Godan- Plot Summary
The plot centers around a number of characters that represent various segments of the Indian community. Hori Mahato’s family represents peasant and rural society, and his family includes his wife Dhania, daughters Rupa and Sona, son Gobar, and daughter-in-law Jhunia. Hori, like millions of other poor peasants, wants a cow at the start of the story. He borrowed Rs. 80 to buy a cow from Bhola, a cowherd. Hori attempted to defraud his brothers for ten rupees. This sparked a feud between his wife and his younger brother’s wife, Heera. Heera, Hori’s younger brother, was jealous of Hori and poisoned the cow before fleeing for fear of police action.
When the police arrived to investigate the death of the cow, Hori took out a loan and paid the bribe to the police, clearing his younger brother’s name. Jhunia, Bhola’s daughter, was a widow who eloped with Gobar after becoming pregnant by him. Gobar fled to town because he was afraid of the peasants’ actions. Hori and Dhania were unable to discard a girl who was carrying their son’s kid, so they protected her and accepted her as their daughter-in-law. The local panchayat punishes Hori as his wife confronts Pandit’s personal attack on them for harboring Jhunia. Hori is forced to take out another loan and pay the penalty.
Hori is deeply in debt to local moneylenders and eventually married off his daughter Rupa for 200 rupees to prevent his ancestral estate from being auctioned off due to his inability to pay land tax. But, his drive to pay those 200 rupees and have a cow to supply milk to his grandson results in Hori’s death as a result of overwork. When he was ready to die, his wife Dhania took out all of her money (1.25 rupees) and made Hori pay the priest on godaan’s behalf (cow donation). This eventually fulfills Hori’s customary ambition, but his wish to repay his son-in-200 law’s rupees and to get a cow to milk his grandchild remains unmet.
Hori is shown as a typical poor peasant who is a victim of circumstance and possesses all of the flaws of the ordinary man, yet despite this, he stands by his honesty, obligations, and judgment when the situation calls for it. At the end of the story, he is depicted dead, partially fulfilled and partially unsatisfied. In other ways, Hori remains faithful to his principles, making the finale bittersweet.
Characters in Godan
Hori:
Hori is a peasant married to Dhania with two kids and a son. He is a righteous man who fights to keep his righteousness throughout his life. He has two younger brothers, and he thinks it is his duty as the eldest brother to aid them at the expense of his own family. He bribes the police officers who arrive in the village to investigate the death of his cow. As a result, he prevents the police from searching his brother, Heera’s, home. He is a man who is devoted to his community and regards the panchayat’s decision as final.
He accepts punishment for the death of the cow. He feels orphaned to be outside the community and hence accepts the panchayat’s penalty when Gobar brings home a low-caste girl. Similarly, he allows Bhola to steal his cow since he is unable to pay for it and is unwilling to dismiss Jhunia from his home. They regard her as their daughter-in-law, and her child as their grandson. He is generous and caring. He shelters Seliya, a cobbler’s daughter who is exploited by the Brahmin Matadin and shunned by her own people.
Hori’s wife, Dhania, is dedicated to him and constantly supportive. She is fearless and fierce, and she will not tolerate injustice. She speaks up against injustice, against Hori’s wishes, and irritates him. Hori puts up with a lot of oppression from the money lenders and the Brahmin priest, which irritates her. Hori, despite the fact that he punishes her for disobeying him at times, recognizes that her reasons are true. She forces him to acknowledge the truth and the reality of facts. Unlike him, she is not bogged down by clichés and ideals. She adheres to what she believes to be proper and her dharma, rather than the community’s established principles. She willingly takes a low-caste girl into her household as her daughter-in-law. She does not blame Jhunia alone for putting them in an awkward situation. She is aware that her son, Gobar, shares responsibility.
She is a devoted mother. She also looks after Heera’s children on occasion, and she gladly accommodates and shields the pregnant Seliya, the cobbler’s daughter. Dhania has never known a life of peace and ease, as we see her struggle for a living alongside her husband throughout the narrative. She is powerful and assists those in need regardless of caste or creed.
Gobar:
Gobar is Dhania and Hori’s only son. He wants to a comfortable life despite being born into a poor household. Though he begins as a simpleton, much like his father, he gains experience in the city of Lucknow and learns to be practical and worldly smart. He impregnates Jhunia, Bhola’s daughter, and, without the strength to face the villagers’ fury, departs to the city, abandoning Jhunia on his parents’ doorstep. Hori suffers the consequences of his insensitive haste behavior. Gobar works for Mirza Kursheed yet has his own company. He also makes loans to others.
During a brief visit to the village, he arrives dressed as a gentleman wearing pump shoes and goes unnoticed. He becomes the center of attention in the town, and the other young men are enticed to travel to the city to meet him. He pledges to find them work. As he discovers that Datadin is abusing his father, he counsels him to break free from traditional bonds.
He organizes a party and performs a performance with his buddies to expose and satirize the meanness of the local money lenders and the Brahmin priest. He threatens to haul the priest to court and gets into an argument with his father about it. Hori is too simple and god-fearing for him to go against his dharma, he realizes. He storms out of the town, accompanied by his wife Jhunia, and returns to the city. His alcoholism and short temper have an impact on his relationship with Jhunia. Only after his loyal wife nurses him throughout his illness does he realize his error. He works in the sugar plant before becoming Malathi’s gardener.
Datadin:
Datadin is the village Brahmin priest and a ruthless moneylender. It’s amusing that this individual with poor standards patrols the town, enforcing the wrongs of the other inhabitants. He punishes Hori for adopting and harboring Jhunia, a low-caste girl, as their daughter-in-law. He is a hypocrite who is oblivious to the fact that his own son Mataddin is having an affair with Seliya, the daughter of a cobbler. He summons experts from Varanasi to perform purification rituals on his polluted son in order to bring him back into the fold of Brahmanism. He does not lament Hori’s poverty, but rather takes advantage of and exploits his goodness.
Matadin:
Matadin is the Brahmin priest Datadin’s son. He is young and having an affair with Seliya, a low-caste lady who works for him on the farm. The villagers are aware of it. Seliya does not have access to his home. Her parents and relatives are hoping that he will accept her. Finally, they decide to punish him by beating him and inserting a piece of bone into his mouth—a Brahmin taboo. But Seliya comes to his rescue. Matadin becomes an outsider within his own family. His father performs purification rituals to bring him back into the fold of Brahmanism. He spends a lot of money on the rites, and Kashi pundits are summoned. Matadin’s malarial sickness, which nearly killed him, has made him see his error in abusing Selia.
When Matadin learns that he has a son from Seliya, he longs to meet him and sneaks away when she is away. He is sorry and sends her two rupees via Hori. He realizes he owes Seliya and his son his life. He removes his holy thread, freeing himself from the bonds of Brahmanism. He is now free to live bravely with Seliya as his wife.
Bhola:
Bhola is a cowherd from a nearby village. He is a widower with two married sons and Jhunia, a young bereaved daughter. Bhola offers to lend Hori a cow in exchange for Hori promising to find him a companion to remarry. Bhola is devastated when his daughter marries Hori’s son Gobar. On a vengeance mission, he arrives at Hori’s house and demands payment for the deceased cow. Hori lacks the Rs.80 required to purchase the cow.
Bhola threatens to take away Hori’s oxen, reducing him to the status of a laborer. As Hori begs him, Bhola advises that they send out Jhunia, their daughter-in-law, and his own daughter because she had injured his feelings. Dhania, Hori’s wife, finds this unacceptable. It’s ridiculous that Jhunia’s father, instead of claiming that Hori and his wife accepted this girl who became pregnant without her marriage being sanctified, would prefer to see her thrown away with her child. He heartlessly steals Hori’s oxen and renders him defenseless.
Heera Hori’s younger brother, whom he despises. Only Hori and Dhania have raised him. He is married to Punia, whose battling spirit separates him from Hori. He assumes that Hori concealed the money at the time of Partition, and when Hori borrows a cow from Bhola, he assumes that Hori was hiding the money. He poisons the cow as a result of his jealousy. He fled from the allegation of cow slaughter. He then reaches the conclusion of the novel and apologizes to Hori.
Punia Heera’s wife, who has a confrontational personality. She frequently disagrees with Dhania. But, once Hira vanishes, she recognizes her error as Hori assists him.
Shobha:
Shobha is Hori’s youngest brother, and he adores and respects both of his brothers.
Chuhia is a city neighbor of Gobar and a close friend of Juniya. She looks after Juniya and Gobar’s son.
Malati Devi (doctor), Mr. Mehta (lecturer and philosopher), Mr. Khanna (banker), Rai Sahib (zamindar), Mr. Tankha (broker), Mr. Mirza (social activist), and Pandit Omkarnath represent the urban society (publisher).
Rai Sahib has twice won local elections. He desired to marry off his daughter to a wealthy zamindar in order to re-elect himself and seize his in-law’s property. As a result, he married off his daughter to another wealthy, widowed, and raked zamindar. He claimed and won his in-laws’ zamindari. He won the election and was appointed as municipal minister.
But when he planned to marry his son to Raja Suryankant’s daughter for the sake of his family’s dignity, his son rejected. He has feelings for Saroj, Malati Devi’s younger sister. They both married and moved to London. His son claimed and gained the entire land that Rai Sahib had won from his in-laws, leaving Rai Sahib in massive debt. His daughter and her husband divorced. Despite his best efforts, Rai Sahib was ultimately disappointed.
Ms. Malati: Ms. Malati is a lovely lady with a brilliant mind who was educated in Europe. She is one of Mr. Kaul’s three daughters. She is the center of attention at gatherings and is very flirty. Mr. Khanna flirts with her, and Govindi both envies and dislikes her. Mr. Mehta, in turn, falls in love with Malati because of his ideas, simplicity, and intelligence. She discovers herself during a journey to the village of Hori. She begins aiding the underprivileged and becomes active in a variety of social activities.
Mr. Mehta falls in love with Malati after witnessing her transformation. Notwithstanding her feelings for Mr. Mehta, Malati declines his marriage proposal. She no longer wishes to marry and instead wishes to serve the impoverished. Mr. Mehta and Malati work together to help the underprivileged and the needy. Because of her commitment to humanitarian works, Malati Devi is the only character presented as conflicted towards the end of the tale.
Mr. Mehta:
Mr. Mehta is a scholar who teaches philosophy at a university. He is also working on a philosophical book that he will dedicate to Malati. He has an impact on two characters, Malati and Govindi. Govindi finds solace in chatting with him since he admires her view of women. Malati loses her ego and realizes the genuine meaning of life via him. She learns how to help the underprivileged. He requires Malati’s advice because he has wasted his assets and income by compassionately serving the underprivileged. Despite his desire to marry Malati, the two mutually agree to stay pals in the same home.
Mr. Khanna:
Mr. Khanna is a businessman who runs a sugar mill. Although being married and the father of three children, he scorns his wife Govindi for her conventional views. He has an affair with Malati. He is unable to recognize his wife’s virtues. Govindi is fed up with his behavior, which pushes her to leave the house. He takes advantage of the working class. Only when his sugar factory is destroyed in a fire and Govindi stands by him pushing him to rebuild it does he realize his error. Mr. Khanna finally falls in love with his wife.
Govindi:
Govindi is Mr. Khanna’s wife, a wealthy industrialist, and she represents the perfect Hindu wife. She is moral and patient with her husband and children. Mr. Khanna is uninterested in her because he dislikes her conventional morals. He is taken with Miss Malati and flirts with her. Govindi is devastated and decides to forsake him and his home. But, it is Mr. Mehta, who has always admired her ideas, who advises her to return to the children. When her husband’s sugar factory is devastated by fire, she provides moral assistance. She is the one who urges him to restart it.
Mirza Saheb:
Mirza Saheb is a good and cheerful person who is always cracking jokes. When Gobar initially arrives in town, he works as a gardener at Mirza Saheb’s estate. Gobar has a strong influence on Mirza Saheb.
Themes of Godan
“Godan” is a novel by Munshi Premchand, one of Hindi literature’s most acclaimed authors. The story delves into a variety of topics that are still relevant today, including:
Poverty and Social Injustice: The novel depicts the terrible reality of rural India’s poverty and social injustice. It highlights the challenges of farmers who labor hard to make ends meet but are taken advantage of by landlords and moneylenders. The novel depicts how poverty leads to a vicious cycle of debt and how it impacts the poor’s life.
Caste Discrimination: The novel depicts the caste system in India and how it affects people’s lives. The novel’s characters are split into castes and are obliged to follow specific standards and traditions. The tale depicts how the caste system causes prejudice and creates social hurdles that are difficult to overcome.
Gender Inequality: The story discusses gender disparity in Indian society. It depicts the challenges of women who face patriarchal standards and conventions. The tale depicts how women are denied basic rights and viewed as inferior to males.
The Novel’s Emphasis on Education: The novel highlights the importance of education in effecting societal change. Hori, the novel’s protagonist, recognizes the value of knowledge and decides to teach his son, Gobar. The novel demonstrates how education can empower people and assist them in breaking free from poverty and social inequity.
The Novel Explores the Struggle Between Tradition and Modernity: The novel examines the clash between tradition and modernity in Indian society. The novel’s characters are divided between their conventional ideals and the burgeoning new ideas. The novel depicts how the collision of tradition and modernity causes tension and how it impacts people’s lives.
Ultimately, “Godan” is a striking critique of Indian culture that depicts the sufferings of people caught up in a web of poverty, social injustice, and discrimination.