SOURCE: "Politics of a Revolutionary Elite: A Study of Mulk Raj Anand's Novels," in Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 8, No. 4, October, 1974, pp. 473-89.

In the following excerpt, Bald identifies traits common to all of Anand's novels, including a protagonist who highlights social injustice and a hero who espouses revolution.

Mulk Raj's novels follow an identical pattern: each describes a principal figure who brings into focus the injustices of society; his abortive and misdirected attempts for a better life in the existing unjust state; and the appearance of the revolutionary hero, who shows him that realization of a good life is only possible after the destruction of the present order. The novels end on a note of hope in the anticipated Revolution. Though the milieu of the novels differs, the character of the message and of the messenger remains remarkably consistent.

The objective of initial failure is to sharpen the...