The Home and The World

Hello everyone, in this blog i will discuss about some question about critical analysis of Rabindranath Tagore's  The Home and The World'

Introduction

The Home and the World is a novel by Rabindranath Tagore, first published in 1916. The novel centers around the relationships between three people: Nikhil, his wife Bimala, and her close friend Sandip. Nikhil is a liberal thinker who believes in progress and modernization, while Bimala is a traditionalist who is content with her life at home. Sandip is a nationalist who believes in fighting for India’s independence from British rule. The novel explores the tension between these three ideologies, and how they play out in the lives of the novel’s characters.

The Home and the World was written during a time of great political change in India. The novel reflects the anxieties and uncertainties of this time period, as well as the changing role of women in Indian society. The Home and the World is considered to be one of Rabindranath Tagore’s most important works, and is still widely read and studied today.

In this novel, Tagore brings about the nationalist topic related to the swadeshimovement which was popular in that era. Rabindranath Tagore, like Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India,rejected Gandhi’s vision on modernity. Gandhi saw modernity as a threat for the nation and culture, yet Tagore saw it as aprovider of the ideological basis for the critique of foreign domination. The book illustrates the battle Tagore had with himself, between the ideas ofWestern culture and revolution against the Western culture.

 Critical Analysis of novel 'The Home and The World'

 The setting of the novel can be identified with the home rule movement or swadeshi movement in Bengal. This novel was originally published in Bengali with a title Ghare Baire in 1915. It was further translated in English by Surendra Nath Tagore with some help from the author Rabindra Nath Tagore. When this novel was published it was praised by W.B.yeats.  It is allegorical in nature as the two characters Nikhil and Sandip stands for two different and opposing visions  for the whole nation. 

Bimala is a character who is not sure whom to follow ? it seems that she is torn between Nikhil and Sandip. She is in search of her guiding principle. Nikhil represents a global perspective of enlightenment. On the other hand Sandip’s view is radical. His dialogues are fierce and it represents extreme form of nationalism which is a kind of threat for the nation. His visions can be kept under blind fanaticism. It is very unfortunate that Nikhil dies in the end of the novel. 

Bimala also understands the true colors of patriotism and she is back to her senses. She was infatuated with Sandip and his belligerent nationalism.  The condition of Bimala is like the condition of Bengal where there is a great lack of leadership. In the absence of leaders like Nikhil she is unable to take decision. It seems that Bengal is also divided and tormented and further it becomes motionless. 

 Tagore’s pessimism regarding the future of Bengal can be seen here. Most of the characters in this novel are one dimensional and flat. Nikhil is the embodiment of goodness whereas Sandip is his opposite in all the senses. It the whole narrative we hardly see any change in the characteristic features of these characters. It is interesting to see that the honesty, idealism and altruism stands parallel to his friend’s cupidity, cunning and narcissistic behavior. Thus Nikhil is embodiment of divinity whereas Sandip shows diabolic traits. 

 Nikhil possess all the traits of sattvic as mentioned in Bhagwad Gita. His element of dominance is lighter than Sandip. This is one of the reasons that he is wise and pure. He truly believes in serving the society honestly.  Sandip is rajasik that is to say a person who has falls fire inside his heart. So, he is destructive, greedy and violent. His character matches with a true Machiavellian character who can think only about his own benefits. He believes in the theory that –

“Every man has a natural right to possess, and therefore greed is natural…what my mind covets, my surrounding must supply”“We are the flesh-eaters of the world ; we have teeth and nails; we pursue and grab and tear. We are not satisfied with chewing in the evening the cud of grass we have eaten in the morning….In that case we shall steal or rob, for we must live.”

By such statements we are reminded about yahoos of Swift but we can’t deny that it is the morality of a modern materialist and capitalist society. It is highly allegorical in nature where one cannot understand the true colors of characters like Sandip. Apart from this we also find Sandip wooing his friends wife while he lives under his roof. The youths of Nikhils village are provoked by him to follow the path of violence and finally Nikhil himself becomes a victim. Anita Desai has rightly said about Sandip that he

“Resembles nothing so much as the conventional blackguard of the Indian stage or the Bombay cinema, stroking his handlebar moustache as he gloats over a bag of gold and a cowering maiden.”

Tagore and his character Nikhil reflects the ideology that everyone is part and parcel of Brahman that is to say everyone is like strings of the almighty or in another words microcosm is reflected through the macrocosm. We are like the petals of a flower attached to a central stem which can be humanity through the bond of love. So, human kind should work for a global society.

It should be further based on the concepts of equality, mutuality and inclusiveness.  It should encompass all the human being and we should think beyond nationalism as it cultivates xenophobia, binarism and parochialism. It entraps people in egoism and trifle triumphalism.  In the Nobel prize acceptance speech Tagore advocates that-“

 I do not think that it is the spirit of India to reject anything, reject any race, reject any culture. The spirit of India has always proclaimed the ideal of unity….Now, when in the present time of political unrest the children of the same great India cry for rejection of the West I feel hurt…We must discover  the most profound unity, the spiritual unity between the different races. We must go deeper down to the spirit of man and find out the great bond of unity, which is to be found in all human races…. Man is not to fight with other human races, other human individuals, but his work is to bring about reconciliation and peace and restore the bonds of friendship and love.”

Throughout the novel similar sentiments have been expressed by Nikhil thus he is the spokesperson of Tagore. We find Sandip equating nation with God whereas Nikhil tries to bring entire human community together to search God. Thus there are differences in thinking and approach.

conclusion

The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore is a novel that tells the story of the struggle between modernity and tradition. The novel centers on the conflict between Nikhil, a young man who wants to modernize his country, and his wife, Bimala, who wants to hold onto traditional values. The novel explores the themes of love, duty, and patriotism.

The Home and the World is a powerful novel that speaks to the universal human experience. Tagore’s writing is beautiful and moving, and his characters are complex and fully developed.