Acceptance as a Process of Identity Crystallization: A Study of Laxman Gaikwad’s ‘The Branded’

Abstract

The paper seeks to locate the issues with the community of Laxman Gaikwad which notify them as criminal under the provisions of the Criminal Tribes’ Act passed in 1871 and regard them to be destructive to the society. Though they never get equal rights and forced to lead a life based on earnings of criminal activities but then too instances can be traced in the autobiographical novel of Laxman Gaikwad named ‘The Branded’ which suggests their conscious involvement in the activities and how people of the community trained their children and other members to continue with the tradition of thieving. It also identifies several superstition practices which seems to be one of the main cause of their backwardness.