Abstract

The author in this book, explores through sociological, philosophical, and psychological lens the contradiction in novelist Bibhutibhushan bandopadhyay's desire for a golden primitive past as opposed to what he perceives as the evils of European modernity and its influence on Bengali society. This contradiction, the author suggests is best portrayed in his novel, Pather Panchali, where the protagonists are both dismayed by the onslaught of modernity while simultaneously aspiring to embrace it.