The Home and the World is a very interesting pre-independence Indian novel by Rabindranath Debendranath Tagore. It was originally written in Bengali language. Novel published in 1916. This novel is based on three major characters Bimala, Sandip and Nikhil. Story is very simple but the importance lies in the growth of the characters. Plot is about the ‘Swadeshi Movement’. It consists of issues like traditional vs Modernity.
So, let’s discuss some of the questions of ‘The Home and the World.’
Analyze the growth of individual characters.
Answer :-
The novel ‘ The Home and the World’ focuses on the three major characters, Bimala, Sandip and Nikhilesh. One of the interesting things about the novel is the character's individual growth. Who is this character ? It's Bimala. This novel is more focusing on the individual growth of her. The whole novel is divided into chapter vise and written in the first person narration. The novel opens with narration of Bimala and when chapters are going on we can see the growth of her character. In the initial part of the novel Bimala just talks about herself. She never met any male besides her husband. She is learning English, knitting , singing and so many other things. Ch[ters rums and we can see the totally different Bimala.
The mood of our Bimala has changed. In this chapter we found a totally different Bimala. The Opening lines clearly mention this.
“At first I suspected nothing, feared nothing; I simply felt dedicated to my country. What a stupendous joy there was in this unquestioning surrender. Verily I realized how, in thoroughness of self-destruction, man can find supreme bliss.”
She also talked about one incident of her brother-in-law then she described how she didn't want to meet Sandip.
Her perception toward Sandip was changed. She also makes herself busy in her roomarrngement and household work.
She constantly avoids meeting with Sandeep Babu. And one day Sandip sent a msg that he wants to meet her.
Then came a servant with a letter. "From Sandip Babu," said he.
What unbounded boldness! What must the messenger have thought?
There was a tremor within my breast as I opened the envelope.
There was no address on the letter, only the words: __An urgent
matter—touching the Cause. Sandip__.
Bimala and her talk with one Dasi and last dialogue of her is
"What is the end of all this, what is the end?"
We also compare the character of Bimala with India. Sandip leads both India and Bimala so that like Bimala were growing in the same way the rebel for freedom was going in India.
So at the end we see Bimala steal money for Sandip and then after she feels regret also. At the end of the novel she becomes the widow of Nikhil Babu.
Physiological growth of character in the novel.
Answer :-
The Novel ‘ The Home and the World’ has only three main or we can say major characters. Bimala, Nikhi and Sandip. Tagore very beautifully presented whole characters.
The novel focuses on three characters, each of whom speaks in the first-person in recounting how they interact with one another. Nikhil is Bimala's husband; Sandip is Bimala's would-be lover. Nikhil epitomizes the unselfish, progressive husband who wishes to free his wife from the oppressiveness of a traditional Indian marriage. In contrast, Sandip is a man who thinks only of himself, and who reduces man-woman relationships to brazen sexuality; he is interested in
"blunt things, bluntly put, without any finicking niceness" .
Bimala is represented as an innocent who, at least initially, is completely subservient to her husband. But Bimala is also much more than this. She is referred to as Durga, the female goddess of creation and destruction, and as Shakli, the ultimate female principle underpinning reality. In being so described, she represents the beauty, vitality, and glory of Bengal. The struggle between Nikhil and Sandip for Bimala is, then, a battle for the future of Bengal, as they represent two opposing visions for Bengal. Nikhil is the enlightened humanist who asserts that truth cannot be imposed; freedom is necessary for choice, and is critical to individual growth and fulfillment. It is this freedom which he insists is necessary if he and Bimala are truly to know one another. While Nikhil, like Tagore himself, initially supports swadeshi, he recognizes the value of the "outside world," and he looks to serve a greater cause than mere national interest. "I am willing," he insists, "to serve my country, but my worship I reserve for Right which is far greater than my country. To worship my country as a god is to bring a curse upon it" . Sandip represents himself as a realist, one who brutally confronts the world. He criticizes Nikhil for how "he delights in a misty vision of this world". Sandip describes those who share his views as "iconoclasts of metre" . He and his fellow iconoclasts are "the flesh-eaters of the world; we have teeth and nails; we pursue and grab and tear". For Sandip, the end justifies the means, and he argues that virtually any human action can be excused if the stakes are sufficiently high. This is the only fundamental principle of existence.
Write about Rabindranath Tagore's art of characterization.
Answer :-
Rabindranath Tagore is very famous for his characterization. He depicted life like characters. Especially in his work we can imagine the real picture of Bangal. Here there is no fancy and imagination wherever he depicts is true to like. For example,His short story ‘Living of Dead’s character Kadambini.
So let’s discuss the art of characterization.
Psychological exploration :-
Tagore depicted the psychological growth of the character in his works. It's a very fascinating part of his any Literary work. The art of characterization in Tagore’s novels suffer from a certain weakness of craftsmanship which results in a kind of diffuseness and looseness, a ‘flabbiness’ of narrative. The undue reliance on chance and coincidence in some of the novels and the contrived ending of some other point towards impatience on the part of the novelist in working out a structure of ordered episodes.
Life like characters :
Another important thing is Tagore depicted realistics characters. Their characters are true to life. His characters, beneath their trappings, have the eternal human essence. In his novels Tagore has used the persons of his novels to emphasize the insight of Tagore reveals the psyche of them. He gives fragments of narrative technique through weaving the artistic situations captures the hearts of the readers and thus he succeeds in giving the clear experience of the characters in such backgrounds.
Flashback Technique
Tagore uses Flashback technique in most of his works. In the home and the world somewhere we have found that technique. In the Initial part of the novel Bimala told her own story, she recalled her past and she is at present. So somewhere we can find flashback techniques in the home and the world.
Thank you...
