Reflection of Psychological Naturalism in Homen Borgohain's Novel 'Astarag'

Abstract

Among all the novelists who has earned popularity by composing a huge amount of novels in modern Assamese literature , Homen Borgohain is exceptional.  In his novels new ideas and techniques get  beautifully expressed.  The modernist ideologies provided a new dimension to his novels. The society- centric element is the main reason behind  the popularity of his novels. In the successful novels of Homen Borgohain the diverse realistic expressions of common people of Assam get expressed in an  artistic and witty way. He has written many novels. But the nine novels that he wrote almost in each of them ,he directly criticised the social and political system of the society that violently forced common people to destroy their dignity and live their lives in a ugly, poor and troubled manner . The novels also strongly condemned the touching picture of the society where the dignity of human beings were robbed and destroyed. In some of his novels this criticism has  depicted the implementation of different conflicts of people's psychological life or their innerworld.  In this regard novels like 'Tantrik' , 'Saudor Puteke Nao Meli Jai' , 'Astarag' are exceptional. Homen Borgohain's 'Astarag' is one such sensitive novel which includes physical, psychological and social directions of aging . In general it is very rare to find such novels in Assamese literature.  'Astarag' is a fine creation which is composed with western ideologies and  own experiences of the novelist.  In this paper the researcher tried to discuss the psychological naturalism of human beings in a descriptive way.