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Chapter 3
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Home and the World, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nationalism, India, and Bengal
Modernity vs. Tradition
Truth, Deceit, and Delusion
Religion and Division
Summary
Analysis
Nikhil’s Story. III. Lately, Nikhil has been trying more and more to see himself as he thinks Bimala must see him. He thinks and hopes that he’s done everything necessary to prove that he loves her. He fears that his connection with Bimala was just an accident and that Sandip is a truer match. Still, while even Nikhil himself is impressed with some of Sandip’s good qualities, he remains convinced that Sandip is not a better man than he is.
Seeing Sandip with Bimala make Nikhil begin to question the wisdom of things like the astrology reading that led him to Bimala in the first place. He shows an ability to judge Sandip fairly for both his good qualities and his bad, but he does not show false humility and ultimately sticks to his own belief that he’s a better man than Sandip.
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Chandranath comes by Nikhil’s room and tells him that it’s late and he should go to bed. Chandranath himself says that he seldom sleeps, ever since he’s gotten older. Nikhil prepares to retire but finds his mind still racing. He thinks of Bimala and her love, trying to convince himself that in spite of his doubts, she will always be true to him. He heads off to Bimala in her bed, preparing to kiss her while she sleeps and forgive her.
This passage raises the question of whether Nikhil is gracious to continue trusting Bimala or whether he is delusional to overlook her relationship with Sandip. His hesitance to rush to judgment contrasts with many of the other characters in the novel, who judge others around them harshly and quickly.
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Bimala’s Story. VII. Bimala, now narrating, thought her feelings for Sandip were just confusion over her dedication to her country, but now she has noticed Sandip becoming more and more intimate with her. She begins to worship him. In a different way, Chandranath Babu also helps Bimala think of bigger things, helping her see that the things that bind her might be imaginary. The Bara Rani makes fun of Bimala for being such a good hostess, taking care of a guest who seemingly refuses to leave.
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VIII. For a while, Bimala and Sandip stop talking about the Cause and instead discuss personal matters like poetry and modern sexuality. Sandip no longer has any good pretext to stay at Nikhil’s house, but he remains anyway. One day, he boldly has a letter delivered to Bimala telling her to meet him about the Cause, right while the Bara Rani is there to witness Bimala receive the letter.
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IX. Bimala comes to the sitting room to meet with Sandip, as his letter instructs. She finds him reading an illustrated catalog of art from the British Academy and is apprehensive, because she knows Sandip considers himself an expert on art, but she doesn’t enjoy his lectures.
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When Bimala asks Sandip what he wants to discuss about the Cause, Sandip is evasive and suggests that the two of them shouldn’t need a specific reason to talk. He explains that he finds Bimala, his Queen Bee, linked to the Cause, and when he pictures the country, he pictures her. She feels she should get back to her household duties, but Sandip thinks she cares too much about housework relative to how unimportant it is.
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As Sandip speaks of the glory of his country, it’s clear that he is really praising Bimala. They’re interrupted when Khema, Bimala’s maid, rushes into the room, saying she wants to quit at once. It turns out that Thako, the Bara Rani’s maid, has been insulting Khema harshly, seemingly for no reason. Bimala doesn’t like for Sandip to see this chaos in the house, so she leaves to quietly take care of things.
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Bimala brings up the dispute between Khema and Thako to the Bara Rani, but rather than scolding Thako for being insulting, the Bara Rani instead scolds Khema for involving Bimala in the squabble. Bara Rani tells Bimala to forget about the whole thing and go back to see Sandip. Bimala realizes that the Bara Rani probably orchestrated this whole thing, having Khema insult Thako to interrupt Bimala and Sandip. She hesitates to go back to him and decides not to.
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For four years now, Bimala has kept a photograph of Nikhil framed in ivory in a niche in her room, often putting flowers by it as tribute. He often tells her he is jealous of the picture, which seems to depict a greater person than anything he himself could aspire to be. She also has a portrait of Sandip that she keeps hidden in her jewel case, only looking at it at night by lamplight.
Sandip has been trying to convince Bimala that it’s unnatural for a woman to hesitate when she wants something. He says they all have the words “I want” deep inside them. Everything Sandip says to Bimala continues to echo inside her
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Sandip’s Story. IV. Sandip, now narrating, thinks that the story of his life is defined both by the things he wants and the things he hates. One day, to teach his followers about cruelty, he cuts the leg off of a living goat. His followers are horrified at first but eventually moved by how this act shows Sandip is above human weakness.
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Sandip thinks life is full of contradictions. For example, both he and Nikhil believe that it is important to “know thyself,” but for Nikhil, “knowing” is more like “not knowing.” He thinks Nikhil is vague and wishy-washy. He can see Nikhil’s point of view but feels that Nikhil’s self-denial, which comes from his spirituality, is a type of “poison.”
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V. Sandip wonders why he is allowing himself to become entangled with Bimala. He thinks they both want each other and that she is a fruit on the branch ready to be plucked. Still, he sees himself as born to rule and doesn’t want to get tied down. He sees Ravana as the hero of the Ramayana and thinks that the only flaw was that he hesitated after abducting Sita rather than taking her directly into his harem.
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VI. In spite of the contempt Sandip sometimes feels toward Nikhil, Sandip still considers him a friend. However, he sees his affection toward Nikhil as a weakness. Philosophically, he believes there’s nothing wrong with him taking Bimala from Nikhil, and he even considers it a liberatory act. He believes that if women broke all the artificial bonds put on them like men, it would be like watching the merciless goddess Kali walk the earth.
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