the home and the world
THE HOME AND THE WORLD
The Home and the World 1916 (in the original Bengali, ঘরে বাইরে Ghôre Baire, lit. "At home [and] outside") is a 1916 novel by Rabindranath Tagore. The book illustrates the battle Tagore had with himself, between the ideas of Western culture and revolution against the Western culture. These two ideas are portrayed in two of the main characters, Nikhil, who is rational and opposes violence, and Sandip, who will let nothing stand in his way from reaching his goals. These two opposing ideals are very important in understanding the history of this region and its contemporary problems. There is much controversy over whether or not Tagore was attempting represent Gandhi in Sandip but many argue that Tagore would not even venture to personify Sandip as Gandhi because Tagore was a large admirer of Gandhi and Gandhi was anti-violence while Sandip would use violence in any respect to get what he wanted. The book shows “the clash between new and old, realism and idealism, the means and the end, good and evil” (p xxiv) within India and southern Asia.
Background Context
[edit] Political Movement
The novel is set in early 20th century India. The story line coincides with the National Independence Movement taking place in the country at the time, which was sparked by the Indian National Congress. There were various national and regional campaigns of both militant and non-violent ideas which all had the common goal of ending British colonial rule. Militant nationalism had a strong showing in the early part of the 20th century, especially during the World War I period. Some examples of this movement are the Indo-German Pact and Ghadar Conspiracy, unfortunately both of these failed. The latter stages of the movement saw a transition to non-violent forms of resistance led by Mohandas Gandhi. India remained a British colony until 1947, when Pakistan (August 14) and India (August 15) gained their freedom. On January 26, 1950, India adopted a constitution
The Home and the World 1916 (in the original Bengali, ঘরে বাইরে Ghôre Baire, lit. "At home [and] outside") is a 1916 novel by Rabindranath Tagore. The book illustrates the battle Tagore had with himself, between the ideas of Western culture and revolution against the Western culture. These two ideas are portrayed in two of the main characters, Nikhil, who is rational and opposes violence, and Sandip, who will let nothing stand in his way from reaching his goals. These two opposing ideals are very important in understanding the history of this region and its contemporary problems. There is much controversy over whether or not Tagore was attempting represent Gandhi in Sandip but many argue that Tagore would not even venture to personify Sandip as Gandhi because Tagore was a large admirer of Gandhi and Gandhi was anti-violence while Sandip would use violence in any respect to get what he wanted. The book shows “the clash between new and old, realism and idealism, the means and the end, good and evil” (p xxiv) within India and southern Asia.
Background Context
[edit] Political Movement
The novel is set in early 20th century India. The story line coincides with the National Independence Movement taking place in the country at the time, which was sparked by the Indian National Congress. There were various national and regional campaigns of both militant and non-violent ideas which all had the common goal of ending British colonial rule. Militant nationalism had a strong showing in the early part of the 20th century, especially during the World War I period. Some examples of this movement are the Indo-German Pact and Ghadar Conspiracy, unfortunately both of these failed. The latter stages of the movement saw a transition to non-violent forms of resistance led by Mohandas Gandhi. India remained a British colony until 1947, when Pakistan (August 14) and India (August 15) gained their freedom. On January 26, 1950, India adopted a constitution