A Portrayal of Nationalism in Rabindranath Tagore’s Gora
Dr.
Megha Singh
Dept.of
English, Mahant Laxmi Narayan Das College, Raipur (C.G.)
meghasinghraipur@gmail.com
Corresponding Author: meghasinghraipur@gmail.com
Abstract: India witnessed a great many changes in the nineteenth and twentieth
century. It has undergone amalgamation and transformation witnessing social,
economic and political changes, religious disharmony, clashes and conflicts in
the race, and also rising nationalism to subdue colonialism. Rabindranath
Tagore, an eminent author of great many novels wrote Gora in 1907during
disruptive times which India had undergone. Tagore in Gora portrays Gora as the
central character of rising nationalism who voices his concern for the freedom
of India from the clutches of British, a revolutionary making effort to
transform India and also a man of self-discovery in the end. Tagore’s concern
for India is beautifully depicted in the book.
Keywords: Nationalism, Freedom,
Self-discovery.
The reflection of the spirit of the past age is present. Whatever is
present today, it is because of the past. The present will be reflected in the
future. Thus, whatever had gone through the past ages, the spirit of the
happenings of those ages had undergone amalgamation, transformation and became
incorporated into later ages. It must be borne in mind that the great
development from the past to the present was the accumulation of many events
and forces which resolved into what India witnessed during the eighteenth and
the nineteenth centuries. As the century progressed the rapid changes had been
taking place in the society be it social, political, cultural, scientific,
economical or religious transformation. But the age also witnessed the clashes,
conflicts and contradictions among the masses. It was also an age of
imperialism where the stronger country had conquered the weaker country. The
age was also filled with the spirit of nationalism in order to maintain the
integrity of the country. It became necessary for the people to overthrow the
foreign rule. The people had vigour energy and power to overthrow the
opponents. As the century progressed the social and political unrest had become
more marked. The people became increasingly familiar with the notions of
liberty, equality and the rights of men and women. They became aware of the
countless absurdities and evils of the existing social state.
The age was also filled with religious fervour and zeal. The central
point of various religions like Hinduism, Christianity, Islam Sikhism, Judaism,
Buddhism was the spirit. It was a colonized India during the eighteenth and
nineteenth century under the British rule. The
Christianity had made deep marks in India. So country was undergoing a
change. The ‘old order’ of India that is its beliefs and customs were ridiculed
by the British. For the missionaries this was a favourable climate for
proselytization. One cannot live in despair for long, and the missionaries were
able to allure and cajole some of them making them accept the Christian faith.
Christianity became ingrained in the society. It became deeply ingrained into
the former preserves of Hinduism. It had made its stronghold in Bombay,
Calcutta and South India. The conversions were being rapidly carried out.
Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian Nobel
Laureate is the author of a number of novels wrote Gora, the greatest novel of modern India. It is a colonial novel
written in the year 1907 when India was under the British rule. It is a
classic, it entails various issues or concerns which seems very contemporary to
the current scenario of the country. It portrays diverse social life in
colonial India. The novel was set up during the times when the Bengali society
was divided in to orthodox Hindus and Brahmos. Thus it portrays religious
intolerance and disharmony, and can be called as the clash between the old and
the new. Tagore also portrays universality of religion and its core which is
humanity. It is also about alteration in one’s beliefs with the changing times,
society, and community. It also shows the changing status of women in the
Indian society.
Tagore in Gora portrays Gora as a central character, an Irish child, orphaned
when his soldier father is killed in battle and his mother dies in childbirth,
adopted by a childless Hindu woman (Anandmoyi) raised as a son in an orthodox
Brahmin family. He is a staunch follower of
Hinduism He is an epitome of discipline, dedication and devotion who
fulfill’s all the duties of a Brahmin. In dress, he becomes” …. an incarnate
image of revolt against modernity”. (P130), with a “Tiki”, coarse dhoti and a
castemark of the Garge’s clay. He is more concern about ritual, bathing
regularly in the Ganges, performing ceremonial worship in the morning and the
evening. Through Gora Tagore portrays a picture of Hindu society in those
times.
The author has depicted a significant
period in India’s History when Hindu society was very much striving hard to
prevent its own crumbling in the face of challenges from within and without. Tagore’s
nationalism is seen in Gora as he wants to firmly hold customs and beliefs to
save Hinduism. He wants Hindus to come back to its roots and traditions. He
voices his concern regarding the division between superstitious and the
non-superstitious, between the believers and the non believers. According to
Gora the customs and the traditions are the heritage of the country. One should
preserve them. Then only our country can become united. It is very important to
take pride in what country owes. The faults do exist in the society but when
the people are united by the bonds of love then they can muster enough strength
to combat with the evils, if at all, they persist. They will be able to
neutralize poison. The reformation will come in by itself. Gora considers
himself a privileged man to be born in a country which has a rich cultural
heritage of its own. Therefore it becomes the duty of everyone to safeguard its
traditions, faiths, or its scriptures. Tagore reveals this as:
“We must not feel apologetic about the
country of our birth - whether it be about its traditions, faith or its
scriptures neither to others no even to ourselves. We must save our country and
ourselves from the insult by manfully bearing the burden of the motherland with
all our strength and all our pride (23).
Tagore casts Gora as a symbol of rising
nationalism of early twentieth century in India. He feels for the plight of the
countrymen and wants the educated Bengalis to fight against the British.
He reveals this as:
“That the people of the country had laid
themselves open to all kinds of insult and insolent behaviour, that they had
come to the pass of accepting it as inevitable to be treated like animals by
their more fortunate compatriots, and of regarding such treatment as but
natural and proper- the root cause of all this Gora knew to be the deep -
seated ignorance which pervaded the country and this thought nearly broke his
heart. But what hurt him most was the fact that the educated people did not
take on their own shoulders the burden of this eternal shame and insult, but
rather could glory in their own comparative immunity.” (89) Tagore in Gora brings forth Gora’s transformation
from that of orthodox Brahmin and Nationalist to attaining human ethics in the
end. His heart pours for the humanity. He becomes aware that Hinduism is just
limited to “prohibition, prohibition nothing but prohibition” (164) has proved
more a impediment to progress rather than a help for national regeneration as
this is revealed by the following lines:
“…to Gora it was a constant agony to be
brought face to face with this terrible load of ignorance, apathy and
suffering, which had overwhelmed rich and poor, learned and ignorant alike, and
dogged their advance at very step (P-133).
Tagore manifests universality of religion
in Gora. Gora is portrayed as “White”
who stands for purity. When the true identity is revealed to him towards the
end, Gora realizes his true religion. He rises above caste and creed. He turns
towards Paresh Babu who embraces all religions.
The author epitomizes Anandmoyi as “Mother India who has accepted the faith
of all religions. She is the fountain of love, compassion and care, who is not
inhibited by caste, creed or nationality. She was liberated from the darkness
of soul which had held Gora for so long. Tagore reveals this as: “The mother
whom I have been wandering about in search of was all the time sitting in my
root at home. You have no caste, you make no distinctions and have no hatred.
You are only the image of our welfare. It is you who is our India (67).
Tagore in Gora treats character of Gora with much sympathy. Tagore asserts
the value of humanism as he depicts the ironical situation of a white man who
transcends caste, sect and religion despite being a Nationalist. He portrays
him as a blend of Nationalist and his transformation in to Humanist with the
altering phase of the country. The author thus appears to suggest that religion
and patriotism are not ingrained in the blood of a man from birth but are
contacted by him from his surroundings and environment
References:
1. Tagore,
Rabindranath. Gora. Macmillan,
1980.
2. Apostle of India’s Spiritual Culture.
Divine Life Society, 1976.
3. Iyengar,
Srinivasa. Indian Writing in English.
Sterling Publishers, 1985.
4. PK,
Das, Modern Vedanta. Rahul Publishing House, 2004.