The Home and the World by Tagore

                                 The Home and the World by Tagore

Nationalism

While the entire novel centres around the Swadeshi movement, the author of the novel is not advocating it but rather warning his audience of the dangers of such a movement. Tagore knows that it is possible for even a seemingly peaceful movement to turn quickly into aggressive nationalism. Such a change would do the country more harm than good. The character named Sandip is the vivacious and ardent leader of Swadeshi. He knows that his movement has the potential to turn ugly. He fervently believes however that freedom must be achieved no matter the cost., Sandip cites a story from the Bhagavad Gita in support of his own path. The story tells of the Hindu Lord Krishna advising Arjuna to perform his duty as a warrior regardless of the result. Sandip's use of the Hindu epic poetry to support his movement illustrates the tendency of individuals to use religion as a basis for nationalism. The use of excerpts from the Indian epic poem was indicative of the blending tradition elements of Indian culture with the ideals and goals of modern Indian Independence movement. As both have the potential to yield individuals claiming an unshakable fervor for their cause, this can be a rather dangerous combination, a fact clearly acknowledged by the novel's author.

Nationalism is also expressed through the rejection of foreign goods, which was a part of the Swadeshi movement. Sandip was strongly against the sale of foreign goods as Bimala stated that "Sandip laid it down that all foreign articles, together with the demon of foreign influence, must be driven out of our territory". Nikhil on the other hand felt the opposite. He stated that in terms of banishing foreign goods from his Suskar market that he "could not do it"  and he refused to "tyrannize". Bimala even pleaded with her husband to "order them to be cleared out!". She also stated that banishing foreign goods "would not be tyranny for selfish gain, but for the sake of the country".

Tradition vs. modernism

As the title suggests, a major theme is the relationship of the home with the outside world. Nikhil enjoys the modern, western goods and clothing and lavishes Bimala with them. However, Bimala, in the Hindu tradition, never goes outside of the house complex. Her world is a clash of western and traditional Indian life. She enjoys the modern things that Nikhil brings to her, but when Sandip comes and speaks of nationalism with such fire, she sees these things as a threat to her way of life. Bimala's struggle is with identity. She is part of the country, but only knows the home and her home is a mix of cultures. She is torn between supporting the ideal of a country that she knows she should love, or working toward ensuring that her home, her whole world, is free from strife and supporting her husband like a traditional Indian woman should. Bimala is forced to try to understand how her traditional life can mix with a modern world and not be undermined. This theme ties in with the nationalism theme because it is another way that Tagore is warning against the possibility that nationalism can do more harm than good.