From Gora to Ghare-Baire: A Journey through Tagore’s Social and Political Thought

Abstract

Rabindranath Tagore’s novels Gora (1909) and Ghare-Baire (1916) represent two critical phases in his engagement with India’s socio-political transformation under colonial rule. Gora interrogates the intersections of caste, religion, and nationalism, gradually transitioning toward a vision of universal humanism. Ghare-Baire, written during the Swadeshi Movement, dramatizes the ethical and emotional conflicts of nationalism through a triangular tension among moderation, extremism, and personal loyalty. These two works together reveal Tagore’s evolving social and political thought: his suspicion of dogma, his critique of exclusionary and violent nationalism, and his commitment to pluralism and human unity. This article traces the intellectual journey from Gora to Ghare-Baire, situating them within the larger historical, cultural, and philosophical framework of Tagore’s time, while underscoring their continued relevance in contemporary debates on identity, politics, and humanism.