24 SOCIAL SCIENTIST offer to himself: another word for life is failure, man was not made for success, and the only release possible is in death; Malyaban becomes both pessimistic and fatalistic. On the other extreme, Malyaban reprimands himself for becoming too self-centered, he tries to locate himself in the context of historical change. However, he remains undecided to the end of the novel as to which course of action he should follow. The novel closes with two opposed feelings ; on one hand Malyaban feels that a comfortable bed and sleep is the best of all things, and on the other, he questions the very feasibility of making such a withdrawal, of opting out of history. A controlled irony towards Malyaban does not allow the reader to empathise with him. As the narrater distances himself from the character, the reader too is forced to distance himself from him. The reader is thus able to critically examine him, to perceive in the contradictions of Malyaban his own contradictions, to read into Malyaban's long internal monologue the chronicle of his own life. As contrasted with Malyaban, the other two novels Sutirtha and Jalpaihati are replete with debates and discussions. Sutirtha, the central character of the novel named after him, is not content to remain a marginal man like Malyaban. He makes a conscious bid to outgrow his class-limits by taking part in a labour strike. In the novel Sufirtha, Jivanananda takes up for his subject the problematic nature of this act of engagement. Sutirtha tries to convince the workers that he has not joined them for any personal gain. The workers however do not fully accept him as their comrade-in-arms. They believe that the leader of the proletariat should come from the proletariat itself. They feel it is reprehensible that people like Sutirtha who have no real knowledge of workers or peasants should come to supervise the political movements initiated by them. Likewise Sutirtha feels that he does not really belong to the working class, that though he is sympathetic to their cause, it is impossible for him to become one with them. Khemesh, a friend of Sutirtha, seeks refuge and peace in nature. The complexities of the world frighten him. It seems to Khemesh that the only worthwhile thing a man can do is to withdraw from the world and lead a passive, contemplative life. Sutirtha tries to instill a sense of responsibility in him, advises him to come into the company of other men. He warns Khemesh that people like him are marked as targets by the world. In reply, Khemesh poses this question to Sutirtha : How does Suthirtha propose to do away with himself ? Joyoti, a friend of both Sutirtha and Khemesh, also makes a similar comment. To Khemesh's remark that actual social change will take place long after his death, Joyoti says that it will only be achieved after a collective death, after the end of the present epoch. Joyoti regards the collective death as a pre-condition to ushering in a new world. Death in this novel is not to be understood in metaphysical t^rms but as the tot^l mutation of a specific foTO of social relationship.