Table of Contents:-
Personal Information
Assignment Details
Abstract
Keywords
About Rabindranath Tagore
About the Novel – The Home and the World
Introduction: Context, Conflict, and Thesis
Sandeep: The Rhetoric and Economic Cost of Pride
The Cult of the Nation-Goddess
Exploitation and Economic Fragmentation
Bimala’s Journey: The Personal Price of Betrayal
Seduction by the Abstract Idol
Disillusionment and Moral Reintegration
Nikhil: The Vision of Moral Freedom and Cosmopolitanism
Freedom as Ethical Self-Rule
Cosmopolitanism and the Cost of Integrity
Conclusion
References
Personal Information:
Name:- Trupti Hadiya
Batch:- M.A. Sem 3 (2024-2026)
Enrollment Number:- 5108240013
E-mail Address:hadiyatrupti55@gmail.com
Roll Number:- 31
Assignment Details:-
Topic: The Cost of a Nation’s Pride: Re-reading Tagore’s Vision of Freedom
Paper & subject code:- 22406. Paper 201: Indian English Literature – Pre-Independence
Submitted to:- Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar
Date of Submission:- 10 November 2025
Abstract
Rabindranath Tagore's novel, The Home and the World (1916), presents a searing indictment of the Swadeshi Movement's extremist tendencies, positioning itself as a moral critique of burgeoning national identity. This paper establishes that the novel meticulously dissects the devastating "cost" incurred by a jingoistic, emotionally manipulative form of nationalism—the "nation's pride"—which Tagore perceived as a dangerous form of collective self-worship. Through the narrative conflict among Nikhil, Sandeep, and Bimala, the study meticulously traces how this pride precipitates communal fragmentation, economic injustice, and the profound moral collapse of the individual. The central argument is that Tagore’s text demands a fundamental re-reading of freedom, advocating for a concept rooted in universal humanism and personal ethical autonomy (embodied by Nikhil), one that transcends and actively condemns the aggressive, self-serving rhetoric of uncritical national fervor.
Keywords
Rabindranath Tagore, The Home and the World, Swadeshi Movement, Jingoism, Political Corruption, Moral Freedom, Sandeep, Nikhil, Bimala, Cosmopolitanism, Ethical Autonomy.
The Cost of a Nation’s Pride: Re-reading Tagore’s Vision of Freedom
About Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) was a poet, novelist, playwright, philosopher, painter, and educator — one of India’s greatest literary figures. Born in Calcutta, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1913) for Gitanjali (Song Offerings). Educated in India and England, he founded Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan in 1921 as a center for cultural exchange “where the world meets in one nest.” Writing in Bengali and English, Tagore produced over 2,000 songs, 8 novels, 50 plays, and numerous poems and essays. His notable works include Gitanjali, Gora, The Home and the World, and The Post Office. His songs Jana Gana Mana and Amar Shonar Bangla became the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. Rooted in universal humanism, Tagore emphasized that true freedom is moral and spiritual, not merely political, and warned against blind nationalism in Nationalism (1917).
Key Points:
Nobel Laureate in Literature (1913) for Gitanjali.
Founder of Visva-Bharati University.
Advocated spiritual freedom over political nationalism.
Major works: Gitanjali, Gora, The Home and the World, The Post Office.
Critiqued aggressive nationalism in Nationalism (1917).
Composed India’s and Bangladesh’s national anthems.
About the Novel – The Home and the World
Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World (Ghare-Baire, 1916; Eng. tr. 1921) explores love, nationalism, and moral conflict during Bengal’s Swadeshi Movement. Told through Nikhil, Bimala, and Sandip, it contrasts the “home” — symbolizing peace and moral truth — with the “world” — representing pride and political ambition. Nikhil embodies idealism, Sandip represents manipulative nationalism, and Bimala struggles between emotion and duty.
Tagore critiques blind nationalism, warning that patriotism without morality destroys both personal and national harmony. The novel blends psychological depth with political reflection, affirming that true freedom must rest on truth, compassion, and self-discipline.
Key Points:
Setting: Swadeshi Movement (1905–1911)
Themes: Nationalism vs. Humanism, Gender & Freedom, Moral vs. Emotional conflict
Symbolism: Home = moral peace; World = political temptation
Message: Freedom must be humane, not fueled by pride or violence.
1. Introduction: Context, Conflict, and Thesis
The Home and the World (Ghare Baire) is arguably Rabindranath Tagore's most direct literary engagement with the socio-political upheaval of the early 20th century in Bengal. Written against the backdrop of the anti-Partition Swadeshi Movement (1905–1911), the novel scrutinizes the moral integrity of India's struggle for independence. Tagore, though a staunch advocate for self-rule, rejected the notion that any goal, even national liberation, could justify immoral means, viewing aggressive nationalism as a foreign (Western) construct antithetical to India's spiritual heritage.
The novel's dualistic title, "The Home and the World," serves as its core allegory: the Home symbolizes the domain of private morality, truth, and genuine love, while the World signifies the sphere of politics, collective passion, and ethical compromise. This assignment analyzes the novel as a powerful exposé of the "Cost of a Nation’s Pride." The core thesis is that Tagore’s vision of true freedom is inseparable from moral integrity, and the novel uses the tragedy of the three protagonists to illustrate that uncritical national pride inevitably leads to moral bondage, social chaos, and the failure of the nationalist project itself.
2. Sandeep: The Rhetoric and Economic Cost of Pride
Sandeep, the charismatic revolutionary, represents the intoxicating yet ultimately poisonous nature of the "nation's pride." He embodies the Machiavellian aspect of nationalism, asserting that the ends of national glory justify any means.
2.1. The Cult of the Nation-Goddess
Sandeep’s philosophy is rooted in a perverse religion of self-worship cloaked in national fervor. He reframes ethical compromise as a patriotic necessity, famously declaring, "The country is the deity" and that "whenever an individual or nation becomes incapable of perpetrating injustice it is swept into the dust-bin of the world". This ideology, which elevates the nation to an absolute entity demanding sacrifice of personal conscience, is precisely the cost Tagore highlights: the surrender of the ethical self to the collective ego. Sandeep’s power lies not in reason, but in his ability to mobilize the destructive force of passion, which he sees as the only "reality".
2.2. Exploitation and Economic Fragmentation
The most tangible cost of Sandeep’s pride is the resulting economic tyranny and communal division. The Swadeshi principle, meant to foster economic self-reliance, is corrupted by Sandeep into a tool for profit and coercion. He forces the poor, specifically the Muslim traders and villagers, to boycott cheaper foreign goods and buy costlier indigenous Swadeshi cloth. This act reveals that aggressive national pride does not promote unity; instead, it becomes a system of internal exploitation, turning Hindu nationalism against vulnerable minorities and ultimately triggering the communal riots that conclude the novel’s main action. The nation, in Sandeep's hands, becomes a source of oppression, not liberation.
3. Bimala’s Journey: The Personal Price of Betrayal
Bimala serves as the novel’s psychological barometer, her transition mirroring the national awakening and subsequent moral crisis. Her journey demonstrates how a narrow sense of national pride can be confused with personal, emotional excitement, leading to betrayal and self-degradation.
3.1. Seduction by the Abstract Idol
Bimala, initially restrained by the antaḥpur, finds a sense of cosmic significance in Sandeep’s patriotic rhetoric, which is intimately tied to her own awakening desire for recognition. Sandeep deliberately conflates the image of the Nation-Mother with Bimala herself, appealing to her vanity and leading her to mistake her infatuation for him as her sacred duty to the country. This emotional seduction leads directly to her moral crime: the theft of fifty thousand rupees from Nikhil’s safe, intended for his school, to fund Sandeep’s movement. Her crime is the personal cost of pride, showing that nationalistic fervor, when unguided by morality, acts as a solvent on individual ethics.
3.2. Disillusionment and Moral Reintegration
Bimala’s eventual disillusionment is her moral awakening and the novel's crucial pivot. When she finally sees Sandeep’s opportunism—his callous disregard for the money and his complete lack of moral principle—she understands the hollowness of the pride she had embraced. Her final realization is that her own betrayal of Nikhil was a simultaneous betrayal of the true principles of her country: "I could not think of my house as separate from my country: I had robbed my house, I had robbed my country". This moment initiates her final re-reading of freedom, recognizing it not as an act of political grandstanding, but as a commitment to truth and righteousness within the most immediate sphere of her life.
4. Nikhil: The Vision of Moral Freedom and Cosmopolitanism
Nikhil is the ideological core of Tagore’s critique and the exemplar of his vision of true freedom. He represents a brand of nationalism built on self-respect, reason, and universal humanism, standing in defiant isolation against the tide of popular fervor.
4.1. Freedom as Ethical Self-Rule
Nikhil's freedom is defined by its inner, spiritual quality, rather than its external, political state. He articulates Tagore’s view that political freedom is worthless if it must be purchased by moral surrender: “Use force? But for what? Can force prevail against Truth?” and “If India must be free, she should be free with her honour intact”. This insistence on the correlation of ends and means is the essence of Tagore’s critique of national pride—that true liberation requires the spirit to be unshackled from deceit and violence.
4.2. Cosmopolitanism and the Cost of Integrity
Nikhil embodies "rooted cosmopolitanism," an ideal that honors one’s local culture while prioritizing universal humanity over narrow national self-interest. His refusal to idolize the nation is a moral imperative, based on the belief that duty to one's fellow man—regardless of race or creed—is higher than duty to an abstract national deity.
The cost of Nikhil’s moral integrity is intense personal suffering: he is alienated from his community, branded a traitor, and ultimately risks his life for the victims of the communal strife caused by the Swadeshi extremists. His potential death is not a sign of failure, but the ultimate sacrifice for humanity, proving that genuine freedom is attained only through altruism and moral courage, directly contrasting the self-glorifying pride of Sandeep.
Conclusion:
The Home and the World is an enduring masterpiece because of its radical courage in critiquing the inherent dangers of the "nation’s pride." The novel functions as a timeless warning that any struggle for freedom, when fueled by emotional jingoism and moral expediency, is doomed to fail, leading only to social fragmentation and the internal bondage of the human spirit.
Through the tragic resolution, Tagore forces a definitive re-reading of freedom. The novel unequivocally rejects Sandeep’s aggressive, abstract nationalism, confirming that the path to a liberated India must follow Nikhil’s vision: a path of moral freedom, self-respect, and ethical cosmopolitanism. The ultimate cost of a nation's pride is the loss of humanity; true freedom, as Tagore illuminates, is attained only when the individual conscience is free from the tyranny of its own collective ego.
References:
Chaudhuri, Rosinka. “Cutlets or Fish Curry?: Debating Indian Authenticity in Late Nineteenth-Century Bengal.” Modern Asian Studies, vol. 40, no. 2, 2006, pp. 257–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3876485. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
Desai, Anita. “Introduction to Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World.” South Asian Review, vol. 25, no. 1, Nov. 2004, pp. 54–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/02759527.2004.11932323.
Mitra, Tanushree, et al. "Bridging the Nationalism-Cosmopolitanism Divide: A Critical Analysis of Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World." SIC Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, 2024, pp. 5–20. SIC Journal, https://www.sic-journal.org/Article/Index/781. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
Pham, Chi P. “Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World: Story of the Failure of the Nationalist Project.” Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, vol. 7, no. 2, Dec. 2013, pp. 50–63. Open Access PDF, https://escholarship.org/content/qt3fd5r9tk/qt3fd5r9tk.pdf?utm.
Rajan, Rajeswari Sunder. “The Feminist Plot and the Nationalist Allegory: Home and World in Two Indian Women’s Novels in English.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 39, no. 1, 1993, pp. 71–92. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26284397. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
Tagore, Rabindranath. Home and the World. Translated by Sreejata Guha, Penguin Books India PVT, Limited, 2005. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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