Plight of Indian Farmers Depicted Through Premchand’s ‘Godaan’

Peasants are the backbone of Indian economy. These peasants have always been treated as outsiders who are destined to live in material and cultural margins. Years back, Premchand chose to discuss the rural sector of the Indian population – their lives, problems, hopes and aspirations.The detailed study of the novel, Godaan, refreshes the insight it provides of the Indian farmers, how the individual farmers are victimized in the hands of the representatives of powerful oppressive social institutions.A close-reading ofGodaanbrings to light the most surprising as well as shocking realization that nothing has changed in farmers’ lives.Thus, Premchand depicts the suffering of the peasants that was common in those days. A critical analysis of Godaan can help us to understand the cobweb that has trapped the Indian farmer at the node of poverty, migration, deprivation, and despair.