POSTCOLONIAL ELEMENTS: RESISTANCE AND REPRESENTATION IN

TAGORE’S NOVEL FOUR CHAPTERS

Dr.A.Tamilselvi

Associate Professor in English,

Thiagarajar Collge of Engineering,Madurai

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Abstract

In recent years, the questioning of the boundaries and the limits of postcolonial studies
has taken on new dimensions. It has increasingly been challenged by new theoretical models.
Though Rabindranath Tagore belongs to colonial period, his thoughts reflect postcolonial
perspectives. Tagore, in Four Chapters, projects the emerging revolutionary movement which
adapts terrorism as a tool in liberating India. He turns political rhetoric into genuine literature.
This is one of the characteristics of postcolonial text. There are many issues that mark Tagore’s
novels as postcolonial literature. The issue which the present researcher proposes to discuss is,
how Four Chapters, as a postcolonial novel, is representative of the nation and how it serves as a
symbol of resistance against the colonizer.

Postcolonial literature is simply a classification: a body of work or works produced by a

previously colonized nation; another definition views it as a literary movement by the era and
location in which the movement occurred and its political and social impact on society.
Therefore it is perceived that accepting the postcolonial only by its temporal and political
designation does not do justice to the writer whose intention may be different. If a reader reads
and credits or disparages Tagore’s novels strictly for their literary value then he ignores the
possible intentions of the author, since literature played an active part with new messages in
fiction during the pre-independence period.

Rabindranath Tagore’s thirteenth novel Four Chapters was written against the backdrop of pre-
independence revolutionary movement. Tagore depicts the life of the suppressed, speaks against
the oppression of the colonizer and expresses his desire for an ideal postcolonial Indian society.
These ideas can be collectively viewed as postcolonial concerns. The colonized subjects who
suffer under colonial pressure want to represent their identity since the right to an identity is
perceived as the key to subjectivity, citizenship and political viability. They need a leader who
speak for and speak as oppressor because only such a leader can really express their feelings.
Tagore being one of the colonized easily echoes through his characters, the anger and aspirations
of the Colonized.

Elleke Boehmer says, “Postcoloniality is defined as that condition in which colonized people
seek to take their place forcibly or otherwise, as historical subjects” (qtd. in A.Joseph Durairaj,
“Introduction to Postcolonialism” 140). Tagore in Four Chapters, projects the emerging
revolutionary movement which adopts terrorism as a tool in liberating India. He succeeds in
turning political rhetoric into genuine literature. This is one of the characteristics of a
postcolonial text. He presents a proactive and timely account of a galaxy of dazzling insights
concerning violence in liberating the nation. He articulates the following questions: Who is a real
patriot? Is liberation to be achieved by rhetorical slogans, ascetic militarism, institutionalized
violence and ruthless external discipline? How can one be true to one’s self and mission in the
making of the nation? These questions make his novel Four Chapters relevant to the time.

Four Chapters specifically introduces and deals with new forms of violence let loose in
contemporary politics. He gives vent to his views on revolutionary activities and their means and
ends through three main characters, Indranath, Ela and Atin. In the beginning of the twentieth
century terrorism become the hallmark of a number of political movements. The mindset of the
terrorists is: One does not win a war by wailing, moaning, crying or crumbling; one can win it by
hitting back. The receptions and the unity achieved during these revolutionary activities were the
result of an apprehension of slavery, not necessarily true emotions generated by patriotism.

“My child”, said Indranath,”such revulsion of spirit is common on the eve of

great battle. The Mahabharata tells us how the peerless warrior, Arjuna himself, was
thus afflicted at the outset of the Kurushetra war …. In the struggle for
power, the cult of cruelty comes first, to be followed at last; it may be, by that of
mercy”

(Tagore, Four Chapters 7). Indranath is a

revolutionary leader, in fact the ring master of the promising and talented Bengali youth. He is a
charismatic intellectual with sufficient ruthlessness to assume command of the revolutionary
movement. The seed that he wants to sow in the mind of the youth is: “It is not the question
whether the British are good or bad. Their rule is one of foreign exploitation, killing our souls
within us. I only sow human intelligence by trying to get rid of this unnatural situation,” (Tagore,
Four Chapters 20). Hundreds and thousands of impressionable young Bengalis – men and
women are drawn into the uninhibited emotionalism of the Swadeshi movement. They assert that
the British regime has the power to rule whereas the subjugated Indian has at least the right to
protest. Gandhian politics also wants freedom through resistance and representation but
following the path of non-violence. The followers of both the paths belong to the same social
background, that is, they are from the Bengali upper castes.

Tagore boldly condemns misguided heroism and blind fanaticism in Four Chapters. He makes
the readers realize his feelings in the following words: “These splendid boys are being sacrificed
at the altar of some blind monstrous idol. It’s breaking my heart! (Tagore, Four Chapters 7) He
dramatizes, through the roles of Ela and Atin, the tragic impact of terrorism on human lives. It is
quite acceptable that a nation should strive for independence in order to escape the oppressive
bonds of the Colonizer. The nonrecognition and the suppression of the natives’ feelings fire their
resistance. As a rallying cry, the national leaders denounce terrorism and violence as a means to
achieving independence.

Bill Ashcroft and Pal Ahluwalia say that resistance becomes a process “in the suppressed and
repatriation of what had been suppressed in the natives’ past by the processes of imperialism
(qtd. In. Edward Said 108). This culture of resistance is explored by Tagore through his character
Indranath. It is Indranath’s personal frustration rather than love of the country that impels him to
take to terrorist activities. Some sort of power and charisma that he possesses lure the youthful
idealists. He uses this power to avenge his humiliation at the hands of the British government in
the name of patriotism and struggle for freedom. The psychology of a frustrated man is that he
bears his past within him and waits for an opportunity to vent his anger in various ways: “as
scars of humiliating wounds, as instigation for different practices, as potentially revised visions
of the past tending towards a post-colonial figure” (Culture and Imperialism 256). What makes
Indranath detestable is that he knows very well that his enterprise is doomed to failure and yet he
continues his campaign to achieve personal vengeance:

He declares: I’ve long given up thinking in terms of victory or defeat. As a leader in a grand
enterprise I’m here because it becomes me: either victory or defeat will be equally great. They
tried to make me petty by closing the doors on every side. I’m determined to show them that I’m
great, even if that entails disaster at every step (Tagore, Four Chapters 25).

Thus Tagore portrays him as the typical resistance figure of post-colonial literature who
represents his self identity to others and whose aim is to boost his will and assert his manhood.

Ela, the heroine of the novel, is also the typical resistance figure of post-colonial literature.
Tagore depicts Ela as a unique woman who is granted special powers to help her people fight
against the colonialist’s oppression. She plays the role of the catalyst to the group to inspire them
to deeds of sacrifice. Atin, a young man who does not have any sympathy with the terrorist
doctrine, joins the party only because of his attraction towards Ela. It is solely for Ela’s sake that
Atin takes an oath of loyalty to the terrorist organization and agrees to participate in terrorist
activities. But Atin is not like other hare-brained youth in the terrorists’ hands. He is able to see
through their façade of patriotic work. He is well aware of the disillusioned methods used by the
leaders to justify their activities in the name of freedom and patriotism.

The master, as Indranath is referred to in the novel, wants to exercise complete sway over his
followers. He wants to establish the guru-shisya relationship where the disciple is to give his
complete loyalty, devotion and respect to his teacher. The desire to rule his disciples with an iron
hand is one kind of “colonial” domination. His encouragement to his disciples is just alluring but
at the same time, suffocating. Ela lacks the individuality to identify the disillusioned ideology of
nationalism preached by Indranath. She is prepared to erase all her feelings and discard her love
to embrace the principles of Indranath’s nationalistic movement. Her induction into terrorist
outfit has intoxicated her and in fact, she takes pride in being a member of the group. It has some
resemblance with how the colonizer mesmerizing the colonized to accept the colonial authority
and norms.

Though Atin’s interest and devotion to terrorist group is completely anchored on his love for Ela,
he remains a truthful man who has brought up on the ideal of sacrifice. The more Ela veers
closer to Atin the more she moves away from the ideals espoused by revolutionary leader
Indranath. So Indranath wants to put an end to their relationship. For the sake of the movement
he is ready to sacrifice Ela. He resolves to liquidate Ela and he entrusts that task to Atin. Atin is
forced to offer his love and lover, self and soul up as a sacrifice to appease the violent oppressor.
Tagore dramatizes the tragic impact of terrorism on human lives through the characters Ela and
Atin.

If Ela and Atin represent the typical post-colonial resistance figures, then Indranath
represents the typical colonial oppressor. He speaks from the typical colonial perspective. He
maintains an openly superior attitude. He views his followers as subordinate, bound to listen to
and learn from his teachings. He takes pride in using his followers as instruments for furthering
the supposedly nationalistic cause. Tagore sets up his characters Atin and Indranath as cultural
and political foils to each other. Indranath acts as an agent of liberation and, at the same time,
because of his ruthless dominance he subverts the feelings of his followers. The intoxicating
wine that he has started pouring into the minds of impressionable youth stirs their emotions.
They are caught up in a web from where there is no means of escape. The novel reveals in clear
terms how tactfully and shrewdly the revolutionary leaders conquer their disciples and subjugate
them to completely erase the memories of their self. The problem of these individuals is to come
out of the shell of their leaders’ influence and to see through the hypocrisy of their masters’
much flaunted honor and good intentions towards their country and people. The postcolonial
theorist Homi Bhabha has explained that “the act of doubling the Whiteman’s image in effect
displaced the representations of authority” (qtd. in Boehmer 172).The novel dramatizes how
Indranath gains his dominance by constant appropriation, incorporation and suppression of
difference, and also by a subtle, shrewd and forceful reiteration of authoritative tone and ideals.

Rabindranath Tagore’s novel Four Chapters stands as an epitome of the postcolonial elements of
resistance and representation. Four Chapters is a love story with a political background. The
characters in the novel remain primarily symbols or mouthpieces of postcolonial elements. It
deals with the problem of the political ethics of that time. Thus Tagore’s novel Four Chapters
proves a postcolonial discourse in its texture, characterization, and treatment of themes, use of
political situation and above all its touch of realism.

WORKS CITED

Ashcroft, Bill and pal Ahluwalia. Edward Said, 199, London: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Boehmer, Elleke. Colonial and Postcolonial literature: Migrant Metaphors, Oxford:

OUP, 1995 Print.

Dorairaj A.Joseph, Interventions. Palayamkottai: FRRC, 2006. Print.

Said, Edward, Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage,

1994 .Print.

Tagore, Rabindranath, Four Chapters. New Delhi: Rupa, 2002. Print.