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The First World War Revisited in Indian English Fiction a Re-Examination of Mulk Raj Anand’S Novel Across the Black Waters

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The First World War Revisited in Indian English Fiction a Re-Examination of Mulk Raj Anand’S Novel Across the Black Waters Volume II, Issue VIII, December 2014 - ISSN 2321-7065 The First World War Revisited In Indian English Fiction A Re-Examination of Mulk Raj Anand’s Novel Across The Black Waters ARADHANA MUKHERJEE M.A. A PREVIEW BY DR.NEELUM SARAN GOUR Professor of English Modern European Languages University of Allahabad Allahabad . http://www.ijellh.com 109 Volume II, Issue VIII, December 2014 - ISSN 2321-7065 The First World War was the culmination of many causes and the most important was the system of secret alliances. Prior to 1914, Europe was divided into two armed camps. Things remained in this condition for some time. England followed a policy of splendid isolation during the 19th. Century and she began to feel that she was all alone. Japan, France and Russia became her allies. On the other hand, Turkey joined hands with Germany. The British army during the First World War fought the largest and the most costly war in its long history. Its units were made up exclusively of volunteers at the beginning of the conflict. Army commanders had to cope with the new tactics that were developed like the change from manoeuvre to trench warfare. The infantry and the artillery learned to work together. There was shortage of food as well as diseases like trench fever which killed many British soldiers. But nevertheless, in some major battles like those in places like Ypres, The Britishers played a major role in establishing peace by defeating the Germans. The division of Europe into two camps gave rise to an atmosphere of jealousy and enmity. There was narrow nationalism in the hearts of citizens during this period. The love for one’s country demanded the hatred of the other. Love for Germany demanded the hatred for France and vice versa. It was intense nationalism in Serbia which created bitterness between Serbia and Austria- Hungary. That was also responsible for the murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand who was the heir to throne of Austria- Hungary in 1914. There was poisoning of the public opinion through the newspapers. They tried to inflame the nationalist feeling by misinterpreting the situation in other countries. They often took up some point of dispute, exaggerated it and made attacks and counter- attacks until a regular newspaper war was created. Due to militarism, there arose the dangers of great standing armies and large navies with the system of espionage. The military and naval armaments grew year after year. Their intention was to produce a sense of security, but the reality which came out was that there was universal fear, suspicion and hatred among various nations. This resulted in an armed race. Such a race could only end in a war. This was not conducive to the maintenance of peace. Among all the colonies in the British Empire, the contribution of India in terms of soldiers remained the highest. Many soldiers like the Gurkhas and Punjabis were recruited in the British army during the First World War. India joined the war as it was an important part of the British Empire. 2014 being the centenary of the First World War, it is appropriate to examine a novel with a theme rare in Indian English Literature the war theme in Mulk Raj Anand’s novel. http://www.ijellh.com 110 Volume II, Issue VIII, December 2014 - ISSN 2321-7065 In the novel Across The Black Waters, the soldiers arrived at Marseilles. They were greeted by the French people with the joyous cries of Long Live Hindus or Vivent les Hindous. They were immediately despatched to the trenches to fill the gap caused due to the heavy reverses suffered by the British at the hands of the Germans. Most of the sepoys were recruited from the peasant- warrior classes of North and North- Western India, with Punjab contributing more than half the number of combatants. They came from diverse religious backgrounds, including Punjabi Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus. The Indian army was a multi- ethnic, multi- lingual and multi- religious force. They fought fiercely in places like Ypres, Festubert, suffering traumatic losses and also winning the coveted Victoria Cross. War literature was a new thing for Indian authors in English. In the absence of any large- scale war during the British regime’s early segment, no war literature developed during that time. The First World War induced people to write about war and Anand was the pioneer of Indian war literature. When war was declared on August 4th, India rallied to the cause. Offers of financial and military help were made from all over the country. Wealthy princes offered great sums of money. Nepal offered help by sending one lakh Gurkhas. Indian troops were on the Western Front by the winter of 1914, but at the end of 1915, they sustained many casualties. Along with casualties and sickness, the Government decided to withdraw Indians from the line of duty at the end of 1915. Such was the cost of the war, that the Indian economy was pushed to near bankruptcy. Many people were killed. Thus we see that the impact of the First World War was unprecedented. The 4th of August 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the day Britain entered of the costliest conflicts in history- The First World War- with fighting continuing until the 11th of November 1918, Armistice Day. This is as given by The Royal British Legion under the title ‘WW1 Centenary. The Indian contribution to WW 1’s war efforts was one of the largest from the colonies of the Empire. (www.britishlegion.org.uk/rememberance. Web. page 1) In retrospect the Indian contribution to Britain’s war effort may be summed up briefly by the following details: The First World War started on 28th July, 1914 and finished on 11th November, 1918. The war involved all of world’s great powers, 70 million combatants, with more than 9 million http://www.ijellh.com 111 Volume II, Issue VIII, December 2014 - ISSN 2321-7065 killed. British Empire entered the war on 4th August, 1914. Over 1.1 million Indian servicemen fought in the World War and there were around 70,000 fatalities. The Indian army dominated, but the Indian Navy also contributed and Indians served in the Army Flyng Corps. There were also labour battalions recruited from Bengal. The Indian Army has the distinction of having fought in almost all the theatres of the war- France and Flanders as well as in Mesopotamia, Palestine and North Africa. 11 Victoria Crosses were won by Indian soldiers and memorials are now being prepared for presentation to the Government of India.(WW1 centenary commemoration from British High Commission, New Delhi. Web. Page 1) Mulk Raj Anand’s prose showed his progress. In the earlier novels, we find the signs of haste in his writings, but in the Lalu Trilogy [The Village, Across The Black Waters and The Sword and The Sickle], the style gets richer and there is more depth. Anand wrote about rural life as it existed in countryside of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh but he came out of the limitations of a regional author and flowered into an international celebrity through his book Across The Black Waters. He viewed the First World War from outside. Anand’s mouthpiece Lal Singh looks for answers to questions of identity, destiny and meaning. He is not afraid of the defeat which is before him. Variously described as a ‘Marxist Epic’ and a panoramic vision of pre-war Indian society, the Lalu- Trilogy marks an important phase in Anand’s career as a novelist and as a revolutionary idealist. It is the most ambitious project which he has undertaken and which makes him the greatest author of Indian War Fiction. Anand delves into the historical past with a view to shed light on the events of 1914. The trilogy analyses the ‘tense, fear-ridden and war- torn world, both in Europe and Asia, from which these novels were carved out.’ The Village, Across The Black Waters and The Sword And The Sickle are three novels written as a continuous story and yet each of these in itself is a complete unit. Together, they constitute the Trilogy. These novels shed light upon the life, adventures and struggles of Lalu, who is the hero in these novels. His attractive personality works like a magnet binding the works together, though the theme of each of these novels is different from each other. The protagonist, Lal Singh, is a young man from the village of Nandpur in Punjab. The society to which he belongs is a most conservative one, where fanaticism in religion, superstition and meaningless rituals thrive. Due to the strict control of the landlord, he finds it impossible to survive and as a result runs away and is forced to join the army. Lal Singh is a http://www.ijellh.com 112 Volume II, Issue VIII, December 2014 - ISSN 2321-7065 lonely person and fights against the superstitious society. The Trilogy shows the progress of Lal Singh from the village to the cantonment, and from there to Festubert in France and back to Nandpur as presented in The Village, Across The Black Waters and The Sword And The Sickle. Anand had spent some of the happiest days of his life in his village in Central Punjab, among the tribesmen of the North-West Frontier Province and in the Kangra Valley. His friends who came mostly from the villages, talked of harvest and good things like lassi and sugarcane juice. He had disgust for the social life filled with obsolete and useless rituals and the superstitious beliefs of the villagers.
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