U.R. Ananthamurthy’s Crusade against Caste: the Text and Context

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Virender Pal

Assistant Professor of English, University College Kurukshetra. ORCID ID is 0000-0003-3569-1289. Email: p2vicky@gmail.com

  Volume 9, Number 4, 2017 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n4.17

Received August 15, 2017; Revised December 07, 2017; Accepted December 15, 2017; Published December 25, 2017.

Abstract

Caste system is a reality in India and the discrimination based on caste is probably the most horrifying truth. Many studies have been conducted on the psychological impact of untouchability on the Shudras, but U.R. Anathamurthy’s writings concentrate more on the impact of practising untouchability on the Brahmins. His novels and short stories showcase the impact of practising untouchability on the Brahmins. Brahmins live lives of automatons where their every move and action from birth to death is governed by some precedent of the distant past. They live a life that is sterile and barren. The paper studies the impact of practising caste system on the Brahmins in the writings of U.R. Ananthamurthy.

Keywords: caste, Brahmin, oppression, Hinduism, rituals, customs.