Realism In The Ruined Nest And Other Stories

Realism is one of the most prominent literature movements which succeeded Romanticism during the second half of the nineteenth century, originating from France throughout Europe and subsequently to the United States of America. By definition, realism is an aesthetic movement which aims to describe life, particularly focusing on the middle class life as how it is in an accurate manner without prejudice, idealistic elements, and romanticism. Realism is considered as a reaction against Romanticism. Readers are able to communicate and identify with the characters and the world in which they live in easily with the employment of realism in literature. In realism, the characters are more valued than the plot and the events occurring in realist novels

The elements focused by both writers in their works range from familial conflicts, status of women in society to the hopes and sorrows in human lives. The characters in Tagore and R.K Narayan’s novel do not come from aristocrats or noble people, for instance they focus more on the common lot of the middle class and the plots are usually problems revolving around the main characters. The characters from both novels engage with one another in a believable and realistic manner. In the example, Raju from ‘The Guide’ comes from a middle class family who in the novel goes through a series of changes and mishaps which eventually led him to the path of redeeming himself from the cruelty he has done in his past

Indian women are still seen as objects by society. In some parts of the society, a woman only has 4 jobs, a mother, a wife, a homemaker and a daughter. In one of his short stories, ‘The Punishment’, Tagore showcased the brutality of society that degrades women. The story revolves around 2 brothers Dukhiram and Chhidam and their wives Radha and Chandara respectively. The men are described as providers of the families in the first paragraph, “choppers in hand to work as day labourers” while their wives are associated with “shouting and hurling”. Both men treat their wives as inferior and upon striking a chopper and slashing Radha’s head after he was greeted by sarcasm by his wife. Dukhiram and Chhidam decided to put the blame on Chandara’s shoulders. This shows the ugly truth of the society in which men are dominating over women as Chhidam chose to save his brother and sacrificed his own wife. In the end, Chhidam could not go through with the plan and begged his wife to come back, however Chandara was more than willing to go through with the execution than return home. Tagore’s provoking thoughts on the male dominating world show that the social justice has failed the women. Chandara was free from any crime but was sentenced to death due to the selfishness of the two men. The justice systems based their judgements on eye witness without taking into accounts the evidence around the incident.