"As the brief Indian twilight came and went, a sudden impulse shot through the transformations of space and time, and gathered all the elements that were dispersed in the stream of his soul into a tentative decision: 'I shall go and tell father all that Gandhi said about us,' he whispered to himself, 'and all that that poet said. Perhaps I can find the poet some day and ask him about his machine.' And he proceeded homewards" (Andand 157).
Wow! What a great ending. Anand paints for us a beautiful portrait of natural beauty, realization, and potential that leaves the reader fulfilled and hopeful, even at the end of a novel whose main character constantly wades through filth. Bakha's journey has only begun, and his destiny seems to be framed by Gandhi, the poet, and the toilet (you can substitute technology for toilet if it makes you more comfortable). Anand tells us in Conversations in Bloomsbury that "consciousness is about something other than itself, awareness of an object. Thus one is because of others" (132). Bakha's identity--his status as social outcast, his noble personality, and his egotistical naivete--are dependent upon culture and perception. Freedom from these things is impossible. Anand realizes that the best we can do is construct for ourselves an identity that we are proud of, much like Bakha does. Is Bakha perfect? No. But neither am I...neither is anyone. But, for better or worse, I am who I am because of my culture. Bakha is not like the other characters we've read this semester; he exists because of his culture, not in spite of it. And Anand seems to be okay with that.
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I wouldn't necessarily say freedom from his identity as a social outcast is impossible rather that, as you said, "culture and perception" must change in order for that label to change.
ReplyDeleteBakha seems to have that "double-consciousness" as was talked about in class: his identity as an untouchable in the caste system and his identity as an Indian under British rule. In order to construct an entirely new identity he must promote the change as was said by Gandhi or extract himself out of the throes of society as some of this text beautifully describes--a kind of transcendentalism...very Emerson-ish.
Good point about "double consciousness" here. And yes, Emerson-ian. It's also interesting to remmember that Emerson had read some of the Vedas and thought of his philosophy as related to Indian philosophy/religion.
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