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Colonel Hutchinson is a middle-aged British settler in India, the leader of the Salvation Army in the Himalayan region. Though Hutchinson prides himself on his selflessness, comparing himself favorably with the local Tommies, Untouchable presents him as tacky and not very bright. In his eagerness to convert the Bulashah locals to Christianity, Hutchinson embraces Indian dress and learns to speak some broken Hindi. But even as his ideas about equality momentarily tempt Bakha, Hutchinson’s refusal to explain Christian stories to the Indian villagers ultimately means he gains very few converts.
Colonel Hutchinson Quotes in Untouchable
The Untouchable quotes below are all either spoken by Colonel Hutchinson or refer to Colonel Hutchinson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Pages 105–139 Quotes
‘Yes, Sahib, I know,’ said Bakha, without understanding the subtle distinction which the Colonel was trying to institute between himself and the ordinary sahibs in India whose haughtiness and vulgarity was, to his Christian mind, shameful, and from whom, on that account, he took care to distinguish himself, lest their misdeeds reflect on the sincerity of his intentions for the welfare of the souls of the heathen. To Bakha, however, all the sahibs were sahibs, trousered and hatted men, who were generous in the extreme, giving away their cast-off clothes to their servants, also a bit nasty because they abused their servants a great deal.
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Colonel Hutchinson Character Timeline in Untouchable
The timeline below shows where the character Colonel Hutchinson appears in Untouchable. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pages 105–139
...giving in to a sense of defeat. After a while, he is interrupted by Colonel Hutchinson, head of the local Salvation Army, who asks Bakha if he is alright. Hutchinson is...
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Hutchinson has tried to learn Hindustani (Hindi), and he carries Hindi translations of the Bible with...
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The narrator reflects on the somewhat “hackneyed” efforts Hutchinson makes to connect with the villagers. The Colonel lectures Bakha about how he is different...
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Hutchinson begins to sing songs about how Jesus died for humans’ sins and about how religion...
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Hutchinson continues, explaining that Christ sacrificed himself “to help us all; for the rich and the...
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The two men have arrived at Hutchinson’s home, a former opium distillery that he bought and converted five years ago. While Hutchinson...
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...word “harijan” to describe outcastes. Bakha links Gandhi’s care for the outcastes to the equality Hutchinson was talking about; he fantasizes about sharing his story and seeing Gandhi publicly reprimand the...
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