SYMBOLISM IN TAGORE'S "THE POST OFFICE"

Symbolism denotes something that stands for something else.It has two meanings; apparent and hidden.In post office,Tagore uses differnt phrases,words,characters symbolically.
On the surface leve,the play is the story of pain and agony of human condition.It is the story of an orphan boy amal who has been adopted by madhav.Amal is suffering from some fatal disease and is restricted by the physician.Amal expects a letter from the king .So it is the story of agony of a child.
But beneath the natural level,the play symbolizes man's yearning for the union with God.Human being,the finite,seeks fulfillment with the God,the infinite.And he is elated whenever the union takes place.This is illustrated through exquisite symbols.
AMAL: See that far away hill from the window. I often long to go beyond those hills and right away.
MADHAV: Oh! yoy silly!As if there is nothing more to be done but just get up to the top of the hill and away.
The conversation shows the difference between the materialist and a spiritualist. Unlike a materialist, a spiritualist believes that there is another world beyond this world.The post office is therefore a symbolic representation of two currents of thought.The post office itself provides a symbolic background.It is a sort of bridge between the known and the unknown.
The king's letter is a suggestive symbol .It comes from a distant,mysterious world bringing a message from someome whom we hold very dear ro us.It is an invitation to leave the world of pain and enter into the world of eternal bliss.Time is an essential symbol, played by the watchman.we are bound by time ,but we can conquer it.It calls for great suffering and pain.Amal's deliverance suggests the note.
The symbol of death is also praiseworthy. Death is suffused with a great aura of liberation.It comes always at the moment when the self of a man,seeking no longer for personal gains, is able to say ;all my work is thine. we know that amal is sleeping, but when he will awake,he will find himself in a world of eternal freedom.We are reminded of DONNE:
"One short sleep a spent,we wakw eternally,
And death shall be no more,death thou shall die."
The character of sudha also contributes much to the symbolic structure of the play.The word sudha is both connotative and denotative.Sudha means nectar.W hen she asks the physician to tell amalthat sudha has not forgotten him,we understand that amal is not dead,because he has with him sudha,the drink of immortality.
Thus,the play has several symbolic meanings.Amal represents the soul or atma.The king represents the God.Dr.Iyenger talks of these symbols very well; " One of the deeply significant plays ,which a child could read and understan,though it might intrigue the grown ups".

TAGORE AS A SHORT STORY WRITER:AN EVALUATION

R.N. TAGORE is an outstanding figure in the realm of short story genre. His multi-dimensional vision of life is discernable in his 61 short stories, telescoping man’s relationship with nature and social milieu. Endowed with boundless love for human beings, he emerged as a singer of the weal and woe of common life .
As a short story writer, Tagore was a practitioner of psychological and spiritual realism. What Tagore did was to record certain moments in the lives of the common people. CABULIWALLAH is study of peculiar bond of relationship between the people despite the vast hiatus of ages. Here love transcends social barrier and makes us sympathize with a poor cabuli fruit seller.
Tagore saw that while the privileged persons were enjoying in the cosy inn, others were “wallowing in the mud”. Tagore defied the class barrier between the haves and have- nots. He represented the ordinary mass who were neglected.
Tagore believed that man can upgrade morally and spiritually if he lives a life in close contact with nature. THE HIDDEN TREASURE is an apt illustration of that. Fatik, the protagonist of THE HOME COMIG ,is a child of naure. The delirious talk of the boy with his ultimate welcome of holiday is heart rendering.
Tagore hated the prevailing education system which cramped the personality of the children.Problems faced by the wards by their teachers is mirrored in HOUSEWIFE .In THE EXERCISE BOOK the agony of a child is presented. Tarapada is after his heart, a settled life is not for him.Balai clings to his flowers.
Hardships of Bengali women due to unhealthy customs is seen in many of his stories.In NUMBER ONE a woman suicides to get rid of biases.THE LIVING OR DEAD deals with the same thing.In PUNISHMENT a man kills his wife to save his brother.Extraction of dowry from marriage leads to the stoppage of marriage in THE UNKNOWN.In DEBITS AND CREDITS the evils are scathingly castigated.
Thus we see that Tagore sings the saga of the pathos of common life from the standpoint of a sympathetic humanist.He envisions a better future for mankind despite its present woes.His stories are universal and eternal in their appeal as Tagore himself feels excited “ If I do nothing but write stories, I am happy….my characters are with me when I am shut up in my room.”