Gandhi clearly is an ordinary human being. Yet he is so EXTRAordinary. What makes him so? I think the story about his childhood marriage is very well written. He is telling about one of his own first encounters with the obligation to be extraordinary- to live outside of the norm. His reflections upon the situation are wonderful because he pinpoints his own faults of jealousy and his sinful lust. I think it is important that he has taken this experience and truly thought about it with an adult mentality.
What I found interesting was the way he regarded his wife. We often see women as controlled in these types of novels. While the extreme jealousy concept is not foreign (just read 1001 Nights), the idea of a woman's freedom is.
I wonder if his wife had the freedom to take her own liberties with Gandhi because she was so young?
So what does that say about culture? Only the young can be free, truly liberated? Is a young person in an adult's role, still a child?
I think Gandhi involuntarily accepted a huge amount of responsibility in his childhood through this marriage, and I think this early exposure to maturity is what makes him the man he became. I think these little snippets of his history are essential to understanding his character, and now, I have opened eyes towards reading nonfiction.
He was at full regret when he recalled his marriage. I think Gandhi recognized that his wife was not "free" much later when he wrote this autobiography. Being that he married so young, it exposed him to the burden of womanhood allowing him to recognize the difference between men and women. He wrote a lot about physical aspects between the two genders, so what I got from the autobiography was that he recognized the ability of women to tolerate and sacrifice. Advocating to abolish child marriage may be an extension of acknowledgement of his wife.
ReplyDeleteWhen you said that only the young can be free, that made me think of "child marriage" in its entirety. I wouldn't necessarily say that in regards to Gandhi's life. I feel, if anything, they are summoned to mirror their parents. If not, they become or feel outcasted. If they were truly free, they wouldn't have to be married at such a young age or feel obligated to blame themselves, like Gandhi, if their parents passed. I feel celebratory for Gandhi when he left for London because he did it against the wishes of the caste-people. Therefore, London probably was his freedom. I do, however, agree with you about Gandhi did taking on so much responsibility being that he was so young. That's devastating that he was so self-critical but quite endearing since it came from someone so completely selfless.
I agree with the idea hat the children are molded to mirror their parents. By "free" I didn't mean truly free, but rather free in the sense that they have more autonomy. I guess I am speaking as a whole here. Gandhi's wife seems to have more autonomy than many women in this culture. Sure Gandhi and his wife did not truly have the freedom to say no to child marriage. I am addressing the role of women in this culture, or at least how it is represented through knowledge. Brick Lane is a great book about the amount women have to endure and sacrifice, as you say. The whole book is about the main character waiting for a chance to take liberties. While in Gandhi's autobiography, the kids were not in an ideal situation, they were still able to make choices for themselves, despite the jealousy-driven attempt at control by Gandhi.
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