Social Consciousness of Sarat Chandra chattopadhyay in the light of His Writings/ শরৎ সাহিত্যের আলোকে শরৎচন্দ্রের সমাজ-চেতনা

Abstract

‘Literature can act as a mirror of society’. This is very much true about the writing of all great writers, Sarat Chandra chattopadhyay being one among them. The vast corpus of his writing- novels, short stories, essays- depicted superstition, social injustice and condition of women of his time. But behind all his writings was his silent intention to inform and educate his readers about evils of society as he saw it. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was also a very socially conscious person and as a very popular writer, he did not write various stories, novels and essays only for the purpose of writing literature, but also from his firm belief that it was his moral duty for creating social consciousness against various social evils. He firmly believed that, one should try to remove various injustices and superstitions from society by writing against them. Sarat Chandra believed that the root of social evils and problems stem from socio-economic discrimination, the disturbing condition of lower caste and class, caste discrimination, the way women were treated in a patriarchal society, particularly in contemporary Hindu society. These social evils were so firmly rooted in the minds of people that it was impossible for people to get rid of these social evils and malpractices unless they were completely uprooted. 

            In the article under discussion, there will be an attempt to analyze how Sarat Chandra chattopadhyay, through his various novels, stories and articles, tried to form a public opinion among his readers by writing against various social evils and various social injustices. In short, the main aim of this research paper is to reveal how his social consciousness has been revealed through the Sarat Chandra's literature, that is, how much Sarat Chandra was a socially conscious person, in the light of the literature he created.