SOURCE: "Anand's Englishmen: The British Presence in the Novels of Mulk Raj Anand," in World Literature Written in English, Vol. 21, No. 2, Summer, 1982, pp. 336-41.

Sharma is an Indian-born Canadian critic. In the following essay, he examines Anand's portrayal of British characters in his novels.

The British presence in the novels of Anand is persistent, pronounced, and pervasive. It is there from the first novel, Untouchable (1935), to the most recent one, Confessions of a Lover (1977). The British are in the novels not simply as background, a part of the social tapestry, but rather as figures in the forefront, sometimes occupying the centre of the social stage and dominating the action, as in Two Leaves and a Bud, at other times impinging directly on the moral consciousness of the leading characters.

The circumstances of Anand's birth and upbringing made it inevitable that the British presence should be a compelling element...