Lakha

Lakha is the abusive father of Bakha and Sohini who is presented in the book as passively submissive to the orders and ideas of the caste system. Rather than blaming people of the high caste for his exploitations, he believes that the treatment he received as an Untouchable is ultimately his own fault. With his traditional and conservative views, he believes that becoming an Untouchable at birth is a result of his sins and wrongdoings in his previous life. It's ironic how Bakha wants to rebel against the system while his father does not see the social injustice and problems with being an Untouchable.

When Lakha was first introduced, and his views of the caste system became apparent, I was a bit annoyed and wish he was not as compliant and accepting of his role in society and wouldn't try to force Bakha to have the same views. I was especially mad when he seemed to have no reaction when he hears of Sohini's molestation.

After thinking about Lakha role in the book, I feel like he portrays the older, conservative man who is unwilling to change his views and only wants tradition of hundreds of years to continue.  On the contrary, Bakha is a young, hopeful millennial seeking change in his world of unfair  treatment of low caste people. Despite Lakha's pushing of his personal views, Bakha is able to recognize the wrongness of the system and wants to find an escape, either by following Christianity or the teachings of Gandhi. It's amazing that even while Lakha has been brainwashing his children to think that being an Untouchable is their destiny and that the caste system is completely just, Bakha can still overlook his views and recognize the harsh reality of his life on the bottom of society's totem pole that he feels must change.