Department of English, R. L. S. Y.

College, Ranchi, Semester 1

Godan by Munshi Premchand (Chap 7 to 13)

In chapter 7 of the novel, Rai Sahib and his friends go for hunting into the jungle. Mr Mehta who is a
philosophy professor, Ms Malti who is a doctor, Mr Khanna who is a banker and owner of many
companies, Mirza Khurshed who is a pleasure loving, rich nawab from Lucknow, Tankha who is a
lawyer and an agent go with Rai Sahib for hunting. They divide themselves into three groups. Khanna
wants to go with Malti, but Malti chooses Mr Mehta. Khanna has to then go with Rai Sahib. Mirza
and Tankha go together for hunting. They all go in different directions.

Mehta and Malti are very different from each other, but they are attracted towards each other.
Malti is delighted to know that Mehta cares for her. But she gets very angry when Mehta does not
wait for her when she is tired. He goes on walking because he wants to hunt. When they have to
cross the river, he carries Malti on his shoulder. Malti is very pleased with this. Later they meet a
tribal girl in the jungle. The girl is very young, innocent, kind, helpful and strong. She is dark in colour
but she looks good, healthy and strong. She lives in the middle of the forest and leads a simple life
with her father. She does not have the luxury of city life but she is very happy to stay in the forest.
Mehta respects the girl and admires her for her strength and kindness. He compares her to Ms
Malti. Malti is rude in her behaviour as she cares only for herself. The tribal girl is kind and she wants
to help them and give them food even when she is very poor. He thinks the tribal girl is like a
goddess. He then compares Ms Malti to a “potted plant” and the tribal or adivasi girl to a “wild
flower.” He thinks Ms Malti cannot survive in the forest, she needs attention and someone to take
care of her. But the adivasi girl is strong and able to take care of herself in the forest. The adivasi girl
is happy to be living in the forest, she is content with her life and she looks radiant and beautiful. On
the other hand, Ms Malti cannot adapt in the forest, she is irritated and always complaining. This is
the reason he calls Ms Malti a “potted plant” which means a plant growing in a flower pot in
someone'Ms Malti becomes very angry at Mehta and she thinks he is more attracted to the tribal
girl than her. She is jealous of the tribal girl and she misbehaves with her. Mehta scolds her for not
behaving properly with the tribal girl. He eats the food the tribal girl gives him and thanks her for her
hospitality.

Mr Khanna and Rai Sahib who are in some other part of the jungle, hunting together, start a
conversation. Rai Sahib tells Khanna that he should stop going after Ms Malti as ashe like Mehta and
not him. Khanna says Mehta is a fake. Khanna then tries to sell insurance policy, shares and offers
other business deals to Rai Sahib. He knows Rai Sahib is rich and he can invest in his business. But Rai
Sahib is not interested in investing in Khanna’s business. Premchand, tells us more about Rai Sahib in
the novel. Premchand writes that Rai Sahib participated in the Indian freedom movement and he
also went to jail with other national fighters. He also supported the farmers and wanted to bring a
social change. But her could not give up the luxuries. He was used to living a life full of comfort and
luxury. He was also not aware of what was happening to the farmers in the village. He never did
anything to reduce their suffering or to help them.

Mirza and Tankha, on the other hand, are in some other part of the jungle. Tankha tries to bribe
Mirza in the elections. Mirza is a popular figure and Tankha wants Mirza to support his candidate in
the elections. Mirza does not like politics. He does not like Tankha also. He knows Tankha is corrupt
and evil. Later he shoots a deer and feels bad for killing the animal, so he gives the dead animal to a
local woodcutter. The woodcutter becomes very happy and invites them to his village. Mirza plays a
prank on Tankha and tells him that he will go and support his candidate in the elections if he can
carry the dead animal for hundred yards. Tankha is not able to do so and Mirza laughs at him. They
go to the village and Mirza gets drunk, eats the food offered by the villagers and plays with the
village children.
 Department of English, R. L. S. Y. College, Ranchi, Semester 1

When Rai Sahib, Khanna, Mehta, Malti, Mirza and Tankha meet after the hunting, everyone is angry
and irritated except Mirza. Chapter 7 shows the good qualities of Mirza’s character. He enjoys his life
and he feels sad for the villagers. He donates the animal he hunted to the woodcutter. He likes to
play with children. He does not like corrupt and selfish people like Tankha. He is also very strong and
adventurous. Only Mirza was able to hunt something and enjoy the hunting party. Mr Mehta is
alsoable to hunt a bird. He is also a good man as he respects the tribal girl and her way of life. Unlike
Malti, he treats her as an equal and scolds Malti for not behaving with her properly. Rai Sahib also
has a good character but he does not know about the life of the poor people. Rai Sahib is unaware of
their sufferings. He likes entertainment, good food and comfortable life so he can never give up the
zamindari system. The zamindari system is the main reason why the farmers in the village are
suffering.

This chapter also shows the nature of relationship among the people in the higher society. Rai Sahib
and his friends quickly get bored of each other, or get angry and irritated at each other. They are all
there for some personal gain or to get something from the other person. Ms Malti wants Mehta to
admit that he likes her and Mehta is there with Malti because he is attracted to her. But Mehta does
not love Ms Malti, he does not want to marry her because he thinks Ms Malti is selfish and will not
be able to take care of her husband and her family. Ms Malti is also attracted to Mehta, but she also
does not love Mehta or wants to marry him. She wants to have her influence over him, but she is not
ready to get committed to him. Similarly, Khanna is with Rai Sahib only because he thinks Rai Sahib is
rich and can invest in his company. Khanna wants money from Rai Sahib. Rai Sahib knows that
Khanna wants him to invest his money in Khanna’s company, so he keeps ignoring him. Mirza also
keeps making fun of Tankha. Tankha does not mind the behaviour of Mirza because he wants Mirza
to support his candidate in the coming elections. Mirza is a powerful and popular man, and if he
supports Tankha’s candidate he will win. But Mirza does not like politics and he hates Tankha. So we
see that these people don’t care for each other. They don’t want to listen to each other. They don’t
even want to stay with each other for a very long time. They are not good friends of each other.
On the other hand, we saw how Hori and Bhola tried to help each other in the village. Hori offered
Bhola animal fodder (food for the cows and buffaloes) because he did not have any fodder and also
offered to find him a wife. Bhola offered Hori a cow for free, but Hori told him that he will not take
the cow for free but he will pay him later for it. The poor people like Hori and Bhola don’t have so
much money, they don’t have anything to give each other, but they still help each other. They are
good friends and good human beings.

Chap 8 is another important chapter in the novel. In chapter 7, we see the moneylenders and agents
in the village. Pandit Nokheram is an agent of the zamindar, Rai Sahib. He collects rent from the
farmers and gives it to Rai Sahib. Mangaru is another moneylender in the village. Dulari is the village
shopkeeper. Jhinguri Singh is also a moneylender. Jhinguri Singh has no mercy for the villagers and
he is very rude to them. When Pandit Nokheram asks Hori to pay the rent of Rs 25, Hori is
concerned. He does not have the money so he asks Jhinguri Singh, for a loan of Rs 25. Jhinguri Singh
asks him to sell his cow, but his family does not want to give the cow. Dhaniya is very angry at Hori
for listening to Jhinguri Singh. She is wise and aware. She knows that the moneylenders are only
trying to cheat them. She is also angry at Gobar for having an affair with Jhuniya, the widowed
daughter of Bhola.

In chapters 9, 10 and 11 we see how the caste system, the police, the government official and the
village council or Panchayat tries to exploit Hori and his family. When Hori’s cow dies because
someone poisoned it, the inspector is called to investigate the matter. Dhaniya finds out from Hori
that Hori’s brother Hira was standing near the cow at night after which the cow died. She tells this to
the police inspector. Hori feels that he will lose respect in the society if people find out that his
brother is the criminal who poisoned the cow, and so he starts beating Dhaniya for complaining to
the police. Hori is worried that if the inspector searches his house, he will find the poison. Hira will
then go to jail and he will be thrown out of his caste. A cow is a holy animal and killing him will bring
punishment to Hira. He is ready to bribe the inspector so that they will let Hira go. He takes the
 Department of English, R. L. S. Y. College, Ranchi, Semester 1

money from Pateshwari, the revenue clerk and tries to bribe the inspector but he is not able to do
so. Dhaniya stops him from taking money from Pateshwari and bribing the police. Dhaniya is a strong
and determined woman. She stands for justice and she will not listen to her husband or other men.
No one is able to argue with her or fight with her and so they leave Hori and his family alone.

We also notice the relationship between the husband Hori and the wife Dhaniya in the novel. Hori
and Dhaniya don’t agree with each other all the time. They have different opinion and views on what
is happening around them. Hori and Dhaniya also have different approaches towards the problems
they are facing. Dhaniya focusses on the larger problems facing them – poverty, lack of food, debt,
corruption and greed among the village moneylenders, agents, the clerk and the inspector. Hori is
more concerned about the family honour, his public image, his caste, his relationship with his
brothers, friends and other villagers. Hori is emotional. Dhaniya is practical. Hori is not strong
enough to fight against the people exploiting them. But all the moneylenders, agents, the clerk and
the inspector are scared of Dhaniya. Dhaniya is wise and always gives good advice to Hori. Hori
always tells everything to Dhaniya. He always shares and discusses everything with her. In spite of
being, very different from each other, Hori and Dhaniya complement each other. They help each
other, and support each other. Alone they are not strong. But together they can support and defend
their family. When Hori loses his temper and beats Dhaniya for complaining about Hira to the police,
he feels bad and guilty about it. He asks for forgiveness from Dhaniya. Dhaniya also feels bad about
him and forgives him. We don’t see this kind of understanding and cooperation between other
couples shown in the novel, like Hira and Punni. Ms Malti and Mehta are also very different from
each other, and they are not married. But they are also very self-centered and only interested about
their own problems. They don’t want to think about the other person, and hence, they are not
suitable for each other. Premchand through the relationship between Hori and Dhaniya wants to
show how good relationships work. Dhaniya knows what are the weaknesses of Hori and she
corrects him when he is taking the wrong decision. Hori supports and respects Dhaniya. He reminds
her to not worry too much about the family and take care of herself. A good relationship is based on
the care, respect and love for the other person.

When Gobar runs away after making Jhuniya pregnant, Jhuniya goes to Hori and Dhaniya. In the
beginning, Dhaniya does not like Jhuniya. She thinks Jhuniya corrupted her son, but after looking at
Jhuniya’s conditions, her heart melts. She stops Hori from throwing her out of the house. Both Hori
and Dhaniya then take care of Jhuniya and welcome her insider their house. Because of keeping
Jhuniya, who is from a different caste, the people in the village are shocked at Hori and Dhaniya. The
Panchayat is called and the Panchayat asks Hori to pay Rs 100 as fine. He is thrown out his caste, and
he has to give away all his grains as fine for going against the caste rules. Again, it is Dhaniya, who
stops Hori from giving away all his grains. Dhaniya also fights with the Panchayat and tells them that
even if they have to pay fine, she will not throw away Dhaniya. People like Datadin, whose son
married a low caste woman are not affected by caste rules. It is only poor people who are punished
if they don’t follow the caste rules, she tells the Panchayat. The writer, Premchand wants to show us
how unjust and cruel is the caste system in the society. The rich people can marry anyone or they
can have affairs with anyone, but they are never punished. The poor people are punished at left to
starve without food. The novelist, Premchand also shows how the moneylenders, agents, police
inspector, shopkeeper and the revenue clerk work together to exploit the poor.

We also see how Hori is suffering because of the caste system, the zamindari system and the
corruption in the administration. He tries to help Hira but the moneylenders, agents and the police
force him to pay a bribe. When Hori helps Punni, Hira’s wife to cultivate Hira’s land because he has
disappeared from the village. The people start spreading rumours saying that Hori is trying to take
Hira’s land and money. When he provides Jhuniya with shelter and food, he is thrown out of the
caste. He has no relief or peace.

On the other hand, Gobar runs away from his house because he is scared of his mother and father.
When he finds Jhuniya being welcomed by his mother and father he feels very proud and happy
 Department of English, R. L. S. Y. College, Ranchi, Semester 1

about them. He wants to go to the city and earn some money to help them. He wants to become
more responsible. He wants to do something for his family, so he decides to go to Lucknow. In
Lucknow he starts working at Mirza Khurshed’s house. Gobar meets Mirza in Lucknow and Mirza
gives him a job of gardening for fifteen rupees. Gobar has now grown up. He has become matured.
He respects his parents a lot and he understand how much sacrifice they have made for him. He also
loves Jhuniya and he wants to earn money so that he can take care of her and the baby. Gobar is not
a child anymore. The experience of leaving his house and village and staying away from his family
brings a change in his character.

Homework:

1. Describe the social conditions of the farmers shown in the novel Godan? (Write in 1-2
pages.)