Dheeraj Waran's blog

Before I actually talk about the depiction of religion in these two novels, I’d like to point out that they are both fairly similar in their setting, i.e. they both depict a society that would be termed ‘exotic’ by the western world, however, it must be noted that these novels are written from two different points of view, i.e. the colonialists and the exotics.
When Samskara was published in 1974, it caused quite a controversy due to its depiction of Brahmans or ‘holy men’ in a fairly unholy light. The Brahmans depicted in Samskara are promiscuous, hypocritical and greedy. The question that the novel raises is can a man be a sinner and yet a good man?
Unlike Samskara, Oroonoko does not focus on religion. However, the protagonist’s perspective of religion and the perspective depicted in Samskara are very similar. Oroonoko takes a very bemused view of religion throughout the novel, i.e. the possibility of a godly entity baffles and amuses him. However, through his trials and suffering, he begins to understand that even though these men have a set of apparently enforced ideals and rules that they must follow (religion), the atrocities that they commit against Oroonoko, bring him to identify religion with evil. Therefore, Oroonoko’s perspective of religion turns to hatred of the very idea of it.
Oroonoko and Praneshacharya(the protagonist of Samskara) hence experience a transformation of their views on religion through the progress of Oroonoko and Samskara respectively. Oroonoko’s views on religion become fixed in his hatred of it, whereas Praneshacharya, the holiest Brahman in the village, takes an existentialist view on religion as he has now committed a ‘sin’ and starts to question his status as a good man.