Social Criticism in Premchand's "Godan"

Premchand's "Godan" produces the rustic, simplistic and heart-rending lives of the peasants. Far, from exaggeration,"Godan" is "a novel of stark reality". It deals with the dreams, despairs and day-to day events of Hori, the protagonist of the novel, and his family. Through the peasants, Premchand has portrayed the pathetic life of the rural arena. Hori is an embodiment of peasant-virtue, simplicity and truth. He leads an inconsistent life with his wife Dhania, and his three children. Their unstable financial situation always tends to lend them frustration and despair. A tension-free life is not theirs. If they spend a quarter of their lives in starvation, they spend the rest paying unwarranted loans. The money-lenders take full advantage of their poverty ad therefore take unreasonable interest from them. Premchand writes:" A loan was an unwelcome guest, once in the house, dug himself into permanent fixture." The money-lenders also exploit the ignorance and gullibility of the peasants. The village-folk in the higher strata of society, who are financially sounder, take advantage of the village-peasants. In the novel, we find, we find how Dulari mounts a small amount of money into a hundred rupees within a small fraction of time.

The zamindars are no exception in this regard. They make maximum use of the tenants and extract manual labour from them. Hori, already old, and fatigued from poverty has to do strenuous work in order to make both ends meet. The cow he eventually gets hold of is mercilessly killed by his cruel brother Heera.

Their ambitions and dreams are also made apparent by the novelist. While some of them love their soil, the younger generation opts for city life. For them, material pros[pects hold more water than than sentimental values. Hori therefore does not approve with Gobar to shift to the city. For Gobar, material prospects hold more water than sentimental values. Therefore Hori does not embrace the idea of moving to the city. A typical peasant, his land is everything to him.. He regards the cattle also as a member of the family. Isolated life does not appeal to them and they long to thrive and integrate with the community. This becomes apparent when Hori is willing to pay the fine imposed by the village for admitting Jhunia. Hori does not want to be treated as an outcaste. He tells Dhania that he wants to live with society and not outside society.

The lack of education of the peasants can be considered a major factor in their backwardness. Superstitions are prevalent. We have a humorous account of how news spreads in the village of Dhania's over-powering the inspector. After the incident, people flock around Hori's hut to have a Darshan of Dhania. They undergo all the rites , to protect the newly arrived cow from the evil eye. They cannot fling away their false pride even in the face of dire poverty. Eventhough, Sona's bridegroom does not demand any dowry, they pay it as it a matter of prestige in society. Again, the caste-system very much exists . We find Heera admonishing Punia for quarrelling with a low caste man.

Women are not portrayed as equal to men. We find Damri exclaiming to Hori how his son ran away leaving his wife with another woman. Subsequently, his wife gets married to another man. Damri gets revolted only with the infidelity of women and not men thereby practicing double standards. The husbands ill treat their wives after drinking. Dhania talks of Hori's ill-treatment and quips how it would have been if it were the other way around. Heera also abuses his wife. Though Gobar is affectionate towards his wife in the beginning , gradually their relationship deteriorates. "Early married life throbs with love and desire; like the dawn the span of life is suffused with a roseate glow. The afternoon of life dissolves illusion into its stinging rays, but brings face to face with reality."

Some of the scenes will always be memorable. Like, for instance, when Rupa sucks on a raw mango in starvation. The handing over of the child-like Rupa to the elderly man in marriage. The deserting of the aged parents by Jhunia and Gobar, who bore all pains and social stigma for them. The economical system came as a blessing, but Jhenguri Singh makes maximum use of it to manipulate people. The most heart-rending scene is the death of Hori or more precisely his last moments. His being religious and magnanimous, the family does not possess the adequate means even to complete his final rites. The novel thus ends in a tragedy.