At the opening of the novel, Bimala is a traditional, obedient house wife who is faithful to her husband, even forcing herself to be respectful towards her nagging sister-in-law. The Home and the World tells us not only of the personal struggles of the three main characters, but also little details of the family structure and what traditional Indian households were like.

As home maker of the family, the wife's duty was to supervise the household and take care of the children, as well as to please her new in-laws. Once girls were married off to the other families, they would have to address their new parents-in-law as 'father' and 'mother'. In addition to being unable to work for a living, the girl's marriage dowry required a hefty amount of money and other luxury goods such as valuable jewelry and saris. Traditionally, baby boys were preferable to baby girls since boys were able to earn money and support the family, whereas girls were expensive to raise. Though the joint-family is linked to ancient India, it is still prevalent in modern-day India. This movement was important in fostering 'the new spirit in India,' and separating India from Britain, which was largely thought to be responsible for the subsequent widespread poverty.įamily structures in traditional India consists of not only the nuclear family but also grandparents, parents-in-law, and unmarried sisters-in-law as well. Indian citizens were encouraged to boycott British goods to foster Indian identity and independence. The Swadeshi movement was a successful resistance policy against British colonisation.

The Swadeshi movement started in response to the 1905 Partition of Bengal by Viceroy Lord Curzon, which temporarily separated Hindus and Muslims into different geographical areas. Particularly important to the novel is an understanding of the Swadeshi movement as a part of the Indian Nationalist Movement. Some examples of this movement are the Indo-German Pact and the Ghadar Conspiracy, both of which failed. Militant nationalism had a strong showing in the early part of the 20th century, especially during the World War I period. There were various national and regional campaigns with both militant and non-violent ideas which all had the common goal of ending British colonial rule. The story line coincides with the National Independence Movement taking place in the country at the time, which was sparked by the Indian National Congress. The novel is set in early 20th century India. See also: Bengal renaissance and Tagore family Political movement

Gora by Rabindranath Tagore