Untouchable: Character Mind Map & Summary
The key characters of Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable (1935), grouped into branches, with the key episodes, a quick summary and the exam facts that come up again and again in UGC NET.
Watch the Animated Summary
Short on time? Watch the whole story of Untouchable in a few minutes, then revise the characters below.
More animated summaries: Indian Literature playlist on YouTube →
The Character Mind Map
Tap any name to open the details.
Bakha
An eighteen-year-old sweeper who cleans the latrines of the town. He is strong, clean and fond of English clothes, but the day shows him again and again how the caste system treats him as untouchable.
Ending: goes home hoping for the flush toilet as an answer👑 Bakha's Family
The outcastes' colonyLakhaBakha's father, the jemadar of sweepers
Role: Lazy and harsh, but he once received kindness from a Hindu doctor who saved Bakha's life.
SohiniBakha's sister
Role: Gentle and beautiful; at the well Pundit Kali Nath draws water for her, then calls her to the temple and molests her.
RakhaBakha's younger brother
Role: Brings home leftover food from the barracks.
🏠 Caste Hindus
Bakha's day of insultsThe Touched ManA Hindu in the street
Role: Bakha accidentally touches him; a crowd gathers and Bakha is slapped.
Pundit Kali NathTemple priest
Role: Tries to molest Sohini and then shouts that he has been "polluted" by her.
GulaboThe washerwoman
Role: Jealous of Sohini and rude to her at the well.
🤝 Friends & Helpers
Outside the caste orderChota & Ram CharanHis friends
Role: A leather-worker's son and a washerman's son; Bakha plays hockey with them.
Havildar Charat SinghA famous hockey player
Role: Treats Bakha kindly and gives him a hockey stick.
Colonel HutchinsonSalvation Army chief
Role: Offers Christianity as an answer, but Bakha cannot follow his hymns.
Memory Hook
One simple pattern to remember the whole work.
Key Episodes
The turning points examiners love to ask about.
Quick Summary
The story, stage by stage.
MorningThe Latrines
- Bakha cleans the latrines; Havildar Charat Singh praises his work.
- Sohini fetches water at the well.
Late MorningThe Touch
- In the town he touches a Hindu by mistake and is abused and slapped.
- He feels humiliation turn into anger.
MiddayTemple & Bread
- Sohini's molestation by the priest.
- Bakha begs for food and is treated with contempt.
AfternoonHockey
- He plays hockey with Chota and Ram Charan; an injured child brings new insults.
- Lakha turns him out of the house.
EveningThree Answers
- Colonel Hutchinson, Gandhi's speech and the poet's talk of the flush toilet.
- Bakha goes home with new hope.
Must-Know Exam Facts
Quick points for UGC NET, SET and PGT.
Time Span
The whole novel covers a single day in Bakha's life.
Preface
E. M. Forster wrote the preface; the novel was rejected by nineteen publishers before Wishart accepted it.
Gandhi
Anand revised the novel at Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram on his advice.
Three Solutions
Christianity, Gandhi's reform, and modern technology (the flush toilet).
Style
Social realism, stream of consciousness, and Indian expressions translated into English.
Source
Anand was inspired by Gandhi's account of Uka, a sweeper boy, in Young India.
Indian Literature
100+ Key Works of Indian Literature
All these character mind maps in one printed book.
Thanku very much sir for your valuable time that you gave for these short notes really very helpful