Themes and Patterns in Dalit Representation: A Comparative Study of Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable, Bhabani Bhattacharya’s He Who Rides a Tiger, Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance, and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

The representation of Dalit identity in Indian English literature has been a contested and evolving domain. Dalits, historically marginalized as “untouchables,” have often been depicted by non-Dalit authors in ways that reflect both sympathy and limitation. This paper examines four landmark Indian English novels—Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable (1935), Bhabani Bhattacharya’s He Who Rides a Tiger (1955), Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance (1995), and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997)—to identify recurring themes and patterns in the portrayal of Dalit characters. These novels span six decades of Indian English fiction and reflect shifting literary, political, and cultural attitudes towards caste. By analyzing their representation of humiliation, resistance, social hypocrisy, political exploitation, and human dignity, this study argues that while these works foreground the plight of Dalits, they often filter Dalit identity through liberal-humanist or tragic lenses rather than amplifying autonomous Dalit voices.