Social Realism In George Eliot's The Mammaries Of The Welfare State

The literary manifesto of many a novelist in the past as well as in the present is to write for social, political and economic purpose. The purpose is not only to throw light upon the social evils and malpractices prevailing in the society in those days, but also to employ fiction to the cause of social amelioration. The establishment of novel in the world of literature manifests itself multifariously encompassing almost every facet of social life, which is regarded as Social Realism. Realism is considered to be introduced during literary movement in 19th century France, though we cannot restrict it to any one century or group of writers; it is often linked with the French novelists Flaubert and Balzac. George Eliot introduced realism into …show more content…
In this sequel to English August, August is no longer the immature bureaucrat. He is no longer called August either. The identity of the book lies in its growth and development. Eight years in the service, August, has full-grown into a well rounded Sri Augustya Sen saab. Agastya is older, more harsher, but still unwilling to change into the monster that the system called ‘The Welfare State’ i.e. India compels its employees to become. He is the good man in a realm where being good implies being lethargic and uninterested. He wishes to change the system from the inside, but then he comes across the universal problem of being a speck in the ocean of the corruption and vile. He is a submissively guilty victim hero, trapped in an bizarre situation and unable to rescue himself from there. He is surrounded by eccentrics, conmen and corrupt officers, but he does not think of combating for courage, selfhood and a sense of moral human dignity. He faces corruptions of the bureaucratic world in a way typical of a man who has been rendered powerless to respond morally. When he refuses bribes, everyone looks at him with surprise and sadly and even when he passes bribes on to a family of beggers, some motorists snatch it. Though Agastya does not like the bureaucratic world still he is unable to quit his job. This impression gains vigor when we ponder over the question – why is it that Agastya, despite hating the bureaucratic world, still hangs around? The answer comes from him is that ‘One can’t, you know, leave one’s mother’s lap. The outside world is much less funny and far wicked (342). He feels secure in the world of bureaucracy ‘because within the civil service, one is likelier to know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows a