In Coolie there are seven English characters in all. They belong to different professions, different age group and different social status so their character and behaviour is also varied accordingly. The other three are Anglo - Indians and Indian Christians. In the portrayal of English characters, Anand expresses his cynical attitude.
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| Mulk Raj Anand’s Handling the English Characters in Novel Coolie |
It is said that he has not done justice with them. He had some personal grievances and grudge against the English which has been revealed through these characters. He has portrayed them in a most unfavourable light. He dwells largely upon the weaknesses and the absurdities of the various English characters. So his characters strike us as caricatures rather than objective portrayals. The first English man who comes before us is Mr. England, the chief cashier of Imperial Bank of India in Sham Nagar. He is peculiar in the sense that he wears big glasses on his narrow eyes. Though the description of this man's personality is very brief, but we feel him as a comic figure since his first appearance. He looks at Nathoo Ram but never gives him a chance to speak to him so he tries to invite him to tea at his house. He agrees with great difficulty. His behaviour at the home of Nathoo Ram is very repulsive and Anand does not portray him favourably. He is a tall man and there is a danger of his head striking against the doorway. Both the times while coming in and going out he is warned to take care. He dislikes the image of Ganesh and is restless in the heat. He does not like the close companionship of dirty Indians lest he should catch infection. He is repelled to see the gulabjamuns and dumplings for their sharp smell. We laugh at him when Prem Chand asks him about the universities in England. Thus, the whole behaviour of Mr. England is extremely ridiculous and disappointing. We feel his great nervousness when his lips and tongue are scorched by the hot tea. Anand has given him a name which expresses a ridicule that all men coming from England are almost of the same temperament. He thus becomes a type and a representative character more than an individual and the novelist failed to maintain objectivity in his portrayal.
The character of Mr. Marjoribanks is also quite comic and a bit of satire on these so called refined Englishmen. He is a short fat man with a bald head. His traits are quite like the other Englishmen in India. He tells Todar Mal to get into his new Ford car which his wife has brought from England. He goes to inspect the pickle factory with Todar Mal and is disgusted to see that the street is very narrow and dirty. Anand shows his behaviour and movement at this time in a comic manner. A woman throws a packet of garbage almost on him. He is annoyed to see the cow dung, stale food, torn clothes all around and the water splashing from the room at the upper storey. But he cannot go back now. As he enters the factory, he is afraid in the darkness and suffocation there and ends all his inspection hurriedly. The only thing he does is to ask the factory owner to build a chimney over the furnace to provide proper outlet for the smoke. Thus, he shows that he is not much interested in what happens at such places and is completely negligent to his duty of maintaining cleanliness and healthy climate in the city. In the portrayal of his character, Anand shows the absurdities of the Englishmen. He is more interested in his personal enjoyment and sports than in performing his duties as the Health Officer of Daulatpur. He is proud of his new car. He is always careful to retain the affections of his wife. This aspect of his character certainly looks amusing and thus he is also like a caricature. Anand does not observe any seriousness in his portrayal.
Mr. Little, the manager of the textile factory is the most comic of all the English characters in the novel. He is impatient idiot and is unable to tolerate the unbearable heat of Bombay. His face is always covered with sweat. While sitting in his office, he goes on looking at the electric fan. He is shifting his chair and the papers on the table. His throat is parched and he wishes to drink some whisky. Although he appears only for some time, but his behaviour makes us laugh and enjoy. Anand comments that this Wordsworth suffered greatly from the effects of the heat. He is particularly tormented by flies and is restless when a fly chases him. He orders his clerk to pick up the fly killer and strike the fly wherever it settles. The fly settles on the forehead of Mr. Little and he strikes. He is extremely enraged and madly cries, “You damn fool! You bloody fool!” He gets up wildly from his chair. But in spite of all this comic gesture and stupidity, he is always faithful to his duty and regards it as “the stern voice of the daughter of God.” This description of Mr. Little certainly amuses us and he is more a caricature like the other English characters.
Mr. White is the owner, the president of Sir George White Cotton Mills. He is a typical English businessman and is chiefly interested only in his profits. He looks after the commercial interest of the mill. He thinks that the mill is running in great loss and in order to increase the profits, he has decided to curtail the working days of the mill. He tells Mr. Little that this decision has been taken for many other mills also. He proposes to go to the Viceroy to recommend the imposition of high duties on the import of foreign goods into the country so that their company can compete with the foreign goods more effectively. He always complains against the bad behaviour of Indian workers. He is different from other English characters because there is nothing amusing in his portrayal His only characteristic is that he is interested in the financial position of the mill and will do anything for them. He is careless to the spreading starvation among the workers. This shows that he is primarily a businessman. Anand shows his aristocratic money minded mentality in the most unfavourable light.
Jimmie Thomas, popularly known as Chimta Sahib in the locality has been painted as the worst among all the English characters in the novel. He has been working in the mill as the head foreman for the last fifteen years. Physically he is big and massive. Anand describes that he has a bull dog face, and a small waxed mustache. He is dressed in a greasy white shirt, white trousers and a greasy white polo topee, the leather strap of which hangs down at the back of his thick neck. The description of his appearance creates amusement rather than a regard. His behaviour also creates aversion. He is dishonest, crooked man and is chiefly interested in exploiting the labourers and adding to his income. For income, he does not hesitate in any method. The way, in which he behaves, shows him to be a blood sucker. He seems to be a disgrace by his dishonesty and greed. But he also is not devoid of Anand's ridicule. He is afraid of Ratan Singh. Although he deducts large amount from the salary of Hari, he does not have the courage to make any deduction from the money of Ratan. He is afraid of this wrestler like man. There is certainly exaggeration in his portrayal but it is because he has highlighted his treacherous nature. He has failed to win the faith and trust of his wife Nellie. A great humour and ridicule is created when Jimmie throws a whisky bottle at Munoo thinking him to be an intruder, his wife thinks that he has flung the bottle at her in order to kill her. A quarrel is created between them. This is certainly in the spirit of a caricature as Dickens as done with many of his characters.
The other young Englishman is Guy Mainwaring. He is fool enough to marry an old woman May only because he feels that he has been captivated by her beauty. This marriage proved harmful because his parents did not like it and thus his family is disintegrated. They could not tolerate that their English son should marry an Anglo - Indian lady. He found that his parents had decided not even to see him, he felt lonely. He became her slave and fulfilled all her desires right and wrong. He even allowed her to stay in England, although he himself had returned to India. He had taken a flat in Simla where she is now living. At present he is posted in Peshawar as a military officer. In the novel be appears only for a short time and we find that he is actually a fool.
A survey of all these English characters creates an impression on our mind that Anand's portrayal of these characters is far from realism and dispassionate. It is nowhere objective and the novelists’ dislike can be very easily perceived. He has dwelt mainly on the absurdities and the follies of all these persons. They are merely caricatures and nowhere rise to the size of a full-fledged person. In this respect, Anand has completely failed because they are certainly marked with his personal bias and prejudices. So is the presentation of the degraded personality of Mrs. Mainwaring. We hate her for her loose character and extreme lust but she is a little charming when she reveals the kind heartedness and sympathy for Munoo, particularly when he is suffering and is admitted to the hospital. Her excessive sexuality shocks us and she gives herself freely to any man. This lust in her is inexhaustible but at the same time she is full of motherly nature for Munoo. This portrayal of Mrs. Mainwaring is certainly unrealistic like the English characters. She is also the victim of the personal prejudice of the novelist and thus certainly a caricature instead of full grown character.
