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

College, Semester 1 - 1

Godan by Premchand (Chapters 13 to 22)

Hori’s problems did not end, even after paying the fine of 100 Rs, giving all his grains and putting his
house for mortgage (गिरवी). Since he had given shelter to Jhuniya, Jhuniya’s father Bhola came to
meet Hori. Bhola was very angry at Jhuniya. He told Hori that Jhuniya has blackened his face in the
society and that Hori should throw Jhuniya out of the house. But when Dhaniya refused to remove
Jhuniya, Bhola threatened them that he will take away their bullocks for not paying him for the cow
and for keeping Jhuniya with them. Datadin, Pateshwari, Shobha and the rest of the villagers come
to help Hori and they ask Bhola not to take his bullocks. But Hori tells them, that it is his dharma that
he should pay for the cows, and if Bhola wants his bullocks in return for the cows then he should
give Bhola the bullocks. So, the villagers are also not able to help Hori. We see how Hori is so
traditional-minded and oppressed that he cannot even help himself. He is not ever ready to fight for
himself. People cheat him and mistreat him and he just accepts it. He has no voice of his own.

Without the bullocks Hori cannot till his land. He cannot grow his crops. And without the crop he will
not be able to pay the rent or his debts. His family also will not have anything to eat. Luckily for him,
Punni, Hira’s wife comes and helps them. She provides them with grains and food, because Hori had
helped to sow her land when Hira disappeared. When Rai Sahib hears about the fine that Hori had to
pay, he scolds Pandit Nokheram, his agent. Pandit Datadin, Mangaru, Jhinguri Singh and Pandit
Nokheram are all scared of Rai Sahib. So, they try to help Hori. Datadin offers to help Hori by giving
him seeds and helping him sow the land. But in return for the seeds and the help in sowing, Datadin
asks Hori for half of his crops. Hori can see that Datadin is being unjust. Hori and his family had to do
all the labour to grow the crops. Datadin was providing the seeds and so they will only be able to get
half of the crops.

When the crop is ready, Hori gets ready to sell the sugarcane at the mill. If he can sell his crop, he
will earn some money. But Jhinguri Singh is already there at the mill, to collect all the money from
the faremrs because the farmers have not repaid the loans that they have taken. Thus, even after
having a good harvest Hori is not able to get any money after selling the crop, because Jhinguri Singh
took the money that Hori earned after selling his crop. He got one Rs 125 for his crops and Jhinguri
Singh took away Rs 100. Pandit Nokheram then took the Rs 25 as rent. Dulari the shopkeeper also
came to ask for her money but Hori had no money to pay now. Mangaru also wanted his money but
there was no money left. Even after having good crop, Hori was left with nothing.

After this, Hori and his family become slaves for Datadin. They have nothing left. They don’t have
money to grow crops. They don’t have bullocks to till the land. They don’t even have money to eat.
So, they start working in Datadin’s lands. But, Datadin is very cruel and he makes Hori and his family
work very hard. Hori even falls down unconscious one day, because he had nothing to eat and he
had to work very hard under Datadin. Dhaniya tries to fight against the moneylenders. But Hori does
not say anything. He is submissive and he does not have the strength to fight. He does not know
about his rights. He does not know that the moneylenders, the agent and the revenue clerk were
cheating him. He could not get help from the police or from Rai Sahib because no one was going to
help him. So, he quietly bears all the punishment. He thinks it is his fate to suffer.

Meanwhile, Gobar has been living in the city of Lucknow. He started working for Mirza and Mirza
Khursheed gave him a place to stay. He worked as a laborer after that. He then opened a stall in the
Lucknow, and sold cold drinks and water to people in summer and tea in winters. He started making
money. He started wearing good clothes. He also learned about modern concepts of nation,
democracy, etc. He also started understanding how politics works in the society. He learns how to lie
and how to make money by lending money to others. He stays in a house provided by Mirza, but he
 Department of English, R. L. S. Y. College, Semester 1 - 2

never pays rent to him. When Mirza asks him for some money, he lies to him that he does not have
any money. Gobar has become smart and wise. He still misses his home and wants to bring Jhuniya
to the city with him. So, he decides to return to his village after spending one year in Lucknow. He
buys dresses for everyone and toys for his child. He also gets them sweets, etc. And he heads for his
village.

At the village, Gobar finds his family to be in despair and poverty. They have become poorer and
their conditions have become worse. He did not send any money to his family because he thought
his father will give it away to the moneylender. He finds their bullocks are gone. His family is working
in other’s fields. They don’t have money to eat and their clothes are torn. The house has nothing.
Gobar is very angry at Datadin, Mangaru, Dulari, Jhinguri Singh and Pandit Nokheram. He also goes
to Bhola’s place and gets the bullocks back. He tells Bhola to send his son to the city where he can
make more money and they can also sell milk and earn more. Bhola forgets his anger on seeing
Gobar. Gobar looks very smart and confident in his new clothes. His behavior and attitude have also
changed. Even the moneylenders get scared when Gobar tells them that he will complain about
them and file a case in the court. He threatens them that they will be punished if they keep charging
high amount of interest from his father. He tells them that his father will not pay high rates of
interest. Instead of paying 1 Rupee per month interest, they will only pay 12 Anna, which is the
interest rate the banks charge. The moneylenders get very angry at Gobar and decide to take
revenge on him. On the day of Holi, Gobar invites everyone and provides them with Bhaang and
drinks. Everyone visits Hori’s place but no one goes to Pandit Datadin or Jhinguri Singh’s house to
celebrate Holi. Gobar also stages a play where he makes fun of the moneylenders and ridicules them
in front of everyone.

There are also other changes that have happened in Gobar, Gobar has beome very rude to his
parents. He scolds his father for paying so much rent and interest. He tells him that should refuse to
pay the rent and interest. But Hori does not listen to him. This makes Gobar very angry and he tells
his father that he will not give them any money. He tells his father that he cannot destroy himself by
paying money to others, but he will not be a part of it. He even tells his mother when she scolds him,
that he did not get anything from them when he was a child. He did not get to have proper food.
They could not even get him married because they have no money. According to Gobar, rich people
can do anything in the society and the society does not care about them. But when poor people
make a mistake, they are punished severely. So Gobar thinks money is the only solution. If you are
rich no one can challenge you. Gobar also becomes very cruel towards his sisters. When his sisters
Sona and Rupa start fighting he slaps them. Dhaniya does not like Gobar acting like that.

Gobar decides to leave the village with his wife and son. Jhuniya also wants to go with Gobar and
she does not come and help her mother-in-law and father-in-law. Dhaniya and Hori feels very sad
that their son has changed so much. Gobar when he was leaving the village, he used to worship his
parents and feel very proud of them. But now he is not even willing to understand his parents. He
has no patience for them. He does not listen to them. He thinks Hori is weak and ineffective. Pandit
Nokheram wants to teach Gobar a lesson for acting so confident and threatening them, so he tries to
cheat Hori. He tells Hori that he has not paid the rent for the last two years. It was false. Hori had
paid the rent but Nokheram did not give him the receipt. And now Nokheram was trying to take an
advantage of the fact. Hori blames Gobar for this. And Gobar gets mad at his parents. He feels that
he was only trying to help his parents, and his parents were blaming him instead of appreciating him.

The author shows us about the life of the other characters also like Malti, Mr Mehta, Rai Sahib,
Khanna and Govindi.
 Department of English, R. L. S. Y. College, Semester 1 - 3

Malti’s father is a drunkard and he has spent all their money in alcohol. They also have a lot of loans
to repay. Malti has two sisters and her mother at home. She has to take care of everyone. She is the
only person earning in her family. Her life is not that easy, she also had to struggle a lot. Malti is also
a supporter of women’s rights. She is a member of the Women’s League. The Women’s league is an
organization working for women’s rights and women’s education. Mr Mehta who is invited to speak
at the Women’s League meeting. Mr Mehta’s views on women are orthodox (परं पराित) and
patriarchal (गपतृसत्ता). Mehta thinks that a woman is a goddess and superior to men. Their right place
is at home taking care of children. Motherhood is the defining quality of a woman. If women start
coming out of their home, and getting educated and entering work space or politics, they will lower
their dignity. According him women are greater than all men, and they should preserve their
greatness by staying at home. He thinks women in the present age are becoming bold and frank.
They have lost all their dignity and shame. They try to act like men. The want to adopt the bad habits
of men. Women should not try to become like men. He thinks women should also not have voting
rights. Because politics is not the space for women. Women should only concern themselves about
home, her husband and her children. She should not have anything to do with the outside world.

We see that Mehta is very educated and knowledgeable but he is also very conservative and only
thinks about women’s welfare from the perspective of a man. He does not understand that by
idolizing a woman and making her responsible for upholding the tradition and making sacrifices he is
being unjust to women. Why should women be responsible for upholding the tradition and values?
Mehta even hurts Malti by saying that it is her fault that Khanna has been coming after her. It is not
Khanna’s fault that he is immoral and disloyal to his wife. Mehta does not see that by turning all
women into goddesses and worshipping them, he is putting too much pressure and responsibility on
them. Men don’t have that kind of responsibility. So, they can enjoy their freedom. They can study,
travel, enter politics and do whatever they want to do. But if women are allowed freedom, people
think that women would bring harm to the family’s reputation. Premchand is trying to show that this
kind of backward thinking was everywhere even among learned people like Mehta. Women were
not educated or allowed to work because then she will not have the time to marry or run the house
or look after the husband. If women will not take care of the household then there will be no one to
take the responsibility. Mehta did not once, think that both man and woman must work together in
a household. The husband and wife should share duties and responsibilities. It is not enough for the
man to earn money and the woman to look after the husband, children and the house. Malti’s sister
Saroj gets very angry at Mr Mehta’s speech and his ideas on women’s freedom. Even Govindi or Mrs.
Khanna tells Mehta, that he is only worried about women’s faults. He is blind towards the faults of
men. He wants his wife to be ideal – he wants his wife to make all sacrifices and do everything for
him and his children.

Govindi in the beginning hates Malti. She thinks she is trying to destroy her marriage. She does not
like that Khanna spends all the money on Malti and runs after her all the time. She calls Malti a
witch. She also fights with her husband and accuses him of cheating on her. But in the end, she
realizes that it is not Malti’s fault that Mr Khanna is like that. She understands Malti does not want
to marry because she does not want to be someone’s slave. Marriage has only brought sadness and
misery for her. Govindi wants to leave Khanna but she cannot go anywhere, because she is married
to him. She understands Malti’s decision to remain independent and not marry. Govindi meets
Mehta and she is very surprised to know that Mehta thinks she is a goddess. She did not think
people noticed her. But when Mr Mehta starts praising her she feels good about herself. Mr Mehta
also tries to understand when Govindi tells her that his view on modern women is wrong. Govindi
tells her that he has not married yet, so he does not know the challenges of marriage.
 Department of English, R. L. S. Y. College, Semester 1 - 4

We are also told about Rai Sahib and his money problems. Rai Sahib’s daughter is getting married.
He is also running for elections. He also filed a court case regarding some property. As a result, he is
running out of money. He tried to ask Tankha to help him. But Tankha refuses to help him and
behaves very rudely with him. Khanna owns a bank so Rai Sahib goes to him for a loan. Khanna
refuses to give him a loan. Rai Sahib meets Mehta at Khanna’s place. Mr Mehta is collecting
donation for building a new gymnasium (gym) for women. Khanna refuses to make any donation.
But Rai Sahib feels that if he does not make a donation people will laugh at him. So even when he
did not have any money, he ends up donating five thousand rupees. Khanna laughs at him that for
trying to save his public image he is donating money when he himself is in need of a money.
Premchand wants to show that it is not just the poor villagers but also the rich and the people from
the city who are victims of the traditional systems of patriarchy and orthodoxy. Rai Sahib would not
have money problems, if he did not spend so much money at his daughter’s wedding. Or if he had
not spent so much money in the elections to win against a local Raja (king) because his pride will not
allow him to lose. He was also very proud so he could not tell Mehta that he has no money to make
donations. Like Hori, for Rai Sahib also pride, public image and dignity is everything.

Homework:

1. Do you think Gobar was able to help his parents – Hori and Dhaniya? Why couln’t Gobar
help his parents?
2. What do you think about Mr Mehta’s views on women’s rights (Read chapter 15 and
Mehta’s speech to answer the question)?