Abstract
The novels that I focus on are Untouchable by Mulk Anand and Serious Men by Manu Joseph, which I juxtapose to explore whether constructing an identity is possible through literature. Both novels are products of history. Untouchable reflects the nationalist movement in the pinnacle moment in Indian history and Serious Men reflects the Dalit community within contemporary India. Anand uses the Dalit as a vehicle for political and religious reform whereas Joseph empowers Dalits to expose the cynical truth of contemporary India. Both authors use realism to depict the lives of their Dalit protagonists, yet they have different impacts on their audience. In contrasting the novels, I will reveal how the Indian novel is always transforming itself to reflect the nation’s current state. The power that the Dalit protagonist has in Joseph’s novel merely reflects the change within India. The novel is a product of its time and because of that, it has a responsibility to the nation, the character and the world to depict India’s reality. This shows a genre that is always changing and pushing itself to depict its country and the people within it.