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Introduction INTRODUCTION And this I must fight against: any idea, religion or govt. which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about. – John Steinbeck It is universally known and acknowledged that pen is mightier than the sword. The mighty and sustaining power of pen has often been proved since the ancient times by a multitude of writers and thinkers. Right from Aristotle the master of all subjects, up to the present writers, pen has been the potent weapon both for exposing the conditions of the prevailing society and also for finding remedial steps for getting rid of the ills which beset therein. The writers by virtue of their vision and mission were able to set right the social order then and there whenever the wheels of society got out of their ruts. This kind of social responsibility and the commensurate action on the part of the writers was construed as the very purpose and poise of literature. It is obvious that literature itself is nothing but the mirror of human life, the society and the age in which it was created. Writers had the option to choose any one or more of the genres of literature up to their interest, experience, and talents and find suitable footings in which they could express themselves with flair. The genres or forms of literature did vary with the passage of time. Resultantly we come 2 to have poetry, prose, drama, short story, novel, epic and the like based on the calls of time. Novel is defined as the prose story of book length about imaginary people and events. Choosing novel as the fitting vehicle of expression, a number of British, French, German, Russian, and American novelists have accomplished their creative endeavours and brought laurels to their countries and their native languages. It is deemed that literature itself is a kind of protesting tool which kindles people to grasp and form opinions on a subject or an prevalent social condition. The manner in which words are employed in literature charges the people with stimulating ideas, fiery rage and intensive emotions leading even to violent outburst at times. Expression of discontent with the existing inhuman conditions in a society through literary accomplishments pave the way for finding concrete solutions by means of resorting to protesting measures. Protest literature has therefore a decided and definite aim of changing the social set up with a view to achieving the desired goal. The Satanic revolt in Paradise Lost is of a protesting kind though the underlying motive is egocentric and the purpose of protest is meant for personal gratification by power seizure. Social protest involves larger scope for human consideration and welfare. The Machiavellian Policy that “means do not justify the end, but the end justifies the means” may look rather a fair dictum where there is a kind of eruption among the protestors for something good or bad. 3 Whatever it be, these kinds of tenets and tendencies have been identified in literature as belonging to a separate and marked genre namely social protest literature. Neither are they kept underrated nor relegated to forgetfulness as they involve themselves with human causes irrespective of gain or loss in the process. Many a definitions are put forth as to the nature and motive of protest literature. The one by Ethelbert Stauffer holds good when he defines it as having a language that changes the society and self. He regards protest literature as catalyst; guide or mirror of social change presupposing three needs namely empathy shock value, and symbolic action. Empathy encourages. Shock value inspires emotions and desires. Symbolic action promotes interpretation. (6) Protest literature has an eye on social change or change in the individual. There are varied nomenclatures for social novel such as problem novel, propaganda novel, working class novel, industrial novel, thesis novel, sociological novel and young adult problem novel, the last one being the latest addition. The earliest origin of social protest novel may be traced back to the first century England. Since then many countries took interest in this literary genre. A social novel as defined by M.H. Abrams “which emphasizes the influence of the social and economic conditions of an era on shaping 4 characters and determining events” (256). If it also embodies an implicit or explicit thesis recommending political and social reform, it is often called a sociological novel. Examples of social novels are Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852); John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939); Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1979); Nadine Gordimer’s Burger’s Daughter (1979) and etc., A Marxist version of the social novel representing the hardships suffered by the oppressed working class, and usually written to incite the reader to radical political action, is called the proletarian novel. Proletarian fiction flourished especially during the great economic depression of the 1930s in America. An English example is Walter Greenwood’s Love on the Dole (1933). American examples are Grace Lumpkin’s To Make my Bread (1932), about a mill strike in North Carolina and Robert Cantwell’s Laugh and Lie Down (1931) about the harshness of life in a lumber mill city in the northwest. Encyclopedia Britannica defines social novel or social protest novel as a work of fiction in which a prevailing social problem such as gender, race, or class prejudice is dramatized through its effect on the characters of a novel. Social problems addressed generally in literary works include poverty, violence against women, plight of the workers in factories and mines, conditions of child labour, criminal activities raising heavily, dearth of sanitary facilities and the consequent epidemics. 5 Social novel or social protest novel is said to have its origin in the nineteenth century though we come to understand that there were predecessors in this regard in the eighteenth century itself. Instances are numerous. Henry Fielding’s Amelia, William Godwin’s The Adventures of Caleb William, and Elizabeth Inchbald’s Nature and Art are some among them. There is a marked difference between social novel and social protest novel. Social novel places its importance on social change while social protest novel lays its emphasis on revolution. A peep into the nineteenth and the early twentieth century novels in Britain, America and Europe would reveal the significant thematic outputs of the novels. Thomas Carlyle in his Condition of England Novels (1839) sought to engage directly with the contemporary social and political issues with a focus on the representation of class, gender, labour relations, social unrest, growing antagonism between the rich and the poor, and the plight of the working class. Benjamin Disraeli in his novel Sybil or the Two Nations (1845) dealt with the horrific conditions under which the majority of the working class lived in England. Charles Kinsley’s Alton Locke (1849) set out to expose the injustice done to the workers in textile trade in addition to dealing with the tribulations of the agricultural labourers. In the novel In North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell (1854-58) deals with the pathetic condition of the workers and their relationship with the industrialists. The industrial depression resulting from the Napoleonic 6 wars in the early part of nineteenth century has been the focus of Jane Eyre a novel by Charlotte Bronte. Charles Dickens was unparalleled in the portrayal of poverty, exploitation, and the unhygienic living conditions prevailing in the Victorian society. The words of Karl Marx eulogizing Dickens deserve special attention at this juncture. He pointed out that “Dickens issued to the world more political and social truths than have been uttered by all the professional politicians, publicists and moralists put together” (321). The European literary scene is no different from that of Britain and America in the matter of writing social protest novels. Victor Hugo’s Les Miserable’s was the acme of the social protest novels of the nineteenth century. Upton Sinclair considered it as one of the half dozen greatest novels of the world. The degradation of man by poverty; the ruin of women by starvation; the dwarfing of childhood by poverty - all these should altogether be done away with, according to Hugo. Yet another significant social protest novel is Emile Zola’s ‘L’Assommoir. Margaret Harkness’ Out of Work (1988) had taken upon itself the task of social degradation, poverty and oppression of women. Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Fin is an early American social protest novel (1884). The Jungle a novel by Upton Sinclair (1906) is acclaimed as the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of wage slavery. It is based on the stockyard worker’s strike in Chicago. Richards Wright’s Native Son (1940) is a protest novel on 7 racism. Theodore Dreiser’s novel Sister Carrie (1900), a major American novel exposes how industrialization affected the American people. Literature served as an important instrument at the hands of protesting groups in the bygone centuries in the world arena. It fringes to the forefront that some of the reputed protest literatures have come from the American authors like Thomas Paine, Thomas Nast, John C. Calhan and Martin Luther King. These writers became the spokesman of protest literature. Born in England Paine invited controversy and rebellions trends where ever he travelled by his telling writings. He stood for the three great causes viz., American Revolution, religious reformation and the natural rights of man. He out rightly denounced government saying that “we furnish the means by which we suffer.” His famous pamphlet named “Common Sense” (1775) was one of the pioneers in protest writings. In which he wrote that government is like, dress is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise.
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