The Home and the World

The Swadeshi Movement Rabindranath Tagore’s novel The Home and the World, is set during a crucial period of time in Indian history. The novel examines the lives of three main characters during the beginnings of the Swadeshi protest movement in Bengali India. While Tagore explores several main themes in his novel including the role of gender, religion, and romance into the triangular narrative, it is the political and national theme portrayed through the Swadeshi movement that both brings together and tears apart these three main characters. This movement was part of the national independence movement in India during the early 20th century, focusing on resisting British rule and promoting Indian identity and independence, but the use of both violent and non-violent means by this political group create an ethical and moral dilemma for the characters in the novel. By examining these characters, it is clear that the Swadeshi movement plays a critical role in this novel stimulating all the action that occurs and directly attaching to several themes that Tagore also discusses. Tagore’s novel is written as a series of journal entries, written from the point of view of the three main characters, Nikhilesh, Bimala and Sandip. Nikhilesh or Nikhil as he is referred to in the novel, is a wealthy landowner in Bengali. As the owner of an expansive estate, he has mixed views of the Swadeshi movement. Being an enlightened man himself, he gives his wife much freedom, breaking several traditional boundaries for women in India by allowing her to be educated and independent. It is important to note that Nikhil finds the idea of the movement for Indian freedom to be admirable. However, Nikhil also clearly states throughout the novel his non-approval with the movement’s means towards their goal. His estate is heavily populated by poor Muslims, and despite being a Hindu himself, Nikhil views the need to protect the needs of his community by refusing to partake in the movement which