LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 22:1 January 2022
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Delineating Alienation, Hopelessness, and Identity Crisis:
A Study of Sharankumar Limbale’s The Outcaste

Suresh Kumar


Courtesy: amazon.in

Abstract

The paper analyses that how the downtrodden turn alienated as a result of the systematic exclusion of ages and how this ostracization results in nothing but hopelessness even after the provision of rights in the constitution in Independent India. It will show that how marginalization and deprivation lead to a state of impossibility and how a section of the society feels alienated socially, economically, culturally, and emotionally. Besides, the paper focuses on the mental agony an outcaste undergoes throughout life in a search of his true identity.

Keywords: Limbale, The Outcaste, Alienation, hopelessness, identity crisis, downtrodden, ostracization, marginalization, deprivation, outcaste.

In his autobiography The Outcaste, Limbale presents the experiences of his family. In his childhood, he lived in Maharwada where about one hundred and twenty cottages of Mahars, lower-caste people were there. It was located on the fringe and was the most unhygienic place to live in. The village was characterized by deprivation, filthiness, and all sort of scarcity. They used to do the traditionally assigned roles like scavenging, removing the dead animals of the high-caste people, sweeping the village streets, all sorts of labour work, and begging alms. If they did not earn during the day used to sleep without eating in the night. Limbale’s mother was married to Ithal Kamble who was a poor grass mower. She got divorced after having two children, thereafter; she had an adulterous affair with Hanmanta Patil, an upper-caste man who was the father of Limbale. His mother had seven children from another Patil named Kaka. When his mother Masamai got busy with her other children, Limbale was taken care of by Masamai mother Santamai in the Maharwada itself. Both his mother and grandmother ran separate liquor businesses to run their families. During school life, Limbale has discriminatory experiences and issues like his father’s registration on the certificates. His grandfather does work hard as a porter at the local bus stand. Limbale experiences issues in the case of his wedding as they were not of pure blood.

The novelist depicts that the stigmatic practice of untouchability results in the alienation and isolation of the downtrodden in society. Not allowing lower-caste students to play games with the high-caste students in the school and assigning tasks like sweeping the floor and smearing the floor with cow dung only to the students of lower caste contributes to the feelings of inferiority. The statement of Shobhi, an upper-caste girl, “Mahars have become bold these days. They now dare to walk straight up to you. Can you see I am carrying drinking water? You touch will make it impure” (70). These words are addressed to lower caste boys Limbale and his friend Prashya. They turn revengeful thereafter and ask justification like why the river and crops get polluted on your touch. Whatsoever be the reasons, such arguments widen the ditch between the castes in this respect.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Suresh Kumar
Assistant Professor, SLET, UGC-NET
Department of English
Govt. College Indora, 176401
Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India
vijaysuresh8890@gmail.com
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