Gora Character of Gora or
Gourmohan-
v Introduction:-
“Gora is
more than a mere novel; it is an epic of India in transition at a crucial
period of modern history, when the social conscience and intellectual awareness
of the new intelligentsia were in the throes of a great churning.”
-Krishna Kriplani
‘Gurudev’
Rabindranath Tagore was a man of versatile genius. He was a poet, playwright,
novelist, educator, social reformer, nationalist and composer. He achieved “a
perennial success Bengali as well as in English language.” He became Asia ’s First noble Laureate, when he won the 1913 Noble
Prize in literature for his Gitangali” or “Song Offerings. Two songs from him
are now the national anthems of Bangladesh
and India ;
the ‘Amar Shonar Bangla’ and the ‘Jana Gana Mana’ respectively. Out of his
twelve novels the famous are the novels of conflict like ‘Chokher Bali,’ ‘The
Wreck’, ‘Gora’, ‘Ghare Baire’ and ‘Farewell, My Friend’. In these works,
Rabindranath examined how the spirit of the age influenced the life of people.
v Gora; a central character of the novel:-
Tagore’s
‘Gora’ is the work of supreme art. Among major characters like Binoy, Paresh
Babu, Sucharita, Political, Andandmoyi, Gora is drawn as a central character.
About the importance of Gora’s character Bhawani Bhattacharya says,
“The main character in the book Gourmohan
or Gora has been created with
deep sympathy.”
“While
a critic like K.R.S. Iyenger find
“Gora as the mouthpiece of
Tagore’s ideal of
nationalism and
internationalism.
He
further note, he is the most striking person ever created by Tagore in his
fictional world He represent the nationalist and idealist youth of Bengal at
the end of the 19th century. He is an awfully powerful character and
voice of Indian. He wants to declare only one thing “India is the land of Hindus. ”. He is a violent
nationalist. The sea-change which takes place in him is the real study of the
novel.
v His Personality:-
Gora
has a well-formed personality. Even in his college, his professors call him ‘the snow mountain’ because he was ‘outrageously white’. Tagore describe
him
‘He was nearly sit fee tall, with big bones and
fists like the paws of a tiger. The sound of his voice was so deep and rough
that you would be startled if you suddenly heard him calling”.
His
face was large and excessively strong. He had practically no eyebrows. His lips
were thin. He had a very strong body and impressive physical features of an
Englishman. Moreover he was self-confident, orthodox and obstinate. His great
strength of will made him very self-confident and even arrogant and intolerant.
So his Friend Binoy tell him plainly, “You have
one great fault, Gora. You seem to believe that all God’s’ strength has been
given to you alone’.
v The secret of is Birth and Parentage:-
The
secret of Gora’s personality which keeps him away from becoming an ordinary
Bengali young man lies in his birth and parentage. Since birth, Gora himself
did not know his real parent. He was neither Bengali or Hindu nor Indian at
all. He was the son of an Irish man and English mother. She had been given
shelter at Anandamoyi’s house during the Rising of 1857. She gave birth to Gora
and died. Andandmoyi had no child of her own. So she adopted him. Krishna Dayal
performed his thread ceremony and had him educated in Calcutta .
v His Respect for His
Parents
Gora
was a foundling in the family of Krishna Dayal and Anandmoyi. He got the child
when he was posted the government service at Itawa. Since the very birth of
Gora Anandmoyi had great affection for gora. He had lived with Anandmoyi and
Krishna Dayal like their own son. Gora had great respect for Andandmoyi.. In
her, he finds the true image of mother. He says, “Mother,
you are my mother. The mother for whom is been seaming all day was the item
sitting in my room at home. You have not caste; you make no distinctions and
have no hatred. It is you who are India.” .
Gora
had respect for his father Krishna Days, yet Gora’s mind revolted against his
ways, He was on the verge of cutting of relations with his father, but
Andandmoyi intervened and always tried to reconcile them.
v His Education:-
Gora
was a child adopted by Krishna Day and his wife Andandmoyi at the time of Sepoy
Revolt in the north India
n 1857. At an early stage, Krishna Day thought to make Gora a priest. But
Andandmoyi objected him idea. So Krishna Dayal, out of affection for Gora had
go through the thread ceremony so that Gora might be considered to be a sacred
Brahmin. Andandmoyi took due care of his education. Discussion between Binoy
and Gora on India’s freedom and the position of women in India shows that he
was a learned man. He used to contribute articles in the paper and Sucharita
used to read them with delight. He was an orthodox Hindu and he had gathered
quite deep knowledge on Hindu rites and Hindu Shatras. He was able to discuss
religious matters quite authoritatively. Thus we can say that Gorra was quite
highly educated and well informed on religious matters.
v Gora as Representative of Hinduism:-
‘Gora’
is a novel of discussion and ideas about contemporary social problem related to
Hinduism. In it Gora is the most orthodox Hindu. Gora as an idealist believes
in the noble ideas of Hinduism. In the initial career at college he was rather
indifferent to matters religion like many young men in college. Gora used to
ridicule the learned pandits, who visited the house of Krishna Day. But one old
and much learned pandit met him and thought him the principle of Vedanta
philosophy. It gave him the correct idea f the greatness of Hindu religion. And
Gora gradually turned into a strong champion of Hingu religion. He also became
‘an orthodox observer of even minor
rules of behavior’. Once he refused a cup of tea served by a Brahmo
girl. As an orthodox Bengali and tradition bound young man, he began to dress
like the Bengali farmers in rough clothes and began to put caste-mark on his
forehead and his body.
v His view on Love, Women and Caste System:-
He
was the believer in love. When he discusses it with Andandmoyi, He says, “You can disregard the Shastras, but you must
have regard for those whom you love. On status of women Gora says. ‘The scriptures tell us that woman is deserving
of worship.
In the best novel ‘Gora’ Tagore has raised many contemporary social
problems and evils related to Hinduism and its adversary Brahmanism. Some
critic have call the novel as a novel of ideas suitable to the spirit of the
again. It focuses on the caste-system. Gora is quite orthodox in the
institution of caste-system. He with Krishna Dayal, discusses the merit of a
Brahmin family. He thinks that caste-system is the wisest method of division
and labour and intellectual world. A Brahmin is devoted to the highest ideals
of spiritual knowledge. According to Gora, ‘The Brahmin class is the class of
the superman’. He believed in Hindu culture, tradition, rites, and ritual.
There he performs the ceremony of penance after releases form jail on the banks
of the holy Ganges .
v His love for Mother land:-
Gora
is a patriot and a great lover motherland. He has been great devotee to the
moment for making his country free. Gora took the side of the student and the
English Magistrate pushed him for one’s mother’s rigorous imprisonment. He did
not like people who favour the Englishmen and follow their custom. Gora did not
engage a lawyer and decided to plead his case himself. He explained boldly how
the policemen unjustly beat up the boys. These evens lead Sucharita fall in
love with Gora.
v His Love for Sucharita:-
Sucharita
was a beautiful girl of religious nature. She was brought up by Paresh Babu.
Gora is at first a lover of India
and no girl attracts him. Yet he felt the memory of Sucharita hunting him in
jail. Thus gradually he starts admiring the character, manners and thoughts of
Sucharita. She too felt love for him. In the end of the novel Sucharita,
wearing silk clothe met him when Gora found that he was Irish by birth He seeks
the blessing of Paresh Babu for her marriage with.
v Conclusion:-
Like
Shaw, Tagore has made Gora the mouthpiece his ideals of nationalism and
internationalism. In this respects, a critic K.R.S. Iyengar has pout out the
symbolic significance of the Gora as following, “A character like Gora or the Kauliwhallah,
become mother than a person; he become a poetic symbol.”
No comments:
Post a Comment