Page 180 - DENG503_INDIAN_WRITINGS_IN_LITERATURE

Indian Writings in Literature

Notes Jhuniya, knowing that every time his ‘brothers’ see them together they will ‘cackle’ at him. Yet
Gobar also hints at possible means of rebellion against caste tyranny—to leave and start somewhere
else, where one is not known. ‘Aren’t there other villages in the world’, he asks? Premchand seems
to be implying that the many injustices that follow from the dominant principle of hierarchy—as
both within and between castes—are, to a considerable extent, self-inflicted.
The harmony of the traditional, naturally cooperative village was a central pillar in Gandhi’s
vision of India’s moral past and its morally reconstituted future. Premchand’s break with the
20
relevance of that vision is perhaps most starkly expressed in Godan. In one of many passages in
which he puts satire to powerful use, he describes the ‘vision’ of village justice from the perspective
of one of the village leaders, Lala Pateshwari:
It was his supreme duty [param dharma] to look after the well-being of the entire village. He had
no faith in compromise or in mutual conciliation, as these were only a sign of weakness [nirjivita].
He was a devotee of conflict, for it was a sign of life. He was always trying to stir up some
excitement for this ‘life’, and as a result disputes of one kind or another were always erupting
(247/330).
It would be one thing if Lala Pateshwari were an isolated individual with an idiosyncratic vision
of the way village life should be. But that is not the case—conflict really does seem to be the
common mode of interaction in village life, and the injustices and difficulties generated by such
conflict are endlessly compounded. Jhinguri Singh is continually trying to get Hori in a tight spot
so he can take his cow. When first his family and then the entire village turn against Bhola, he
turns to Nokheram, another village leader, for assistance. Nokheram, however, like the other
‘traditional’ village leaders, has no interest in helping unless money is involved, and tells Bhola:
‘Who shows any regard for justice and righteousness here?’ (244/324). When Hori, who has
already been forced to take out a loan when other villagers steal his potatoes, discovers the wife
or daughter (Hori isn’t sure which) of one of the village elders stealing his peas, he asks: ‘Why
were these people’s intentions so insincere [khoti]?’ (113/147). Similarly, when Gobar returns
from the city and sees the village from a new perspective, he says he can only see ‘everyone trying
to dominate everyone else’ and ‘slavery to no end’ (321/427). Lives are continually ruined by
‘village justice’, which Premchand interprets as a kind of totalitarian rule based on fear: ‘society
would see to it that those who violate its traditions [maryada] cannot be left to sleep in peace’
(120/156).
Finally, lest the reader begins to think that the city represents a welcome respite from the subaltern
authoritarianism of the village—especially since Gobar’s flight to the city gives him new insight
into, and new power to undermine, the closed and exploitative society of the village—Premchand
describes Lucknow society in equally unforgiving terms. In the city’s industrial quarters,
unemployed workers are given small pittances to partake in ‘gladiator’ -type games that are both
exploitative and humiliating; still, every day a large crowd gathers to enjoy the spectacle. The city
leaves its inhabitants vulnerable to exploitation just as does the village.
Premchand seems to be suggesting that if there is a utopia waiting for India, it will not be found
in any physical space—whether the ‘modern’ city or the ‘traditional’ village—but rather will need
to be created from the actions of awakened individuals, wherever they may be residing.

21.5 Gender Injustice
Premchand’s earlier works often, if unwittingly, portrayed a male-centred world, and when he
finally turned his energies toward putting women at centre-stage, as with his novel Nirmala

20. During Premchand’s period as a dedicated Gandhian, he put these ideas into literary form in stories such
as ‘Lag-Dant’ (Hostility) (1921), Prem. Rac. 12: 275–80. In this story, a long-standing village feud is resolved
effortlessly with Gandhian methods and ideas. That possibility is resolutely rejected in Godan.

174 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY