The Road to Salvation by Premchand

The story “The Road to Salvation” by Premchand revolves around Jhingur, the farmer and Buddhu, the shepherd who were very full of pride and such pride ruined themselves. Dhanpat Rai Shrivastava who wrote under the pen name “Premchand” was born into the Hindu Kayastha caste. The caste system in India is a system of social classification. In history, it divided communities into hundreds of traditional groups. The Kayastha class is right below the highest class, Brahmana. In the Indian caste system, you are born into your caste and there is no way you can change your caste in your life time. It is believed that if you live a good life, you can be reincarnated into a higher caste. The major religion in India is Hinduism. Hinduism promotes harmony and love for everyone but Jhingur and Buddhu are trapped in the law of Karma. Although the story revolves around Jhingur and Buddhu and the pride they have for themselves, it causes them to manipulate each other constantly causing them to be entrapped in envy.

“The Road to Salvation” revolves around a farmer named Jhingur and a shepherd named Buddhu. The road to entrapment starts when Jhingur cruelly beat sheeps owned by Buddhu because it broke into his sugar cane field after he insisted not letting those sheep pass by his field. Because of this, Buddhu told Jhingur that “You’re going to regret it” (Premchand 1302). Jhingur family and friends urged him to make peace with Buddhu but found his field on fire. The villagers helped put out the fire but they were too late and the crops were already destroyed. Many villagers especially Jinghur knew that Buddhu did it but no one can say a word without evidence. Buddhu caused Jhingur to lose his reputation and because of it, Jhingur sought revenge. O...

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... Buddhu reduced his foe to poverty and released a cycle of events that would end in his own destruction. In the end, justice wasn’t present with neither the burning of the sugar cane field nor the killing of the calf. Instead, we see two workers trapped in bitterness failing to recognize how they must work together to truly successful.

Premchand points out some of the problems in the social structure of India in “The Road to Salvation”. The story tells of two working men who ruin each other financially and morally. Premchand is not only talking about the turmoil between members of the same caste, he’s also saying that as long as people continue ruin each other, nothing good can come from it. Jhingur and Buddhu materialistic desires blinded them, and they may never see the true value of life. They are trapped in a cycle of revenge that brought their own destruction.