Casteism in Kanthapura

 Casteism  in Kanthapura

Though the main theme of the novel is the freedom movement, several subsidiary (of less importance) themes also run to mingle with it after a certain span of time. We may read and understand the novel from several angles, but later or sooner we have to focus our whole attention on the main current that leads to India’s Freedom Struggle led by several people of eminence. It is this theme with which all the subsidiary themes get mingled.

One of these subsidiary themes of the novel is caste-divide in the social set-up of Kanthapura. We also know that Kanthpura becomes a metaphor to represent all Indian society in those days of the 1930s.

Casteism along with other social evils prevailed in those days of pre-independent India. This is the evil that was the mother of so many problems for the people of India. Human beings had to suffer a lot due to this social evil.

In the very first chapter, the narrator tells us in detail about the five quarters that divided the small village Kanthapura. These quarters were the symbols of the barriers that divided one human being from the other. The very division is inhuman and undemocratic. But we know it well that in those days the British ruled over India.

The five quarters described by the narrator are the quarters of the Pariahs, of the Potters, of the Weavers, of the Brahmins, and of the Sudras. The people of the upper castes were not supposed to get mixed up with those of the lower castes. The Brahmins did not attend any function arranged by the Pariahs. Not only this, they did not even enter their houses. The houses of the Pariahs, Potters, and Sudras were situated at the outer parts of the village Kanthapura. This social hierarchy prevailed in Kanthapura. This system is against human values and it must have been evolved by the most clever and cunning people of the society to rule over others for their personal gains.

The people to safeguard this long-aged system are Bhatta, and Swamiji, though the latter lived in a city.

The people of the so-called lower castes in Kanthapura were made so much conscious of their social status that they all became victims of inferiority complex. They were forced to do menial work. It made them mental wrecks. They were made to think that to take birth in a lower caste was pre-destined by God. It was the fruit of their bad deeds done in the previous life.

If anyone ever dared to disturb this social set-up, he or she had to pay a heavy price for that. Moorthy is an example in this context. He is the Brahmin, who starts his efforts to break this long-lived system. He had to face ex-communication for his misadventure. His mother also died due to the fear of being excommunicated. Bhatta refused to perform the last rites for Moorthy’s mother.

But Moorthy did not surrender in front of the troubles created in his way. He continued his work of making the people aware of the Gandhian Movement. He went door to door to distribute Charkhas.

The people of the so-called lower castes were not fully paid. They were treated harshly, beaten up, and exploited in many ways. The miserable condition that prevailed at the Skeffington Coffee Estate is the glaring example of the exploitation done to the poor people.

Casteism was so deeply rooted in people’s minds that a person like Moorthy had to use Gangajal to purify himself after returning from Rachanna’s house. We have another example here to prove the inferiority complex that was deeply rooted in the Pariahs. When Moorthy goes to them, they felt honoured. Rachana's wife was so much happy to see Moorthy in her house that she felt as if a god had entered there. She longed (desired) that he should touch the bowl of the milk to sanctify (purify) them.

Thus we see that Kanthapura village is caste-ridden. The casteism brought so many problems for the people who were victims of this social evil.