The early novelists in India played a significant role in spreading social awareness. Justify the statement with examples.
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(i) The novelists played an important role in spreading social awareness by taking themes such as caste oppression, the life of the common people, marriage, practices, etc.
(ii) They tried to create social awareness on the prevalence of backward social customs which were exploitative in nature.
(iii) As early as 1857, Baba Padamanji's Yamuna Paryatan used a simple style of storytelling to speak about the plight of widows.
In 'Seva Sadan', Premchand deals mainly with the poor condition of women in societies. Issues like child marriage and dowry are woven into the story of the novel, Social evils like caste oppression were highlighted by Potheri Kuniambu, a lower caste writer from North Kerala who wrote a novel called 'saraswativijayam' in 1892, mounting a strong attack on caste oppression. This man shows a young man from an untouchable caste leaving his village to escape the cruelty of his Brahmin landlord. He converts to Christianity, obtains modern education and leads a respectable life with his family.
(iv) Hence issues like the plight of widows, problems created by the early marriage of the girls and caste oppression were the important social issues which were highlighted through novels.