1. 30 RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0975-3486, (Print) E-ISSN-2320-5482, July,2013 VOL-IV *ISSUE- 46
Research Paper—English
July ,2013
For more than a century Indian writers are writing in
English.ButaftertheattainmentofIndependencethere
has been a rapid growth and development in this field.
Now, Indian English Fiction has aroused interest both
in India and abroad. The Post-Independence Indian
English novelists have chosen the various features of
Indian society as the theme of their novels. The caste
- system, traditional concept of joint families, man-
woman relationship and women's assertion of their
identity are some of the major issues. The novelists
havetriedtodrawalivelypictureofthesocietythrough
their novels. These novels are the mirror of the society
as they reflect the conditions prevailing in it. Walter
Allensignificantly remarks:
"contemporary novels are the mirror of the
age,butaveryspecialkindofmirror,mirrorthatreflects
not merely the external features of the age but also its
inner face, its nervous system, coursing of its blood
and the unconscious promptings and conflicts which
sway it." 1
InIndiansocietycastesystemhasbeenpreva-
lentforcenturies.NovelistslikeMulkRajAnand,R.K.
Narayan and R.P. Jhabwala raised the issue of caste
system and social discrimination in their novels. Un-
touchables by Mulk RajAnand depicts the cruelty and
prejudices of the higher caste people towards the low-
ers. The novel is a true record ofthe painful conditions
of the lower caste people, their unhygienic surround-
ings and the treatment of upper class towards them.
Untouchability is also the theme of Anand's another
novel The Road, where Bhiku who belongs the lower
caste, inspired by the government's decision of aboli-
tion of untouchability ask for water at Thakur's place
but he is very badly insulted. Then ,"he went in the
direction of the road, he had helped to build; and in his
soul he took the direction out of the village towards
Delhitown,capitalofHindustanwherethere would be
no caste or out caste."2
In R. K. Narayan's Waiting For
Mahatma , the Harijan colony where Gandhi ji stayed
with the city sweepers was probably the worst area of
the town and where "the huts were just hovels put
together with rags". 3
In The Vendor of Sweets Jagan
refuses to accept a non- Hindu girl as his daughter -in-
law . In The Guide, Raju's mother changes her attitude
Social Realism in the Post - Independence
IndianEnglishFiction
towards Rosie when she comes to know that Rosie
belongs to the dancing class community. Kalu, the
blacksmith in Bhabni Bhattacharya's novel, He Who
ridesaTigerhassuffered alotbytheupperclasspeople
and declares a war against the society. In Arundhati
Roy's The God of Small Things Velutha belongs to the
family of Paravan, the lower caste people who are not
allowed to walk on the public roads and to cover their
upper bodies. "Paravans were expected to crawl
backwards with broom sweeping away the footprints
so that Brahmins or Syrian Christians would not defile
themselves by accidently stepping into a Paravan's
footprint."4
Thus, the problem of untouchability has
been strongly depicted by the Post-Independence
novelists.
Jointfamilyhasbeenplayingasignificantrole
in Indian society since our ancestral time. But in the
present social set-up the condition has changed by the
spread ofeducationand urbanization.R.P.Jhabwalain
Esmond in India depicts the problem of joint families.
Madhuri, the wifeofHardayal is represented as a pow-
erful and dominating woman. "----she knew how to
arrange her life and the lives of those around her. The
house was seen entirely according to her plans…….".
5 Shakuntala, the daughter of Hardayal and Madhuri
disregards and rejects the customs and conventions of
jointfamily.She bitterlyspeaksagainsther motherand
sister-in-law:
"You and MummyJi are both the same --------- think
about nothing except cloths and tea -------- parties ---
------", Most ofNarayan's novels depicts the jealousies
anddiscriminationamongthefamilymembers.Butalong
with the problems of joint families he has thrown light
upon the fact that children are well brought up in joint
familiesincomparisontonuclearone:"----thechildren
do not feel lonely,
As they are generally spend their time with
their cousins, uncles or grandparents" 6
The position
of woman in the society their problems, their relation-
ship with men and the shift in their attitude has been
explored by the novelists like Mulk Raj Anand,
NayantaraSahgal,R.K.Narayanetc. AnandinTheOld
Woman and The Cow depicts the life of Gauri in three
phases. She is depicted as meek as a cow in the first
*Dr. Manisha Rani
* Dept. of English ,Ahir College, Rewari

2. 31
RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0975-3486, (Print) E-ISSN-2320-5482, July,2013 VOL-IV *ISSUE- 46
phase. In the second phase she is drawn out of her
house. There is an episode of her escape from the Seth
and she goes to work in a hospital. The last phase of
thenoveldepicts herboldness.Sheleaves her husband
and says "I am not Sita that the earth will open up and
swallowme:Ishalljustgooutandbeforgottenofhim".
7
Man - Woman relationship can be seen in R.K.
Narayan's novels. Love affair between Chandran and
Malathiis warmand romantic inThe Bachelor ofArts.
TheloyaltyanddevotionofKrshnanandSusilatowards
eachothercanbeseeninTheEnglishTeacher.Krishan
serves his wife as a nurse when she falls ill. He says "it
kept me so close to my wife".8
In Nayantara Sahgal's
AStorminChandigarhthisman-womanrelationshipis
presented in different way. The marriage of Inder and
Saroj is outwardly successful.
He treats her wife as she is his slave. He does
notcareforherasSarojremarks"Iamaloneevenwhen
Inder is here".9
Following the same theme Shashi
Despande, Kamla Das , Anita Desai and Shobha De
have written many novels. Their novels depict the
changing aspect of women after Independence. In "A
LittleKitten"KamlaDasprotestinmarriagewhensexual
attractiondiminishes.Shelongsforapet"evenakitten
would be such comfort" when her husband is away. 10
OneofthemajorproblemsinourIndiansoci-
1. Walter Allen, Reading a Novel, 18.
2. Mulk Raj Anand, The Road (Bombay: Kutub Popular, 1967)pg 111
3. R.K. Narayan, Waiting for Mahatma (Mysore: Indian Thought Pub. 1958) 37
4. Roy Arundhati, The God of Small Things (New Delhi , India Inks, 1997) 73-74
5. Ruth P. Jhabwala, Esmond in India (England :Penguin Books ltd, 1980) 160.
6. R. K. Narayan, My Dateless Diary (New Delhi : Hind Pocket Books, 1960)283
7. Mulk Raj Anand , Old woman and the cow (Bombay: kutub popular, 1960) , 283
8. R. K. Narayan The EnglishTeacher (Mysore: Indian Thought Pub, 1990) 96
9. Nayantara Sahgal, A Storm in Chandigarh (Delhi: Hind Pocket Books) 3
10. Kamla Das, Padmawati, The Harlot and other stories (New Delhi sterling , 1972) 38
11. R.P. Jhabwala, Esmond in India, 274
12. Ibid, 202
13. Bhabani Bhattacharya, Music for Mohini (New York Crown Pub. House , 1952) 126-127
ety is the confrontation between the traditional values
ofIndiaand theModernAttitudeofthewest.Narayan's
The Vendor of Sweets is based upon this problem of
East and West. Jagan the chief Character of the novels
isanorthodoxandatruefollowerofGandhianphiloso-
phy. On the other hand his son Mali is beef eating and
symbolizes modernity. Hence there is a clash between
thefatherandtheson.R.P.JhabwalainEsmondinIndia
depictsthisEast-WestencounterthroughEsmondwho
is a young Englishman and an expert of Indian culture
having "a good grounding in all aspects of cultures -
East and West".11
Yet he is tired of Indian society and
is always hunted by the west "where there were solid
grey houses and solid grey people".12
In the same way
Bhabani Bhattacharya's Music for Mohini is an at-
tempt "to connectculturewithculture-----ourEastern
views of life with the new semi-western outlook"
13
,where the hero who is a well-educated man marries
a city bred girl for the adjustment of the old and new
values in his own family.
Hence,thePost-Independencenovelistshave
depicted the emotions, problems, feelings, hopes and
traditions of the people of the contemporary society in
their novels. These novels are interwoven in the fabric
ofcomplexsocialforceslikecaste-system,disintegra-
tion of the family, East-West encounter etc.
R E F E R E N C E