Previous
Chapter 11
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hind Swaraj, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Passive Resistance and Indian Independence
Modern Civilization and Colonialism
The Personal and the Political
Indian Nationhood and Identity
Summary
Analysis
The reader asks why the editor also blames doctors for corrupting India. Noting that Western writers have strongly influenced his view, the editor compares modern civilization to the toxic Upas tree, which poisons everything around it. The tree’s branches represent “parasitical professions” like medicine and law, “the axe of true religion” can cut it down, and its root is immorality.
Gandhi’s metaphor of the Upas tree points to how he sees India’s impoverishment, communal divisions, loss of sovereignty, and moral values as all inherently connected. Essentially, he sees people’s values and way of life—or their civilization—as the key determiner of how their society functions. He therefore sees problems with the medical and legal professions as symptoms of a deeper, moral problem. In this way, he again suggests that cultural and moral reform are the only way to save India.
Themes
The editor admits that he used to admire doctors and even want to be one. But now he sees that the English use medicine to oppress India. Doctors treat diseases but not their real cause, which is usually “negligence or indulgence.” They give people medicine that cures them, and this encourages people to repeat their sinful behaviors. Doctors therefore heal the body but weaken the mind. European doctors constantly vivisect animals to test their theories, and the medicines they prescribe often contain animal products banned by Hindu and Muslim law. Now, people become doctors to get rich, not to serve others.
Ultimately, Gandhi’s critique of doctors parallels his critique of lawyers: they have a financial incentive to create problems, rather than preventing them. While his criticism of specific medical treatments might no longer seem reasonable in the 21sta century, his driving belief is that people should fight “negligence [and] indulgence” rather than popping pills. Specifically, he thinks this is part of modern civilization’s dangerous tendency: it further indulges the body while overlooking the mind. Accordingly, Gandhi isn’t arguing for a world without doctors: rather, he’s arguing that an effective medical system should prioritize prevention and behavior change, not reactive treatment to preventable illnesses.
Themes
