IGNOU BA/BDP BEGE-105 Nehru's prose style in the letter "The Quest of Man".

IGNOU BA/BDP BEGE-105 Nehru's prose style in the letter "The Quest of Man".

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Write a detailed note on Nehru's prose style in the letter "The Quest of Man".
Answer:

Nehru wrote the letter "The Quest of Man" to his daughter Indira Priyadarshini from the district jail of Dehra Dun. The subject matter of this letter is philosophical but it has been rendered in a simple and elegant style. The writer(Nehru) makes it easy for the reader (here he had a fourteen-year-old girl in mind) to understand a serious subject matter relating to the human quest for knowledge. The prose style in the letter "The Quest of Man" is simple, direct, and conversational. When a reader goes through the letter he/she will recognize its direct and simple style that makes the reader as much as an addressee as Indira to whom it was first addressed. It gives a feeling that the reader and the writer are in conversation. The letter uses a direct form of address because the writer seems to engage his reader in a direct talk. The paragraphs are linked to make the letter read like a story about human civilization.


In the opening of the letter "The Quest of Man", Nehru describes his current place of imprisonment and the sense of joy he experiences on being close to the mountains and the greenery surrounding his prison. There is no bitterness on being confined to a solitary stay in a prison. On the contrary, the writer has the rare ability to find joy even in the cool night air and the trees and mountains that he can view at a far-off distance. Then he expresses the scepticism as to the worth and value of his writings. 

Then the writer attempts to recreate the history of the world from prehistoric times to modern days. Nehru says that he started with the narration about the discovery of fire and agriculture and extended his writings to cover facts of history about empires and different civilizations. He wonders whether midway had lost sight of the biggest human challenge that sought to unravel the mystery of the universe. He has written about civilizations that have come and gone, but somewhere along the line, he had missed delving upon the human quest to understand the world that man journeys through.


Then he traces the journey of the man in his long quest to know about his world. It is his mind which is man's great asset that helps him in his quest. Once Nehru starts writing about the quest of man, his scepticism fades away. He feels close to his daughter when he writes as if they were sitting together and talking.

Then he describes the twin approaches to understand the world - through religion and through science. Nehru feels that religion seeks to impose its own views that based on faith and spiritual beliefs while science seeks answers through experiment and reason. There cannot be any single answer to what man is seeking, as his quest has taken two distinct directions - one to understand himself and the other to understand nature. Religion looks to the inner nature of man while science to the outer nature. Both are important, but Nehru prefers the scientific approach, because it is rational and open-minded, not dogmatic like religion. However, man is misusing science instead of harnessing its power, almost to the point of destroying the very civilization that he has built up.

So, in the letter "The Quest of Man" Nehru has used a simple, direct and conversational style to present a serious subject matter relating to the human quest of knowledge. In this letter, Nehru goes beyond dates and facts to focus on man's innate quest to know and understand the world around him. Even though Nehru's letters were personal and meant only for his daughter, they form a well-knit series of world history for every reader to savour.

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