Untouchable

" 'Why is it,' he had often asked himself, 'that I can't go and ask now but dared to do so when I was a child?' He couldn't find the answer to this. He didn't know that with the growth of years he had lost the freedom, the wild, careless, dauntless freedom of the child, that he had lost his courage, that he was afraid." (Pg. 102-103)

Although Bakha resists the dominant Hindu society by dressing like the Tommies, he also respects and fears the Hindu people that have been his oppressors for such a long time. The quote above, I believe, is melancholy and shows that life for the sweepers and those of the lower caste is one of fear and hardships. As a child, Bakha was not afraid to communicate with the dominant culture, but as he grew up and became more aware of his life and the caste he belonged to, he grew afraid of them. As he realized he was of a lower cast and began to think of himself as one of the lower cast, he became subservient. In a sense, this quote shows us that freedom is both mental and physical. Once Bakha deemed himself as one of the lower caste he came to fear the dominant culture, and this fear of them does not allow him to fight the oppressive society he lives in.