The underlying idea for the novel is to use its plot and characters to illustrate fundamental characteristics of Indian culture. A good example is the caste system which is an essential aspect of Indian society; in The Iron Ring, the characters represent different castes and how they respond to each other shows how the castes are related. Tamar is a kshatriya and is supposed to marry only within his warrior caste or with a brahmana—a member of the other elite caste. His love of Mirri, a cow-tender and thus a member of the shudra caste, is forbidden by caste rules because her caste is far below his. Their relationship epitomizes some of the unfairness of a system in which one's birth into a caste is supposed to determine what one does with one's life. To emphasize this point, Alexander has Tamar's mentor...