The Gift of a Cow by Godaa - Book Report/Review Example

Godaan-The Gift RUNNING HEAD: 'GODAAN-THE GIFT OF A COW ' THE GIFT OF A COW TO A BRAHMIN AT THE TIME OF DEATH IS PIOUS WISH OF EVERY DEVOUT HINDU TO GET SALVATION IN LIFE. NON-FULFILLMENT LEADS TO CURSE. THE HERO 'S EFFORT TO FULFILL THE PIOS DESIRE DOES NOT FRUCTIFY TILL HIS DEATH.HE IS CRUSHED BY THE PREVAILING SOCIAL SYSTEM OF CASTISM, TRADITION AND EXPLOITATION WEB OF THE BRAHAMINS, LANDLORDS, VILLAGE POLITICS AND COLONIAL RULES. HE DIES WITHOUT SALVATION. Writer -Research-Academia 'Godaan- The Gift of a Cow' is a classical novel written by Munshi Premchand. He depicted vividly the moving picture of Indian village life in northern part across the river Ganges in the 19th and early 20th century when British ruled India and the country was in the grip of traditions, customs and colonial rules. The majority of people were poor peasants ruled over by the upper caste landlords, Rajputs and Brahmins. People were ignorant, illiterate and timid. They feared God. They were made to believe by the then upper caste Brahmin community that the acute poverty they live in is caused by the sin they or their ancestors committed. The only solution to come out of the social and economic rut is to give away to Brahmins maximum in charity. Godaan is sequel to that sermon only through which people were made to believe that 'gifting of a cow made by a devout Hindus to a Brahmin at the time of death can bring about salvation to the dying person. In fact, the motive behind inculcation of blind belief in the minds of poor and ignorant people was to secure forever the charity for Brahmins that sustained their living without much effort. This triangle of Sin-Social Bondage-Salvation continued unchallenged for long and the upper caste strata of the society ruled over the common people with ease. The upper class section of the society formed village council in which the headmen and the members were from higher castes that controlled the village administration and economy with the active co-operation and polity of the colonial rule. The colonial rule had only one interest to recover the maximum revenue from the peasants through the upper caste leaders or officials. They were not concerned about the system and methods adopted in achieving the revenue target. Premchand, the author of this novel selected a small village in Awadh to depict this unpleasant social scenario. His hero is a poor small-time tenant and farmer Hori and his family. He struggled for survival and self-respect in the society that was corrupted by old and shattered customs and cultures of the past that supported the higher-ups only. His only wish was to own a cow that was the symbol of wealth and prestige and could also secure salvation. Hori accepted the village council, acknowledged its verdict blindly and cheerfully. His other family members rebelled against the custom but Hori silenced them with logic of curse and threat. His son married a village girl of lower cast and run away to the city to stand on his own and maintain his individual dignity and success. Hori loses everything for his cast and community to maintain the social dignity, culture and custom but achieved nothing in his life. None of his pious wishes is fulfilled. He passes away with his sin non-attended and without salvation. Body copy Godaan depicts the economic and social conflict in the Indian society with particular reference to north India and its villages. The central figure of the novel is Hori who struggles for meeting the primary needs of his life with help of his family members-his wife Dhaniya, son Gobar and two daughters. He labors hard and does everything to fulfill his desire to get at least a cow that is symbol of wealth, social respect and recognition because he believes like any other devout Hindu to gift it to a Brahmin who could help him get salivation. He could not earn and save sufficient to own a cow but his married daughter gifted one to him. Before he could enjoy the sight of that prized possession he dies away. Hori remained compassionate in his entire life with notion of dharma (duty) and Niti (principle). He was not satisfied with the behavior of landlords yet he was ready to pay respect to him. He was aggrieved at the system of sharing his booty he earned out of his hard labor and expressed this to his wife "My grain was all weighed out at the village barn. The master took away his share and the moneylender his, leaving me just 10 mounds. I carried off the straw and hid it during the night, or not a bale would have been left me' (The Gift of a Cow by Gordon C. Roadarmel 1968; 36,) Hori patiently bore the torture from the upper caste people and heads of the village. He never dared breaking the age-old custom of abiding by the landlords and the respectable Brahmins. Premchand presented the following characters from upper caste segment that controlled the power structure and the economy in the village. Rai Saheb the local landlord who belonged to upper cast Rajput was at the apex of the exploitation. He was obliged to the British government to maintain his leadership position in the village. He gained moral authority in the eyes of his tenants by participating in the freedom struggle against British rule. Jhinguri Singh was the representative of city moneylender in the village He looked harmless enough but "in business matter, however, he showed no mercy, exploiting the last price of Interest and camping on people's door until they produced the money" (The Gift of a Cow by Gordon C. Roadarmel 1968; 120) Talukdars were government officials who controlled three fourth of the land in the State for collecting tax revenues. They belonged to upper cast who exerted a lot of influence on poorer peasants. Datadin- the Brahmin of the village also wielded unchallenged authority and poked his nose in every matter from where monetary gain was expected. "He was always present in any loot in the village but managed to go unscathed. He never paid rent and always managed to have money loan at interest to the tenants." (The Gift of a Cow by Gordon C. Roadarmel 1968; 154) Pandit Pokhram, represents Brahmin from the upper caste echelons. He is the agent of the Zamindar'S (Landlord) estate holding high position with the local ruler but kept all his possessions at the feet of God and became ascetic. ' As soon as he left the presence of God, he would throw of all restraint and let loose venomous thoughts, words and deeds (The Gift of a Cow by Gordon C. Roadarmel 1968; 157) Lala Pateshwar the village accountant could also be benevolent at time. He showed concern about human being and acted as arbitrator in village quarrels. ' 'He never missed opportunity to make money but he would also aid those he devoured (The Gift of a Cow by Gordon C. Roadarmel 1968; 155) These people from higher cast group mentioned above represent the village power group who dominated the poor villagers in the name of religion, governance or customs. Peasants tolerated their exploitation out of fear, and customary rules they had been abiding by for years. Sometimes when they rose in revolt they did so necessarily in violation of a series of codes, which defined their very existence as a member of the society. Factors responsible for their pitiable condition were the structure of property, the institution of law, sanctity by the religion and their age-old tradition of tolerance about all odds without revolt. They jointly spun the web of debt for the poor villagers from which they could never come out. The peasants had to bear heavy burden of share of crops they produced. They took loan from the landlords and other power groups to manage household and celebrate special occasions. They had to pay heavy rate of interest on the debt that made them to take loans again and again. Thus the vicious circuit of poverty persisted for lifelong. The people of one cast belonged to one biradari (brotherhood), who kept check on individual behavior of the members. The village heads and Jamindars (land lords) also kept jealously guarded the complex network of hierarchy system and network of various biradaries in the village that maintained the social order. Common people learnt social behavior and action from that biradari without challenge. This is Clear case of Gemeinschaft in which individuals are oriented to the large associations and individuals are regulated by common mores or beliefs about the appropriate behavior. The village power structures were further sustained by the city counterparts of mill owners, industrialist, bankers, newspaper editors, bankers turned industrialists, professors, medical doctors and other groups who were united to achieve their selfish ends and put the common workers under crushing miseries and woes. Poor villagers only migrated from the village in search of jobs and fell prey them to be squeezed out. Different power groups together defined the social structure, living norms and economic conditions of the villagers or the mill workers in the city. Culture, caste, traditions and religions had far reaching effects in aiding and abetting the poverty and lower living standard. Colonial rule further aggravated the situation because that supported the cream layer of society to maximize the revenue collection. Hori lived in this type of village setting where all the power groups jointly crushed his wishes under acute conditions of exploitation. There was almost no rebellion against the system and the living codes. The family members of Hori as well as some of the villagers sometimes rebelled but that were short lived. His own son rebelled and left for city to have his independent earning. He had extra-marital relationship with girl from a different and lower caste. He clearly defied the social custom. In order to avoid humiliation in the village for his extramarital affair, his low caste status and the debt his family had incurred he ran away to city for independent living and success. He enjoyed freedom in the city He realized later that his village life was less straining and freer to relish the nature. In the village 'the work had been interspersed with laughter and conversation, and the open field and broad sky had seemed to ease the strain.' (The Gift of a Cow by Gordon C. Roadarmel 1968; 339) His wife went defiant many times against the torturous system of the cast and social ethos but Hori ignored that on the plea that there could not be life beyond the caste as there would be no loans, no community support, no marriage celebration, no funeral rites, and no common smoking with friends. An average peasant could not afford breaking from the cast system because that would amount getting cut off the total social support system. That prevented lower caste people to defy Brahmins and their dictates. Only Gobar could challenge the bondage of caste and achieved individual success in the city. All those who rebelled were better off than who remained passive. Hory never rebelled and could not turn happier within the caste and community he loved so much. When Hori dies away his family had neither cow nor money to pay off the demand of the village priest except the day's earning his wife had. She utters to Datadin 'Maharaj, there is no cow nor calf nor money in the house. There are only these few coins. This is his godaan, his gift of a cow' (The Gift of a Cow by Gordon C. Roadarmel 1968; last page) Conclusion: Godaan is therefore, a story of unrelenting suffering with immense tension between the dharma (duty) Hory tries to fulfill and the pulls of society and governance. Both are opposite to each other that tears Hori apart. Hori endured any hardship or suffering or injustice to maintain his position in the community of his own caste. Premchand raised the issue of social change through Gobar and Malti who is England educated medical doctor married to a professor of philosophy. She was dedicated to social reform works. She had a strong view that India must change with break from traditions that hold society back and would keep it dominated by British colonies, landlords, moneylenders, and Brahmins. The characters of the novel could break the cycle of debt and suffering by resorting to different choices but the majority could not do that for the simple reason of facing repercussion from the other end. The very basic framework of the social and institutional structure was designed to create and maintain power structures that dominated the majority lowers, kept them docile to dare change and enabled the uppers to gain and continue dominating. There was no scope left for rational choice as the driver for human behavior and change for better. The choice was not individual but thrust by the social institutions backed but tradition and culture crafted by the few uppers for their selfish ends. The power of institutions was strong enough to suck individual back and the power of caste was self-controlling. In the choice between Family obligation and ideology Hori chose the latter to maintain his dignity in the Biradari (brotherhood) group and the society. This type of social obligation caused stagnancy in the life of people who could not think change. This made people loyal to the institution forever by sacrificing personal good to the gain of others who as a matter of fact exploited them. This is the example of High Context Culture in which things are inferred and followed by the members without questions and in which the group is given priority over the individual. The result of his ideology and sacrifice was that Hori could not fulfill any of his ambition in life not even owing a cow to get salvation. Prospect of better days remained at he distance like a mirage. He endured hardship, starvation, and disgrace but remained enclosed in his fortress till the end. The novel very clearly delineates the village politics and colonial landownership and the prevailing village turmoil. The city life and the rigors of industrialization have been seriously presented. . Premchand tried to show how the ill effects of empty materialism could be offset by Gandhian philosophy and idealism. Culture and tradition are always regarded as the real wealth of a society but these can destroy change prospects in human being.. The novel examines the role of cultures and power structures created out of tradition and sustained by well-crafted institutions that impeded growth and created divisions in the society. Reference:The Gift of a Cow by Munshi Premchand Translated by Gordon C. Roadarmel Published by Permanent Black in agreement with UNESCO 1968 Read More