Film Analysis or An Analysis of an Autobiography/Biography (Human Relations)

Running head: GANDHI’S BIOGRAPHY
An Analysis of Gandhi’s Biography (Human Relations)
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Abstract
This paper in studying human relations is going to conduct an analysis of the biography/autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. The life of Gandhi will be reviewed alongside some of the most significant events which took place during his life. Gandhi’s political activism, leadership and fight for social justice will also be analyzed. Factors which contributed to the making of Gandhi as one of the greatest leaders in the 21st century will be reviewed. His values, motivations, ethics, moral, principles, leadership skills, belief and many other personal attributes will also be discussed.
An Analysis of Gandhi’s Biography (Human Relation)
This paper in studying human relations will analyze the biography/autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi in order to bring out his values, leadership skills and factors which motivated him and turned him into the leader he became. Gandhi without doubt has been hailed as one the greatest leaders in the 20th century. Gandhi was born on October of 1869 and died through an act of assassination in January of 1948. Mahatma was considered to be a very successful leader by many, but he always considered himself as the least successful. He was an analytical, deliberate and a charismatic leader. He drew his inspirations from an ancient Hindu text Bhagavad-Gita. He was an intellectual, orator, writer and a politician. From his values, leadership skills and motivations, it is evident that Gandhi was a complex but at the same time believed mundane things (Gandhi, 1957).
Gandhi was referred to as Mahatma an Indian word which means great soul and he lived to his name by inspiring people both in homeland India and across the world. He was brought up in a Hindu family that took part in politics at the local level. His family leadership skills and ideologies were influenced by the principles of Jainism which was a religious organization opposed to violence, and encouraged its member to be vegetarians. Gandhi was married at the tender age of thirteen according to Indian customs, and he lost he father when he was sixteen. Young Mahatma was troubled by this evident because when his father was dieing he was spending time with his young wife, and could not be accompany his father in his final hours. Some analysts have concluded that this occurrence is what later influenced Gandhi to live a life of celibacy. Some scholars have opposed this view owing to the fact that Gandhi became celibate sixteen years after the death of his father, and by that time he already had four sons. Gandhi became celibate in order to channel all his energy and time in pursing his value (Carter, 1995).
Gandhi in his early years studied in his native home but later proceeded to London where he trained to become a lawyer, living in London between 1888 and 1891. Gandhi considered his stay in London as a period in his life when he will be faced by numerous temptations which he had to overcome. While in London Gandhi was exposed to new ideas for example he read the bible and preferred the New Testament to the Old Testament. He later returned to India and practiced law for a while but he was unmerciful. This made him to relocate to South Africa where he took the position of an advisor to a wealthy Muslim Indian in 1893. He traveled back to India in 1901 to check on his wife but later returned to South Africa in 1902 after a request from the Indian community in South Africa (Carter, 1995).
Gandhi lived in South Africa for twenty one years. A significant event that took place in Gandhi’s life in South Africa after staying there for only one week was when a European man asked him to move from the first class section in a train. Gandhi had a ticket which allowed him to seat in the first class section, but despite this he was thrown out of the train by force. He also underwent other racial discriminations during his early days in South Africa. It is while in South Africa that Gandhi conceptualized two main ideas that guided his actions. One of his ideas was to seek independence for all Indians in addition to spiritual revival. He termed this idea “Swaraj”. His second idea forbade the use of violence but promoted love and truth. He termed this idea “Satyagraha”. Gandhi advocated for the principle of non-violence based on his belief that passive resistance with time could turn into active resistance hence begetting violence. In his understanding of resistance, respecting the second party involved was paramount (Fischer, 1950).
Based on the above two ideas, Gandhi came up with the concept of Constructive Program. This was a reformist program aimed at solving social issues faced by Indians. This was based on three pillars: ensuring Muslim and Indian unity, production and consumption of local products, and the abolishment of the caste of untouchables. In South Africa Gandhi came into contact with Christians and Jewish friends who taught him new ideas. He was also exposed to Leo Tolstoy ideas. Tolstoy taught that all the governments on earth were established and ran through war and the best methods of going against evils arising from these governments is by using passive resistance (Fischer, 1950).
While in South Africa Gandhi also took part in numerous humanitarian pursuits. In 1899 during the Boer war he became the leader of Red Cross and as a result he was awarded by authorities in Britain. In 1894 Gandhi wrote a petition to the government in India and this was considered to be the pioneering Indian petition. This petition was meant to protest against prohibition of Indians from voting by the colonial government. In the same year Gandhi created Natal Indian Congress a political movement that was meant to solicit for support Indians involved in the liberation movements back at home. Mahatma’s efforts bore fruits because he managed to eliminate some of the harsh clauses contained in the bill which prevented Indians from voting (Gandhi, 2008).
Gandhi also protested against discriminatory and unfair laws enacted by the British in India; however his endeavors in this area did not succeed. Another event which had an impact on Gandhi’s life while in South Africa occurred in 1906 when Gandhi dispatched ambulance corps to Zululand. During this period there was a Zulu rebellion which the government was trying to suppress. The tribulations the Zulu people underwent when the rebellion was being suppressed are what emotionally moved Gandhi. This made Gandhi to conceive some of his famous vows. While in Zululand he vowed to celibacy, love truth, vegetarianism and non violence both to man and beats (Gandhi, 2008).
Later to prove his celibacy and test his sexual limits, it was reported that Gandhi shared a bed with his female colleagues while in the nude. These sexual trials performed by Gandhi were perceived to be controversial. In 1904 Gandhi started publishing a journal that was entitled “Indian Opinion” and was released on a weekly basis. During the same year Gandhi relocated to communes. Gandhi’s experience and activities in South Africa made him popular back in India, and when he went back home this created a platform for him to engage himself in the Indian activism. When he was in south Africa Gandhi never showed or embraced anti-British sentiments and on returning home he did not preach anti-British sentiments, instead he preached pro-truth, non-violent and pro-Indian ideologies (Nanda, 1958).
In a nutshell Mahatma Gandhi returned to India with his life philosophy cut out, in addition to a good reputation, skills and methods of organizing people that have been proven to work, and an enhanced self confidence. In 1920 Indian Home League was created and Gandhi became its leader. While in this position he managed to write a constitution which was used to run Indian congress. It is during this period that Gandhi launched his famous non-cooperative principles nationally. This movement saw a rejection of foreign ideology and this was demonstrated by acts such as destruction of foreign clothing and other items (Nanda, 1958).
In 1922 Gandhi was arrested for stage managing protest against unfair taxation which culminated into violence and also for burning western clothes. Gandhi was remorseful for the violence which saw him fast as a consequence. However, when Gandhi was a reign in court to face his charges, the judge recommended that the intended punishment which was supposed to see him jailed for six years be reduced. After his jailed termed which lasted for twenty two months, Gandhi was released and he temporarily went into political dormancy only to emerge in 1930. In t...