GODAN

1. Summarise the main theme of the novel 'Godan' written by Premchand.

The novel 'Godan' by Premchand was published in 1936. It has been revered as one of the greatest
Hindi novels of the Indian literature. The main theme of the novel was based on Indian peasantry.
The theme includes:

(i) socio-economic deprivation.

(ii) exploitation of rural people.
(iii) caste segregation.
(iv) varied concept of dharma as held by different people.
(v) impact of industrialization on the various sections of Indian community.
(vi) condition of women in society, child marriage and dowry.

'Godan' is an epic of Indian peasant Hari and his wife Dhania who were cheated by the landlords,
money lenders, priests and colonial bureaucrates. They formed a network of oppression, robbed
their land and converted them to landless Labourers. In the end, the couple died with dignity.

2. The Summary of godan in 300 words.

Godan, generally considered Premchand's masterpiece, is a story of peasant India. It highlights the
struggle between the peasant and the money-lender backed by various forces. It depicts an
agricultural community with its hard work and simple pleasures, its exploitations and misery, its
frustrations and hopes. Premchand's artistry and realism are at their best in the creation of some of
the central characters, particularly that of Hori, who emerges as an immortal symbol of the Indian
peasantry. Hori as well can be taken as a symbol of Premchand's own life. Though Premchand had a
tendency toward idealization, this novel is realistic, controlled in form and disillusioned in spirit.

The extract, included here is about an undercover undertaking which Gobar, Hori's child, had with
Jhunia, Bhola's girl. Pregnant and startled that her dad will murder her in the event that he finds this,
she swings to Gobar for help. Yet, afraid of the results, he stealthily leaves the town.

Late in the night Jhunia goes to Hori's hovel, yet he is in the fields. Jhunia concedes her quandary to
Dhania, Hori's better half. She hurries to Hori. Annoyed and maddened, they concur not to offer safe
house to Jhunia. Slowly, however, as they are strolling back to the cabin, their determination gives
away, and their despise transforms into love. They allow Jhunia to remain with them, in spite of the
fact that they realize that this will mean distancing the whole town. Premchand composed an
uncovered, basic, true writing. His language is neither the rich Urdu not the pretentious Hindi. Rather
he utilized normal center Hindustani, the discourse of millions in upper India, and a medium especially
suited to his themes.

3. Critically evaluate the title of the novel "Godan"

A realistic picture of the Indian rural society:-

Prem Chand’s “Godan” is considered as one of the greatest novels in Indian literature. It presents
a realistic picture of the Indian rural society. A critic rightly observes, “It is a story of changing people,
hungry and semi-starved, yet hopeful and optimistic. “Godan deals with the miserable lives of the
Indian peasant. The novelist depicts and feudal villages teamed semari with its courageous belief in
future renewal. According to the novel, a change in social set-up is sufficient to transform the lives of
he individual. His characters have no courage to fight against the adverse conditions. They accept the
given social conditions. They bear all kinds of exploitation. They have an unshakable faith in destiny.
Here he exposes their weaknesses and the evils in the Indian society.

Hori’s only ambition is to own a cow:-

“Godan” opens with Hori busy in his house hold and agriculture duties. His wife, Dhania assists
him in his work at home and also in the field. Despite their hard labour, they can not clear their debts.
They have a son, Gobar and two daughters, Sona and Rupa. Poverty and exploitation have made them
rough. In the midst of such hardships, Hori’s only ambition is to own a cow which gives a lots of milk.
It is very hot outside and he has to do much work. Suddenly he sees Bhola with his hard of cows. He
expresses his wish and Bhola agrees to give him a cow on loan. Hori is overjoyed and starts thinking
of a life of luxury wit h the help of this cow.

Hori’s effort to clear the dept:-

Hori works in the hot sun because he has to clear the dept of a Brahmin. He gets sun stroke and
falls unconscious. He is brought home and Dhania weeps on seeing the dying man’s face. In these last
moments, Hori hears the voice around him but can not see. Someone suggest that hit is the proper
time to offer Godan for a dying man. It is ironical that throughout his life, Hori struggled to earn enough
money to buy a cow but even new at the time of his death. He is not able to fulfill his ambition.
Suddenly his eyes become lifeless like stone and Dhania faints on seeing her husband deed.

a pathetic and tragic note:-

At this point, the novel ends with a pathetic and tragic note and the reader closes the novel with
a heavy heart. Here the characters are passive against unfavorable circumstances, and they become
helpless puppets’. The action covers a long period of many years. The novelist’s main concern is the
social set-up rather than individuals. They lead a collective life, not an individual one.

4. Critically evaluate character sketch of Hori.

Unheroic Hero,

Hori is the Unheroic hero of Godan. He is the poor and helpless Indian peasant. He becomes as
easy victim in the hands of greedy and money-lenders. It is ironic and tragic that the peasant whole
tills the dry and hard lands, sows seeds but ca not harvest the crop because the hungry money-
lenders assert their claim on the ripe harvest. Here Hori is such a victim of this cruel and heartless
system. He knows well that he has been wronged and exploited, yet he is so much afraid of tradition
and customs that he has no courage to move towards modernity or change.

As a family-Lover:-

Hori is a family loving father. He is an affectionate father, sensible and feelingful husband, a
true brother and a generous father in laws. When Gob was a small child, he did often worry about
his nourishment as a Gobar didn’t get milk to drink, BY these time his Sona and Rupa, grow into
youth, he worries about heir marriages and finding proper suitor like an affection ect. He becomes
angry to the children who work under the not sun in his father. He doesn’t tell anything about his
cow’s death and his brother Hira’s cruel act of giving poison to a cow. Hori is a husband who drinks
sorrow silently without uttering a world to his family members.

Religious-God-fearing man:-

Hori is a flat character of the novel. He is a conservative farmer and religious-god-fearing man.
He does not exhibit much change in his life. He is used to a familiar way value. He is a god-fearing
person with a blind faith in religious authority. The novelist presents his character as simple and
innocent. Hori submits to all kinds of exploitation by the rich. He has n unshaken faith in the destiny.
He makes his life miserable by his blind obedience to orthodox religions beliefs. Thus he seems like
the hero of Dostoevsky’, to be “Under the curse of saintliness”. This tradition bough poor saint has
no capacity to revolt against tradition. His philosophy is: “It is God who creates the high and the
lower. One comes into wealth after a lot of penance. It’s the fruit of the deed of our past life. We
sowed nothing and we have nothing to reap.”

On the matter of Gobar and Jhunia, he has one again metaphysical reflection when he is led to
panchyat. He expresses his faith in panchyat.

The hero, Hori says, “It is the voice of God that speaks through the Panches, but what is written must
happen. Nobody quarrels with Fate”.

His ambition to get a cow:-

Hori is an ambitious, and his ambition is very simple, strange and unusual. He as novelist says,
has no ambition to live on Bank interest or buying land of agriculture, these things are too big to
little heart. He wants to have a cow of his own. He is Mr. Biswas of Naipaul work “A House for Mr.
Biswas. He is too poor to buy a cow for family is an unattainable thing for his. He has all the love and
passion for this idea to buy a cow. He considered it as proud possession a matter statue in faming
and village. He has intense desire to purchase a cow. While his conversation with Bhola, we can
trace Hori’s dream of buying cow and its reason. For buying a Cow he goes to Bhola and sympathies
his loneliness living is isolation as a widower and gets a cow from him with the coming of a cow to
his house, his zeal-test of living raises. But his own brothers Hira, Kill the cow with a poison. It is a
sorrowful even in life. From this event problems and struggle begin to come in his hose. At the time
of his own death he is asked to donate ‘a cow’ to a Brahmin. Thus His ambition dream are never
fulfilled.

A Large- Hearted man/ Hori’s love for Hira:-

Hori was a large-hearted man. He could forgive the greatest offences done to him. His brother,
Hira poisoned the cow and ran away from his house. He knew it for certain that Hira had done the
offence. Hori had suspicion when he was Hira at about eleven o’clock near his house. Yet Hori tried
to save the honour of Hira. He requested to the Police Inspector not to search Hira House. He beat
his wife Dhaniya who wanted to announce to the whole village that Hira had killed the cow. He even
went to the extent of placing his hand on Gobar’s head to swear that he gad not seen Hira near the
cow’s through. This shows his love for Hira.
Hori a representative of Indian farmers:-

Godan is a tragedy of Indian peasantry. Hori, the hero is the representative of Indian
peasantry. He has blind faith in age-old traditions and religious beliefs. He is the embodiment of
ideas and selfless service, He is so much tradition-bund that he can never stand against the
exploitation by the rich. Through his life, he has been exploited and wronged by the money-lenders,
but he bears all the injustice and exploitation silently. His son Gobar, sis fin favour of a radical
change in society and he appears as the representative of change and modern value. Prem Chand
says, “Tyranny at least creates as spirit of revolt in man makes him conscious of his rights.

Like a common Indian pleasant, Hori is brought up in an atmosphere of the rigid social setup
where orthodox religion beliefs dominate their life – style. In this context, the helplessness and
sufferings of Indian peasantry unable to stand against the powerful setup which constitute one of
the leading theme in “Godan”. Thus Hori presents the recurrent life story of Indian peasant. His life is
tale of helplessness and suffering. He never gets relief from pain and suffering. Throughout the
novel, he suffers and suffers without and hope of redemption.

His tragic death; a grandeur episode and of life:-

Through out the novel, Hori doesn’t show any resist or words of struggle and opposition. He
remains the roadside victim under the adverse circumstance. He cherishes the ideal of sacrifice in
the novel. He dies in harshness. In psychological terms he becomes a victim of the molten interplay
of Eros and Thanatos. Hori works hard beyond his capacity and his deal wish Thanatos of a helpless
farmer ultimately leads to his ruin. When his son Gobar comes from Lucknow and asks his father to
let him handle the situation. Hori gets annoyed wit him and considers it a sing against his sense of
dharma and urges his son to leave him as such . This is the greatest irony in his life that he struggled
throughout his life to buy a cow but now in his death, a cow has to given in charity to a Brahmin like
Dattadeen. Hori has a dream of owning a cow and in his moments, he felt sorry tat he can not offer a
cow to a Brahmin. Thus his life has been as universal tale of helplessness and misery.