs and traditions of this land. He developed a hatred for the human mankind after living in the land of Laputa. He believed that man were the most dangerous animal on earth. He suddenly finds all the flaws in them. In a way, we can also put it as he started hating himself as he also is a human being, rather ‘a trained Yahoo.’ Swift gave the concept of Utopian world through this part.

 

Gulliver, in this land of Houyhnhnms, is shocked to see the animals, the horses ruling the humans. He sees that he very much resembles with the Yahoos. He is spell bound to see that Houyhnhnms are living the life of mankind by making family planning, living in their stables (houses), communicating like human beings etc. They do not have words like ‘lie’ and ‘falsehood’ in their language. This is the best concept of Utopian world. On the other hand, we see the Yahoos  are the marginalized group. The way the animals are the slaves of mankind in the normal human Kingdom, these Yahoos – Hairy Apes are the slaves of Houyhnhnms. They are unable to speak. They are as dumb as donkey.  

 

Gulliver now wants to become a part of the Houyhnhnms. He, for the very first time, learns perfectly the language of Houyhnhnms. He thus tells Houyhnhnms about his country and all the other European countries. He tells them about war and weapons. He gives the reasons behind fighting the war. He talks about the deadly weapons employed in fighting a war for the destructive purpose. He also gives the account of the Law suites in his nation. He also tells his host about the Prime Minister of his nation who is in hunger of wealth, power and titles. Whereas, Houyhnhnms were the best rulers because, they held a periodical meeting to discuss upon the difficulties faced by their population.

 

On the other hand, Houyhnhnms accounts him about the behaviour of Yahoos. He says that these yahoos are always in want of liquor. They are very much lusty especially the Female Yahoos. This is the bitter satire that Swift writes on the human mankind. Gulliver doesn’t want to return back to his nation as he suddenly realizes the flaws and downfalls in it. He starts criticising his own kind. He becomes a misanthrope.  But, he is forced to leave the land as the Houyhnhnms see as the threat for their nation. Even after returning back to his nation, Gulliver stays in the stable rather than living in his house – The most critical satire that any writer could have ever done on human beings.

Conclusion.

If we bring all the four parts of the book together into a nutshell, the common things that we find in the novel is firstly about language. Gulliver, throughout his voyages, faces language problems. Thus, it is the swifts feeling of anti-eNGLISH which provokes him to mock upon the language. When, Swift is criticizing his own mother tongue, he is also criticising his culture, values, tradition and nation.

 

The novel is constantly revolving around the concept of Utopian World. All the lands almost believe that theirs is the Utopian world full of ideal views and ideal rules. Although they talk about war, they credit their Kingdom to be most humble one. They talk about law and crimes on one hand and boast of their nation as the best one following all the rules. But, we can visualize the ideal world only in the land of Houyhnhnms.

 

Gulliver has a strange dislike for the women. He simply hates women because of the mistreatment that he got from them in his second voyage to Brobdingnag and the lustful nature of the female Yahoos in the land of Houyhnhnms provoked him to hate them to the very extent. Gulliver, by hating Women, is in fact hating his own nation – England as it is always referred as a lady (her) like India. It is also the satire on England as it is not a Utopian world.  

 

Gulliver is considered to be an unusual being in the Land of Lilliput and the Land of Brobdingnag. He is compared with an animal. The people of Lilliput believed that he might have dropped down from some moon onto the earth because no natural being can give birth to such a big man. In the Land of Brobdingnag, when King tells the scholar to examine Gulliver, those scholars compare him with Amoebae. But, in the land of Houyhnhnms, Gulliver is none other but truly an animal. Through Gulliver, Swift criticised human race again and again by comparing them with animals the marginalized group in his nation.

 

Swift has made the acute use of all the elements in his satirical novel. He has contrasted the normal world with the imaginative world of his and highlighted the flaws existing in the world. He did not attempt to bring change in the world. Rather, he just criticised the world by laughing upon it and celebrating its flaws using the comic elements like wit and humour.     

 

Novels of Mulk Raj Anand showing the Mirror Image of India.

Introduction.

 

“India is a curious place that still preserves the past, religions, and its history. No matter how modern India becomes, it is still very much an old country.”

                                                                                                                                 Anita Desai.

When we sit to read the Indian works between 1900s to 1950s, we can visualize the then times of India. The British Raj predominated in India, where the Indians were exploited by the colonizers as they were colonized. If the Indians were the captives of the whites, then they were also the slaves of the blind superstitions and castes that they followed. Indians were many a times demoralized by their own species. They tend to love the culture and tradition of the whites like the character of Bakha in the novel Untouchable because of the  reasons mentioned above. These folk of India  needed lime light and the voice of their own.

 

Coming to the history of the India, we all are cognizant about the social turmoil that prevailed in India during 1900s. Mahatma Gandhi, with other dynamic leaders was fighting for the Free India on one hand, then we also had the critical issues predominant then. The then great writers like, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Mulk Raj Anand and other prominent writers raised their voice against it. They tried to change the perspective of the people and propagate the message of equality and peace in the nation. Here, I would like to focus upon Mulk Raj Anand’s contribution to mimic the mirror image of India in his works.

 

Mulk Raj Anand.

 

Padma Bhusan Mulk Raj Anand (1905-2004), has portrayed the pathetic characters and victims of Indian society. He, the father of Indo-Anglican literature, had added Indian flavors and sprinkled Indian social issues in his works. He colored the works with Indian spirit. Although he was a Kshatriya, Anand supported the Untouchables who belonged to the marginalized group. Thus, he is also known as DARIDRA NARAYAN.  Mulk Raj Anand first made his debut to the literary world as a creative writer in 1935, by writing a sensational novel of the time named ‘Untouchable.’ He then wrote many works like, ‘Coolie’,  ’Private life of an Indian Prince’, ‘Across the black Water’,‘Gauri’ and so on.

 

 

 

 



 

Untouchable.

 

‘DO NOT want to be reborn. But if I have to be reborn, I should be born an untouchable, so that I may share their sorrows, sufferings, and the affronts levelled at them, in order that I may endeavour to free myself and them from that miserable condition. I, therefore, prayed that, if I should be born again, I should do so not as a Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya or Shudra, but as an Atishudra.’ (YI, 4-5-1921, p144)

                                                                                                                                   M.K. Gandhi.

As the title suggests, the novel is about a boy of eighteen years who is untouchable and is living in the pre Independence era. He represents the down trodden society dwelling in India.  Anand gives voice to the voiceless by raising the issue of caste discrimination. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Genevan philosopher says in his ‘The Social Contract.’ In the very first line as follows...

           "Man is born free and everywhere he is in c down trodden society hains"

 

These lines are aptly justified by Mulk Raj Anand in this novel. Bakha, the protagonist of the novel.is the lowest of the lowest caste.. He is looked as a castaway even by the untouchables!!!!!!!!!!!! He is marginalized in the marginalized group. He is a Bhangi – who cleans the toilets and is also often referred as a sweeper boy in the novel. Therefore, he is discarded by the high class society. He hates to clean the dirt of others. But, he is bound to do so just because he is born as a outcaste (The word used by Rabindranath Tagore for the untouchables.) As Bakha ones says the below dialogues in frustration…

                          

                                       

                                                 ‘’ …They think we are mere dirt, because

                                                                       We clean their dirt.’’

 

 

He can’t lead a independent life. He always has to depend upon others for food, water, clothes although he had money to buy brand new things. He is dishonoured at every point of the novel. This teenager thus becomes the victim of the society. Hence, he hates the Indian society and wants to emulate the English men.

                                             

                         ‘You have to dream before your dreams can come true.’

                                                                                        Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

 

Bakha dreams of studying and becoming a officer. But, he is not allowed or admitted at any school just because he was untouchable. He is not able to tie the knot with  his beloved just because he is the low caste untouchable although the girl was herself a untouchable. Anand has thus raised many such controversies in his novel like poverty, illiteracy, inequality, sexual harassment to the backward girls ( Bakha’s sister, Sohini is maltreated by Pandit Kali Nath.) By the end of the novel, Mulk Raj Anand gives a message to all the Untouchables not to follow the blind tradition with superstations. He tells them to get educated and fight for their own rights. H also gives them the message of not eating Tobacco and drinking wine. Thus, we see that a fair  option was given to the untouchables.

 

Here, in this novel, we can see the the then existing issues in India. The obstacle of untouchability brought divisions in caste all over the nation. This lead to the social turmoil. The women of the lower caste were exploited by the high caste people. These lower caste people were not given food hand to hand. They were thrown food as thrown to animals. If they accidentally touched any high caste person, then they were abused by the high class public. Apart from this, the other problem that we find in the novel is about the colonized India. The untouchables wanted to follow these Goras just because there were no barriers in their caste, All were treated equal. At the same time, it was pointed out by Anand that these high class people were blindly following the tradition instead of revolting against the injustice done to their brother Indians. The Hakim is the best example of that. He comes to treat the little Bakha when he was ill to his home and gives him the medicine and cures him of his disease. It wasn’t that these people had no heart. But then, their minds were conditioned to follow the traditions without raising their fingers on its origin and its virginity.  In a word, the novel ‘Untouchable’ is the microcosm of the Indian Society.

 

 

Coolie.

 

’Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time.’’                                 

                                                                                                              Grace Abbott

 

Mulk Raj Anand, also called as the Charles Dickens of India, has portrayed the pathetic character named Munoo in the novel named ‘Coolie’ In this novel, Anand tries to throw light on the poverty stricken India. People in those days, drew not only caste barriers, but also classified themselves on the econimic basis. The Marxism ideology was playing a main role. Thus, this little orphan boy of fourteen years was forced to run away from his village to earn money just because of poverty.

 

Munoo’s parents die leaving him penniless. He is provoked by his uncle and aunt of being jobless. Thus, he is forced to leave the village to earn a livelihood for him. There this little boy undergoes many adventures by taking up many sundry jobs like,   servant, factory worker, rickshaw driver, ultimately a coolie living far away from his home. He lives in a slum area. He thus leads a subhuman life. By the end of the novel, we see this tragic hero dies suffering from tuberculosis.

 

This novel was written during the pre-Independence era. Hence, we can see that the boy suffers even due to the British Raj. He is been exploited by the white people. The boy goes under a psychological trauma as he lost his parents and is staying away from his native land. His views and ideologies are suppressed. There are many issues like, communal riots, child labour, illiteracy, police injustice, caste ridden society, Marxist issues etc.

 

           ‘ Money is a crystal formed of necessity in the course of the exchanges.’

                                                                                                                Karl Marx

 

The novel reflects the contemporary issues of India too. Although, the novel was written in 1936 for the, the then present times, it seems as if the novel has passed the exam of time. We can see the same past picture of India prevailing even today. The only difference that we find is, then we were colonized and ruled by the British Raj, now we are colonized by our mind, and ruled by our own men, In the most of the novels of Mulk Raj Anand, we see that his ideas are very much influenced by Gandhi an ideas. Even the people of that time followed the mantras of our Father of the Nation – Mahatma Gandhi.

 

Two Leaves and a Bud.

 

‘Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the Higher consideration.’

                                                                                                          Abraham Lincoln.

 

 

The issue of Coffee estate has been the theme of most of the novels during the Pre Independence era. The Coffee house was the symbol of colonized India. Laborers were exploited by the coffee estate owners. They were forced to work for more hours and were not given the extra wages. They were not given accommodation at good and hygienic places. Thus, they suffered from many contagious diseases. Anand raised the contemporary issues in his novel too.

 

‘Two Leaves and the Bud’ is the third novel of Mulk Raj Anand . The protagonist of the novel, is a coolie named Ganju. The miserable condition of the coolies in the tree plantation estate is been portrayed by Anand. The here, in this novel, we can also see the financial issues. The lands that are mortgaged for money are confiscated by the greedy land lords. Hence, it results to deprivation of shelter and the immense need to search a job.

 

Ganju is not only exploited by the Europeans, but also by Indians. He is supressed by them. He is not well paid by the estate owners. He barely earns his livelihood although he works very hard. When he goes to buy the provisions, the merchants sold the things at the exorbitant rate. They were deprived of a good shelter and thus, ultimately, they suffered from water scarcity and sanitary problems. This lead to the attack of contagious disease and Ganju’s wife, Sajani becomes the victim of Malaria and died Ganju, although had an employment, did not have money for his wife’s funeral. This shows the tragic situation of this poor coolie. When the coolies revolted against the Estate Owner, they were bet black and blue. Their voice was supressed. By the end of the novel, Ganju is killed by Reggie Hunt. The novel has a tragic end.

 

Mulk Raj Anand has drawn the attentions of the readers to the issues like Marxism, fight for freedom, exploitation of Indians in the hands of Europeans and Indians, caste discrimination etc. The revolt against the coffee estate owners is the revolt against the British Raj in India. The down trodden class or rather the Colonized Mother India is given the voice in the novel. 

 

The Village, Across The Black Water and The Sword and the Sickle.

      

                            "You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees."

                                                                                                              Kaiser Wilhelm II.

‘The Village’, ‘Across the Black water’ and ‘The Sword and the Sickle’ are the Punjab trilogy novels. Here, we can have a close view upon the issues that were faced by the Indians who enrolled their names for the World War I army. These people had to stay away from their mother land and their family. They went across the seas just to clear their debts and get their homes and land free from mortgages. At the background of the novel, we can also see India’s fight for freedom.

 

The protagonist of the novel, Lal Singh, a peasant’s son struggles against the societal forces keeping him pinned at the bottom of Indian society. There is the combination of colonialism and the modernist project that is quite evident. India was rich in agricultural field in those days. Even after Independence, more than 60% of people opted for becoming a farmer as India was the land of Agriculture and villages.

 

In these novels, we see Lal Singh the peasant’s son, enrolling his name for being a soldier in the World War I. The whole novel revolves around him depicting his sufferings in the unknown land. Finally, he comes back to his own nation by the end of the novel ( trilogy). There is the issue of Marxism, Communalism, social unrest in the trilogy novel. The Whites tried to destroy the Indian culture and tradition by destroying the concept of Village in India. Ina word, we can also say that they wanted to destroy India as most of the part in India was a village.

 

Mirror Image of India in Mulk Raj Anand’s novels.

 

In the above mentioned texts of Mulk Raj Anand, we can see that Anand’s heroes are mostly common rustic man. Most of them come from Indian Villages. India is rich of Villages. The culture and traditions of India are yet preserved in the villages. Hence, the people off the village are very orthodox. They strictly bind themselves to the superstitions and follow the old conduct of rules given by their ancestors. So, we see the issues of caste discrimination and illiteracy very much prevailing in the novels. The people classify themselves on the basis of their caste. Moreover, they try to run away from their native village and try to adjust in the cities. They come to the city India to earn some bread and butter. But, then they get entangled in the city politics and become the victims of Marxism, illiteracy, contagious disease and sometimes end up befriending Death.

 

The concept of Marxism is also very much evident in his works. The rich and the capitalist people exploit the poor and take the pulp out of them. In all the above mentioned works of Mulk Raj Anand, ewe can see the issue to be very much alive and playing a active role. They are not paid their wages accordingly. They are not given the accommodation free from all malicious disease. They are not privileged to the minimal needs of life. Thie voice is being suppressed by the people in power position.

 

     

 The works are written during Pre Independence era. Hence, we can see the fight of Indians against the British Raj. People wanted to free themselves from the clutches of British Raj. Therefore, they participated in different freedom movements. This lead to the revolt against the British Government. The fight for the freedom of India is very much alive in almost all his works rapped in the cultural and social problems. Mulk Raj Anand was a man of Gandhian views. Therefore, we can see Gandhian ideology in his works. He propogateds the message given by Mahatma Gandhi in his works. 

 

We all are very much aware that Indian were taken as soldiers to fight during the world war. Mulkj Raj Anand has also given place for such characters in his novels. The people he enrolled themselves for fighting against the opponent nation had no personal grudge and rivalry against the nation. They even did not know why they were fighting. They just did it to free themselves and their families from the financial discomfort. Many of them lost their lives too.  

 

Th main issue that India faced then and it is facing even now is of Untoucability. People had the wrong notion about this caste. They were not respected in the society just because they were untouchables. They were not allowed to enjoy the rich esteems of life. They were not allowed to live with their fellow beings in the same village. Instead, they were forced to live in a damp. They  became the victims of Indian Society. the untouchables are not given the basic human rights. They are forced to live the life of a slave. They are not treated as human beings. Therefore, we see that Anand has tried to give justice to these characters by giving them the voice and also gave the new mantras of leading a life.

 

Mulk Raj Anand also threw light upon the issues like child labour. It is also the contemporary issue of India. This is also one of the prime reasons why the children are deprived from going to school and getting educated. This ultimately leads to the illiteracy and gives rise to the issues of poverty and exploitation. Children are not paid more wages and are expected to work for more hours. They even suffer from malnutrition and are attacked by various breeds of disease. 

 

We can also see exploitation of women in some of his works. Women of lower caste become the prime victims. Men at least have the attitude and strength to revolt against the unjust at least ones in some of his works. But, when it comes to women or a girl, it seems as if they are very timid and are quite contended with the ill treatment and insults that they face. They are rustic women. So many a times, they become the victim of their own customs and traditions.

 

Mulk Raj Anand has very well presented the colonized India. He gave the window view of all the issues that prevailed in our country India. India was rich of cultural heritage and Villages are in fact the symbol of that. He very well depicted the characters that gave justice to the melancholy which was caused by the issues. He gave the true picture and portrayal of India to this Free India. The struggles and traumas that were faced by the Freedom fighters and their supporters is also indirectly shown to us. It is the hidden message of Mulk Raj Anand to maintain the peace in the nation and make the use of our Freedom in a genuine way.