Introduction: As it was written in the year 1835, 112 years before independence, it is an imaginary tale of freedom fighting and struggle towards the British Raj. This story portrays the expectations developed in the heart of the author during the real struggle of independence. The setting is original but the characters and the events are fictional which reflect the burning desire that the author wanted to light up within the natives. It was first published in The Calcutta Literary Gazette in 1835. The issues that the article want to explore as as follows.
Junius Brutus: First of all we have to know about Junius Brutus before going to the text. Kylas Chunder Dutt makes a heading named “Junius Brutus” then he narrates his story further but never describes who this person is. To know the text properly, we have to decode this person. Now we have to know about Julius Caesar, the Roman General and Statesman, who desired to start dictatorship by seizing the republic from 49 B.C. Junius Brutus was one of the high ranked Senators who planned and executed the murder of Caesar on the Ides of March in 44 B.C. Brutus was rumoured to be the son of Caesar’s mistress Servilla (the half sister of Macus Porcious Cato who was the Roman Historian and Senator who first wrote Roman history in Latin). The last word of Caesar was as translated, “What! Art thou, too, one of them? Thou my son!”
The motive behind the evocation of Brutus is to clarify the tone and theme of the impending story from the very beginning. By mentioning the name of Brutus, Dutt wanted to evoke the courage to fight with the dictators of Bengal just like Brutus did and revived the republic in Rome.
Futuristic Setting: Dutt expected the freedom struggle in real life that he has portrayed in the story. It also reflects the foresight and speculation of Dutt because what he is writing in the year 1835, is going to happen after 112 years. He was expecting it to be happen in the year 1945 and it actually happened in 1945 when India finally got freedom. But the interesting mater is that the freedom struggle had been started during 1945. He allowed him to analyse the potential consequences of Colonial rule and imagined a future where Indians might rise to challenge the rule.
Emphasis on the time of 48 hours: The specific mention of 48 hours highlights the intensity and urgency of the events described in the story. It suggests a period of great upheaval and change, packed into a short span of time where there was sense of anticipation.
Disruptive Ending of the Story: As the struggle for freedom was not that much popular within the unconscious natives of the contemporary time of 1835. What Dutt had was only the expectation and hope for the potential liberty. So, what he could, was none but motivating the native readers and help them to evoke the desire of being liberal like the protagonist of the story Bhoobun Mohun. So, he ended the story disruptly as he didn’t know what is going to be happen. The other motive of Dutt is to enlighten the natives with consciousness about their exile.
Conclusion: Hence we can term it as fictional futuristic story of Indian Independence Struggle that suggests a personal belief, giving the narrative a sense of immediacy and authenticity. Though fictional in nature, still it reflects the original anticipation of the obsession and struggle for the liberation. By choosing this title, Dutt effectively sets the stage for his exploration of Colonialism, resistance and the potential future of India.
Aman Pal
Literatureman
