Untouchable

In“Untouchable,” by Mulk Raj Anand, the main character, Bakha, exemplifies Said’s idea of resistance by trying to do little things that are not common of his low “untouchable” class. One such act that Bakha does to separate himself from his fellow sweepers is to dress as British as he possible can. He decides to dress like the Tommies, who were the British soldiers that were located in India at the time, in order to establish some sort of identity for himself besides the polluted stereotype that his ancestors passed down to him. Also, Bakha’s way of thinking is another way that he resists his low class fate. He tries to picture himself breaking out of his occupation and becoming more western instead of just accepting his duty as a latrine cleaner. One last aspect that is somewhat out of Bakha’s control, but still shows some sense of resistance is Bakha’s body itself. Bakha does not look like the average sweeper, he is not scrawny, though he barely eats, and he is very good looking, which is not typical of a person who is abused and forced to clean latrines on a daily basis. In essence, Bakha does his best to resist rather than merely accept his fate by making subtle changes to his lifestyle and by carrying himself with worth.