Review On 'Gora' by Rabindranath Tagore

Translated by SUJIT MUKHERJEE

My Review on 'Gora'

     Gora is one of the finest and complex novels penned down by Rabindranath Tagore. 

     The novel 'Gora' is very contemporary in its addressing of a number of issues applicable to our country’s current scenario and is a reflection of the complex diversity of social life in colonial India. It could be considered as an epic of our country at the crucial period of struggle for Independence. It describes the social structure in the region of Bengal before independence.

     Gora, a spiritual and political dilemma, is the central character in the novel with the same name as the novel. The word gora means a white person in Bengali. The novel describes many aspects of colonial India which includes effects of colonialism, social structure, religious fanaticism, intelligence, traditions, patriotism, changing status of women and an overall transformation seen and sensed within an individual and the society in general. The differences between religion and religious fanaticism, ruler and ruled are widely examined.

     The identity of each of the characters as well as India is questioned. The characters and their life are beautifully presented. The novel is vast in scope and rich in thoughts. Each chapter ends with the reader craving for more. The story describes how the society sets boundaries, cultivates thoughts and places expectation on the young people who are becoming adults and is a mixture of love of love and duty. The story gives the reader an insight into the conditions prevailing in the Bengal region of the colonial India.

     The story takes place at a time when the Bengali society in Calcutta is divided into traditional orthodox Hindus and the Brahmos, who are modernized and are liberal thinkers, indoctrinated by the Brahma Samaj. The Hindus unfailingly followed and took pride in their active practices and ceremonials whereas the Brahmos clashed with orthodoxy and are averse to idol worships and caste systems and both of them had their own flaws and contradictions. The term Brahmos here is not to be confused with Brahmin (Orthodox Hindu) as in general usage.

     The novel begins with a young man Binoy falling in love falling in love with a beautiful young girl, Sucharitha, daughter of his neighbour Poresh Babu. Binoy is apprehensive of the opposition from the vehement Brahminical traditions and Brahmo Samaj, and believes they are a hurdle for their union. Binoy is a soft spoken and easily convincible gentleman and is in constant dilemma about right and wrongs. Gora, friend of Binoy, questions Binoy of his interest in the Brahmo family and tells him to terminate the relationship.

     Gora, the protagonist, is a strict follower of Hinduism. Gora was once a follower of Brahma Samaj, but becomes a practicing Brahmin because he feels that the conventional attitude of the religion gives him a sense of belongingness to his land. The motivation to shift comes due to the feeling of humiliation of his land and the people by the British i.e. Gora is motivated by the idea of a united nation not only by the religion itself. He himself was given to condemning shastras and Hindu customs but seeing a foreigner denigrating the Hindu Community, he could not stand it. His impelling attitude makes him look like an arrogant, aggressive and a violent person who thrusts his opinion onto others. But at heart he is an eternal optimist who dreams of his ideal Bharatvarsha, a happy and prosperous India.

     But as the novel continues Gora develops feelings for Sucharitha and Binoy falls in love with Lolitha making them the main protagonists. Poresh Babu, father of the daughters, is a high thinking gentleman, adopted an open-minded life style and placed no restrictions on his daughters bout meeting with guests or visitors. Lolitha is much ahead of her times and as the story goes on she transforms from a confused, guilt ridden meek girl to a brave realistic person. Sucharitha on the other hand maintains her demeanour even while undergoing an agitation within herself for being attracted to Gora, who has a completely different mind-set. Others like Anandamoyi described symbolically as Mother India is a loveable character in sharp contrast to Barodashundari and Harimohini. Barodashundari and Haran Babu as relentless Brahmos, Krishna Dayal and Harimohini as fanatic Hindus, Mohim and Avinash as Hypocritical part of society are aptly described along with their contribution and justification to the current status of the then society. The novel takes an exit turn when Gora finds out that he is not a Hindu at all. At the end of the novel Gora reaches the stage of Anandamoyi, who has more liberal views on religion. But during his journey he is also found to be seen sympathizing with the Muslims.

     The character of Gora is etched so well, from the narrowness of the institutionalized religion to the enlightenment as a human being that one loves and hates him at the same time. The character of Binoy can be identified with a normal individual or as myself in the society with the contradictions between good and bad, selfishness and humanity etc., making him my favourite character in the novel. Initially the plot appears slow but as the story goes on the plot thickens and many aspects are dealt with great detail. Other details described like Gora praising the prophet of Islam for his vehement fight against Injustice and Tagore showing there is no caste system among Muslims unlike Hindus, which makes them united.

     The feeling of Nationalism and Colonialism is described in many aspects and has a vital role in the plot. Unlike the common perception of colonialism as economic and political exploitation, a colony is also affected culturally, religiously and psychologically, which is crystal clear when looked upon the colony of the Indian subcontinent.

   

     The novel is quite complex to be summarized as it deals with many aspects of India before independence giving us a glimpse of the then prevailing conditions with a thicker plot and a wonderful and detailed description of each aspect making the readers crave for more.