Gandhi

Quotes

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” 

This quote is well known, and it truly reflects Gandhi's outlook on life. I think that Gandhi wanted to convey two messages through this quote. Firstly, Gandhi wanted to tell others that people should do good deeds just for the sake of doing good deeds; not for the sake of receiving anything in return or as an obligatory act. Several of Gandhi's actions support this quote. Secondly, I think Gandhi wanted to show others that people should not try to get revenge on other people to get "even" with them. 
Gandhi's ideals and morals can be seen through his actions throughout the movie. For example, Gandhi performs good deeds towards the whole of India without expecting anything in return. He fought hard for India's independence, and sacrificed a lof of himself, yet he did not want anything in return; in fact at the end of the movie, the news reporter states that Gandhi believes that he himself had failed in achieving his goals. Gandhi also did not want to get revenge on the British even though the British oppressed the Indian people. After Gandhi comes from his conference in London, he explicitly states that he wanted to "see the British off as friends." This shows how Gandhi did not have a heart for revenge. Additionally, after 1516 Indian people were injured or killed at the Massacre of Amritsar, Gandhi does not want the Indians to get revenge on them. Instead, he continues to advocate peaceful, nonviolent, noncooperation. If he had wanted to take "an eye for an eye," then Gandhi would have employed more violent means of achieving his goals of Indian independence. 

"I am a Muslim, and a Hindu, and a Christian and a Jew; and so are you."

This quote demonstrates Gandhi's strong Hindu beliefs. Hinduism is a religion that has a lot of tolerance, and Hindu people believe that there are several ways of representing Brahman - the ultimate reality. They believe that other religions such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, etc. are all alternative and equal ways that Brahman represents itself. Therefore, Hindu people are tolerant of other belief systems and religions. Gandhi demonstrates his religious tolerance a few times throughout the movie. For example, he demonstrates his religious tolerance when he decides to stay at a Muslim persons' house during the conflicts between the Muslims and the Hindus. After India gained their independence from Britain, the Muslim people and Hindus began to fight against each other. Gandhi was displeased with this fighting, and he tried to set an example of tolerance for the other Indians and Hindus. Gandhi also displays religious tolerance when he tells the Hindu man about his way to heaven. After the fights between the Muslims and Hindus broke out, a Hindu man came to Gandhi and told him that he was going to hell because he had killed a Muslim child. Gandhi told him that the only way to heaven was to find a Muslim orphan and raise the Muslim orphan as his own child. This shows that Gandhi wanted Hindus to have religious tolerance towards Muslims. 


New Insight 

After watching the Gandhi movie, I gained a few new insights about Hinduism. Firstly, I now have a better idea of what Hinduism looks like. I think that Gandhi is a perfect example of a "good" Hindu, in that Gandhi has religious tolerance, does good deeds, and lives mainly to serves others. Due to all of these actions that make him a "good" Hindu, I can now see why people say that Gandhi has found Nirvana. From this movie, I also realized the unifying power of Hinduism. The Hindus in the movie were unified because they were Hindus. It was as if all Hindus had a spiritual connection because they believed in the same religion. Additionally, Hindus heavily discriminated against people who were not Hindus. Hinduism simultaneously acted as a unifying force, and a discriminating force.