Is Movement Possible Between the Castes?

In Brave New World everyone is happy to be in their respective class and they do not feel any desire to be higher. They seem to have a distaste for the lower classes as is evidenced when Lenina continually makes comments about the fact that she is so glad to not be a Gamma or other lower caste. This is also very telling of the conditioning that very few people of the society think of wanting to be higher than their given class and that they look down upon the lower classes. Yet in Indian society the lower classes could physically move up to a higher class or become more accepted by changing their habits to be more like the higher castes. While it is certainly possible for an Untouchable or Dalit as they are also known, to move up and receive a higher position it is not easy at all for them. The most famous case of a Dalit gaining power was the Republic of India’s tenth President, Kocheril Raman Narayanan, who can be seen in the above picture. He was also the first Dalit to be ranked first in the University of Travancore class. Yet for an Untouchable to move from their class is a very hard and arduous journey. “There is a great deal of powerful anecdotal evidence to the effect that any rising prosperity of Untouchables is usually greeted with hostility from caste Hindus. Of course, social envy is scarcely an unusual emotion. What is significant about such feeling relative to Untouchables is that they remain a peculiarly vulnerable people and as such are more easily damaged and deterred from activities that promote their own welfare” (Mendelsohn 71). There is a lot of evidence to show that even when they attain a certain level of power and seem to finally be breaking free from their Untouchable status that an invisible hand drags them back. A present day example of this would be the treatment of Slumdog Millionaire character Rubina Ali who was paid a very low sum of money compared to what would be expected for her to be paid. If this was not bad enough it is reported that her father tried to sell her to an undercover newspaper reporter. This shows that even while she was a very important actor in a world acclaimed movie that she will never able to truly escape her roots as an Untouchable. This is truly saddening because everyone deserves the right to better themselves and the Untouchables are not even given this basic right.

Examining the Castes by Color

First let me explain the classes before we examine the colors associated with each caste. The top three classes are considered twice-born and because of this are accorded a much higher place in society then the other two classes. The highest class in Indian society is the class of Brahmins, which are the teachers and priests. The next class is the Ksatriyas who are the warriors and rulers. The third class that is twice-born is the Vaisyas who are merchants, artisans, farmers and more. After the twice-born classes there are the Sudras who are laborers. They are still above the lowest caste of Untouchables who are the polluted laborers.
The colors associated with each class explain what they are expected to do very well. The Brahmin, who are the teachers and priests of this society are classified with the color white. White symbolizes purity and the power to develop knowledge in those looking to learn. Priests and teachers fulfill these two roles very well and the color designated to them fits this profile. The Ksatriyas, who are the warriors and rulers have the color red as their color. This fits very well because red is a powerful color and one associated with battle, the two requirements to be in this class. The Vaisyas, who are farmers, artisans and merchants are connected with the color brown. Brown fits these occupations very well since farmers work with the dirt, artisans must understand color, and merchants are trying to sell their wares. The Sudras who are not twice-born, are the designated laborers of the Indian caste system. They have been given the color of black to represent them which shows their place in the caste because black is not a color that people usually desire. The Untouchables who do the polluted labor are so far below the caste that they are not even given a color. Not having a color is far worse then having a bad color because at least a bad color shows they took the time to find a color for the class. The fact that they could not give the Untouchables shows their rank and how much thought is spent by the higher castes on them.
From the hyperlink embedded in the word classes Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D. explains the colors in a different way. “Associated with each varn.a there is a traditional color. These sound suspiciously like skin colors; and indeed, there is an expectation in India that higher caste people will have lighter skin—although there are plenty of exceptions( especially in the South of India)” (www.friesian.com/caste.htm). There is a connection between the skin colors expected from the Indian castes and the fact that the different classes of Brave New World are expected to wear certain colors. For example in Chapter Two the students being brought around by the Director of Hatcheries, were shown a group of babies dressed in khaki. Even at this very young age the Delta’s were being programmed to identify with the color of khaki and see it as their specific color.