The Home and the World

Nikhil asks himself what it means to truly be someone’s wife. What is, exactly, the nature of a wife? He scolds himself for his sadness and reminds himself that he is more than the things he gains, and loses, in this world. Nikhil starts to believe that his relationship with Bimala is an accident, and that she could only truly be happy with someone like Sandip. However, he knows that Sandip is not a great man.

Chandranath enters and tells him to go to bed, but Nikhil is no longer able to go to bed early. He is uncomfortable if he lies down before Bimala is asleep. Rani comes in and sees that he is in pain. She also tells him to go to bed, saying she cannot bear to see his suffering.

Bimala admits to herself that she is crazed with desire. However, her worshipful feeling changes; soon, she does not respect him. Finally, she looks down on him. It is her body that rebels against her and wishes for him to stay. She is tormented by a desire to be free of her infatuation, but also for it to remain. It is both intoxicating and agitating.

Sandip and Bimala no longer talk about the Cause. Their conversations are all centered on what she calls “modern sex-problems” and poetry. Their talks are intimate to a degree that is dangerous and unseemly. Bimala’s life suddenly feels empty to her. She tries to distract herself with cleaning and reading, to little avail. When Sandip comes into the hall she moves towards him, prepared to break her vow, but Rani appears and she changes course. A servant soon delivers a message from Sandip saying only that he has an urgent matter on behalf of the Cause.

Bimala goes to Sandip in the sitting room. When she insists that he tell her about the Cause, he begins flattering her while talking about the state. She is never as excited as when he mixes his passionate speeches about the country while complimenting her as he does now. His words make her feel as if she is truly a goddess.

Bimala’s maid Khema rushes into the room and asks for her wages. She then asks to be let go, sobbing. Khema reveals that Thako, Rani’s maid, has insulted and reviled her. Bimala promises to look into the matter and leaves Sandip.

Bimala asks Rani to explain her maid’s behavior. Rani ignores her and tells her to go back to Sandip. Bimala leaves and goes to her room. She studies an orchid that Nikhil brought her when he came home from his M.A. examination. It only flowered once, but she hopes that she can help it bloom again. She thinks about a day when she framed a photograph of Nikhil and hung it. He said her action implied she thought him petty and small, and that she was creating a false, grand version of him that would appeal to her more. She thinks about the double portrait, which she takes out when she is alone, to look at the picture of Sandip.

Sandip has told her that the greatest need in every person is to want. She believes she is starting to understand. Bimala looks at the orchid again and fights the urge to throw it out the window.

Sandip considers his theory of life: the great have the right to be unjust when it suits them. A nation, or person, that cannot commit an unjust act will be discarded by history. He believes that the capacity for cruelty is critical in great men. He remembers a day when he asked his followers to cut the leg off a goat and bring it to him as a show of bravery. When they refused, he did it himself, earning their even greater respect.

Sandip’s conflict with Nikhil is, in his view, about their differing ideas about what it means to know oneself. Nikhil believes that to know oneself well, one must perform just actions. He says that Sandip’s philosophy diminishes the soul, therefore, it diminishes one’s ability to perform just actions. Sandip does not believe in the soul, and so they have no good basis for a real conversation on the topic. Sandip believes that India will be better off once it wholeheartedly embraces the philosophy of western militarism.

Sandip is curious about his own motivations for becoming entangled with Bimala’s life. She presents great potential complications. It is unlike him to allow a situation that could destabilize his ambitions like this. He reads an old diary entry, written after he graduated, and sees that he is not taking much of his own early advice. Until Sandip can know who he really is, he may not achieve his aims. And he knows that he may not ever discover who he really is.

Sandip begins to feel shame at his treatment of Nikhil, whom he still considers a friend, and his dismissal of Nikhil’s idea. Nikhil’s presence reminds him that he still has the capacity for tenderness, which he considers a weakness. Sandip’s passion for political reform is real, but he realizes that he has allowed his obsession with Bimala to take precedence. He realizes that he must make them two parts of his same agenda. He sees that they will spoil each other, and will probably grow to hate each other, but they will each also serve as the means of the other’s liberation.