Armand was from the lower caste in India: Recontextualization of Arun, Amadeo and Armand
The caste system has been around for centuries upon centuries, long before the arrival of the British. They utilized the hierarchy to better serve their colonial efforts but make no mistake, it was always there.
Arun is a distinctly Hindu name. He says his parents sold him off. If the parents were desperate enough to sell him, he was 100% in a low income home, which in his time period is a most likely caused by his potential lower caste status.
A very basic insight into the caste system:
It was originated from, and often justified, using Hindu scriptures such as the Manusmriti. The texts justify this by saying the caste positions are actually, the name of job roles. But truly, what equality can there be when one caste are kings by divine decree, and the other is destined to be nothing but a janitor?
This meant certain castes were barred from education and acquiring any job other than those "assigned" by their caste. Household labor and work that is considered "disgusting" pays next to nothing(again justified by 'divine order'). Class mobility is a pipe dream in this system.
Scholars and activists like Ambedkar and Periyar spearheaded efforts to abolish the caste system, and spoke extensively about how the caste-system is self-perpetuating. Even if you are not of the highest caste, a majority of the population are higher than someone, and this means those of that caste sought to maintain their position to ensure they didn't fall in the ladder.
If selling family members was the state Armand's family was at, the were 100% in the lowest of low castes with little to no income. Even when he was sold, his job was supposed to be a working role. Children from upper caste homes would've been studying.
Now the name Arun suggests that his family were practicing Hinduism, which was mainly the religion of the upper caste before they either co-opted local lower caste community religions into their own, or just straight up abolished them. Possible one of these things happened in the case of Armand's family.
The interesting bit here, is the lack of surname. This might have just been the writing room using Armand's brief time in India + the ocean of memory to say he doesn't remember. But. Your last name is straight up just the caste name. It's a status indicator.
Sharma, Singh, Rajput, Jain, Choudhary, etc are all caste names and you bet your ass an upper caste fucker's gonna tell you it(I had a gay classmate during my undergrad whose last name was Rajput. Despite admitting his family was homophobic, he still held pride in his last name and was often baffled that mine wasn't a caste name- I used my dad's name as surname since there is a movement in my state to eradicate caste names by taking on the father's name). They're not leaving that shit out or forgetting, it's a social marker, something people take pride in(and if an Indian person is doing this, run for the hills, they're practically announcing they're deeply conservative).
Arun not using his last name or even attempting to remember it means there's trauma, or terrible history behind it.
Another thing to consider is his skin color. This is a generalization, but those in lower caste typically have darker skin. It's not a blanket statement, but it's a pattern that occurs often enough that you can't dismiss it. 15th century India, the divisions would've been much, much more prominent so there wouldn't have been as much inter-caste marriages. So the colorism and division would've been much stronger.
Claudia notes Armand's dark skin. And I love that she does because as a Black woman, it's this solidarity found in understanding they suffered through this shared history of exploitation and racist prejudice, the hope in overcoming said exploitation and injustice (the independence movement in India and the fight against casteism were heavily inspired by the efforts of Black people in South Africa, the US, everywhere).
We can 100% discuss how Armand betraying Claudia & Louis is allegorical to sucking up to the system that discriminates against you, in order to maintain your undesired but still 'safe' position btw. That's 100% a thing we can talk about because it happens alllllll the time.
All of this to say, I think Arun was most likely of a lower caste in India, and even though his story takes place across Europe, it rings heavily of the traumas seen in the lower caste in India. Slavery, exploitation, centuries of subservience and the undercurrent of sexual trauma with a complete loss of autonomy, serving a light-skinned master.
A lot of people had often converted to Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam to escape this system(it got enacted in these religions too in India but that's a whole other story). Armand's knowledge of Islam could be a potential indicator of that history of conversion as well.
I think a lot of the fandom are well-meaning in trying to say that 'Arun' is Armand's true name, which is natural because you have no chance of learning this system(I will not call it history, it's present in India right now). But Armand uses Armand, not Arun. He's almost uncomfortable when Arun is used. Names hold weight in India. I frankly understand Armand's urge to stuck to Armand. It is the name which gave him power, as twisted as it was. Amadeo and Arun had Maître, but Armand IS Maître. An impossible ascension. And I think the fandom should take this into consideration, if this isn't common knowledge already.
I would also suggest looking into documentaries about the caste system in India, I think it could really help flesh out Armand.
[I'm not an expert but I do have lots of personal experience on this topic as my father's family was considered to be of a lower caste, and my mom and dad have been staunchly against the caste system and have adopted manners of living to fight against the system- name change, atheism (atheism has a whole other meaning in India tied to liberation from caste and rebellion against conservative Hinduism), inter-faith and inter-caste marriages, and my family is involved politically and in the literature world with scholars in keeping the conversation going on dismantling caste in our state.]
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