Humanism, Social Realism, And The Ethics Of Suffering: A Thematic Deconstruction Of Oppression In Mulk Raj Anand’s Fictional Universe

Abstract

This paper undertakes a critically dense and theoretically informed exploration of the interrelationship between humanism, social realism, and the ethics of suffering in the fictional corpus of Mulk Raj Anand. Situating Anand within the intersecting paradigms of postcolonial discourse and Marxist humanism, the study interrogates how his narratives articulate a morally charged representation of systemic oppression structured along caste, class, and colonial hierarchies. Through a close thematic and hermeneutic analysis of Untouchable, Coolie, and Two Leaves and a Bud, the paper conceptualizes suffering not merely as an experiential condition but as an ethical category that demands recognition and response. It argues that Anand’s humanism operates as a radical ethical intervention that reclaims dignity for the subaltern subject while simultaneously exposing the moral bankruptcy of oppressive structures (Anand, 1935; 1936; 1937). By synthesizing insights from Karl Marx (1867), Edward Said (1978), and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (1988), this study foregrounds Anand’s fiction as an ethically charged site of resistance and socio-political critique.