The Home and The World | ThAct

Hello readers, this blog is a part of a thinking activity assigned by Megha Ma’aam, in this blog you will find critical analysis of Rabindranath Tagore’s novella “Ghare Baire”, also known as “The Home and The World”.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

Rabindranath Tagore is an Indian poet, polymath, novelist and philosopher from West Bengal. He is one of the legendary figures in Indian Writing in English in the pre-independence era of India. Tagore was educated at home but for higher education went to England. In his later years, alongside his various literary works, he took care of his family estates, which allowed him to connect with everyday people and deepened his interest in social reforms. He also founded an experimental school at Shantiniketan, where he applied his Upanishadic educational ideals.

Tagore also participated in the Indian nationalistic movement, but his views of nationalism are different from many of his contemporaries as portrayed in his novel “The Home and The World”. Tagore achieved early success as a writer in Bengal. When he translated some of his poems, he quickly gained recognition in the West. His fame grew immensely, leading him to travel across continents for lectures and building friendships. Globally, he was seen as the voice of India's spiritual heritage, and in India, particularly in Bengal, he became a significant, respected figure.

His poetry collection ‘Gitanjali’ is world famous, and for this anthology of poems he got the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913. He is the first non-Europian to win a Nobel prize in literature. Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government in 1915, but within a few years he resigned the honour as a protest against British policies in India.

Rabindranath Tagore's literary works include

Poetry: Manasi (1890) [The Ideal One], Sonar Tari (1894) [The Golden Boat], Gitanjali (1910) [Song Offerings], Gitimalya (1914) [Wreath of Songs], and Balaka (1916) [The Flight of Cranes].

His English translations include The Gardener (1913), Fruit-Gathering (1916), and The Fugitive (1921), though these do not directly correspond to individual Bengali volumes. Gitanjali: Song Offerings (1912), despite its name, contains poems from multiple works.

Plays: Major works include Raja (1910) [The King of the Dark Chamber], Dakghar (1912) [The Post Office], Achalayatan (1912) [The Immovable], Muktadhara (1922) [The Waterfall], and Raktakaravi (1926) [Red Oleanders].

Novels: His notable novels are Gora (1910), Ghare-Baire (1916) [The Home and the World], and Yogayog (1929).

The Home and The World: Overview

Major Characters: Nikhilesh, Bimla, and Sandip

Minor Characters: Choto Rani, Bado Rani, Chandranathbabu, Miss Gilby, Amulya, and Panchu.

The novel “The Home and The World” is set against the backdrop of Bengal’s Swadeshi Movement and its arbitrary partition by Lord Curzon, and it is received with bitter communalism and plotting between Hindu and Muslim community. The novel focuses on the married life of two characters Nikhilesh and Bimla, and how their life changes after nationalistic Sandip’s arrive at their home. The story is about the difference of opinion about the swadeshi movement of Nikhil and Sandip.

Nikhil’s understanding of swadeshi movement is very nuanced and deep, he was caring towards poor Muslim peasants who are working in his farm. Whereas, Sandip’s views are superficial, and he does not think twice about the repercussions of his actions. They are like binary one is patriotic other is nationalistic, one is Ram, other is Ravan.

The novel is loose allegory of Bengal’s swadeshi movement, and through each character Tagore talks about different views of the movement. Through Nikhil, Tagore presented his own view regarding the swadeshi movement.

Major Concern of The Novel

Swadeshi is described as,

"a flood, breaking down barriers and sweeping away all caution and fear."

Although ‘The Home and the World” by Tagore has some literary flaws, it remains an important novel for understanding his views on the dangers of political extremism. The story centers on the swadeshi movement in Bengal, which called for the use of only Indian-made goods and a rejection of foreign products. Tagore portrays the swadeshi movement as a symbol of his belief that organized political movements are often beyond individual control.

Rabindranath Tagore' and Nationalism as Presented by Nikhil

Rabindranath Tagore’s Nationalism in India and The Sunset of the Century offer timeless insights into nationalism, freedom, and history. Their warnings about the dangers of nationalism and the broader vision of true freedom are even more relevant today than when they were written over a century ago.

Even though from childhood I had been taught that the idolatry of Nation is almost better than reverence for God and humanity, I believe I have outgrown that teaching, and it is my conviction that my countrymen will gain truly their India by fighting against that education which teaches them that a country is greater than the ideals of humanity.

According to Desai, Tagore believed that the boycott of cheap British goods in favor of more expensive Indian goods was hurting the poor, particularly Muslim peasants and traders, who were disadvantaged by wealthy Hindu landowners and politicians. However, in his narrative, Tagore seems to overlook the strong patriotic sentiments of many Indians who supported the Swadeshi movement as a form of resistance against colonial rule. This omission led to a negative response from many readers.

Critical Analysis of The Novel

"The Home and The World" is also considered as a political novel because of it's portrayal of communalism and swadeshi movement. The novel's title is both symbolic and metaphoric. Nikhil is a landlord with progressive views about women and their education, and therefore he wanted to introduce Bimla to the outside world. The female character Bimla is made to step across the boundary from the the private, caring, safely, lovely and domestic space traditionally reserved for women in Indian families into the public world of politics, fear, problematic and uncertainty.

Nikhil is portrayed as a kind and open-minded landowner, often seen as a reflection of Tagore himself. In contrast, Sandip symbolizes the passionate yet ruthless and self-centered nationalistic revolutionary. These three characters Nikhil, Sandip, and Bimala act like figures in a morality play, each representing different values. Through them, Tagore expresses his controversial opinions on nationalism and the Swadeshi movement.

In the novel, Bimla crosses the threshold of home and went into the politically governed outside world, which is represented by Sandip. Initially, Bimla is confused with this kind of approach of Nikhil, but soon after meeting Sandip and hearing his speech on swadeshi movement, she is bewitched by his eloquence and charm. She is instantly attracted towards him, and his views of nationalism.

Bimla's character is undoubtably at the center of all happenings in the novel, symbolizing Bengal at a crossroads. Through her personal struggle, Tagore allegorizes the nation's conflict and its broader challenges. Nikhil with his broad minded views about both nationalism and women's education wanted to teach the ways of outside world to Bimla. She is getting English education under European teacher Miss Gilby. She learns to read and write in English. Slowly and steadily the effects of partition is started to unfold, and we see the unrest of Bengali people manifesting in violence, and in such violence one student attacks Miss Gilby.

She is fascinated to Sandip's charismatic personality, and soon started to meeting him, and also adopt Sandip's political and pseudo-nationalistic views without thinking of her own. She blindly follows Sandip and his way of dealing with nationalism, that includes boycott of foreign goods, even burning them occasionally. Their main aim is to promote Indian or swadeshi made things like Khadi. At first glance this seems very genuine protest, but Sandip is not thinking about those poor farm labors who can not afford costly Indian goods like sugar and cloths. For them, cheap and easily available foreign goods are like boon, and removing them from the market would only make their condition worse. Only Nikhil possess such foresightedness, and thinks about the poor families. We see that Sandip is also somewhere aware about the fact that his views are not in favor of poor people yet he does not concern himself with this matter. This makes his character problematic and also the counter figure of Nikhil.

"mind. I would make my country

a Person, and call her Mother, Goddess, Durga—for whom I would redden the earth with

sacrificial offerings."

Moreover, this novel also put forth the issue of gender. In the novel, Bimla is represented as goddess, and seen as Bharatmata by Sandip. He seen county as women to be loved.

"True patriotism will never be roused in our countrymen unless they can

visualize the motherland. We must make a goddess of her."

Such are the views of Sandip. He knows how to handle people and deceive them into a false nationalism, and he uses mass to fulfill his purpose and desire. He knows how to manipulate people in the name of patriotism and motherland.

At the end of the novel, we see that Bimla is getting closer and closer to Sandip, and she started meeting him in absence of Nikhil. She is driven by nationalistic views of swadeshi movement and her love towards Sandip. She is confused whether she loves Sandip or his ideology. She is unable to decide between Nikhil and Sandip. Her situation is much like Hamlet's 'To be or not to be'.

It is only at the fag end of the novel that she realizes that Nikhil's views are appropriate and for greater good of poor and lower class people. Tagore concludes the novella by condemning the movement through the characters' fates, which reinforce the allegory of the narrative. Nikhil suffers a fatal wound, Sandip cowardly flees to the North after causing conflict, and Bimala faces a future of loneliness, desolation, and guilt. In the end, both Bimala and Bengal are left without a sense of belonging or purpose without a home or a world.

Symbols in The Novel

Uses of different symbols allows Tagore to allegorically represent the conflicts between tradition and modernity, nationalism and humanism, that were affecting Bengal and India during the period of partition and swadeshi movement. The characters and their actions become emblematic of larger social and political forces.

• Bimala - She symbolizes Bengal itself, torn between tradition and modernity. Her character represents the nation at a crossroads.
• Nikhil - He symbolizes traditional Indian values and ethics, as well as Tagore's own views. He represents a more moderate, humanistic approach to nationalism.
• Sandip - He symbolizes the aggressive, violent form of nationalism that Tagore criticized. He represents the dangers of extreme patriotism.
• The home - Symbolizes tradition, the private sphere, and the old way of life in India.
• The world - Symbolizes modernity, the public sphere, and new Western influences entering India.
• The act of stealing - Symbolizes the corruption of values in the name of nationalism.
• Durga/Kali - The goddesses that Bimala is compared to, symbolizing how nationalism deifies the nation/woman.
• Bimala crossing the threshold - Symbolizes Bengal's transition from the private, traditional sphere to the public, political sphere.

Key Themes 

• Nationalism vs. Humanism: The novel explores the conflict between aggressive nationalism (represented by Sandip) and a more humanistic, ethical approach to patriotism (represented by Nikhil).
• Tradition vs. Modernity: This is symbolized through the contrast between "the home" (tradition) and "the world" (modernity), as well as Bimala's transition between these spheres.
• The Role of Women in Society: The novel examines the changing status of women in Indian society, particularly through Bimala's character and her emergence from purdah.
• The Dangers of Extreme Patriotism: Tagore criticizes the violent and destructive aspects of the Swadeshi movement, warning against the perils of unchecked nationalism.
• East vs. West: Tagore examines the impact of Western ideas on Indian society and the need to balance Eastern and Western values.

We also had movie screening of this movie, which further helped us to understand the character portrayal of Sandip, and overall understanding of the novel. 

Here is You Tube link of the movie if you want to watch, 

   

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Words: 2005

Images: 10

Video: 1

References

“Rabindranath Tagore – Biographical.” NobelPrize.org, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1913/tagore/biographical/. Accessed 16 September 2024.

Tagore, Rabindranath. The Home and the World. Books on Demand, 2018.

Tagore, Rabindranath. “INDIAN HISTORY COLLECTIVE.” INDIAN HISTORY COLLECTIVE, https://indianhistorycollective.com/on-nationalism-by-tagore/. Accessed 16 September 2024.

Festino, Cielo G. "Revisiting Rabindranath Tagore’s “The Home and the Worl”*. Universidade Paulista/UFMG, 2016.