Playing the Englishman is the 15th chapter of M.K Gandhi’s autobiography, ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’, in which he narrates his experiences in England as a law student. In the 15th chapter, Gandhi describes his experiences of trying to fit in and adopting a foreign identity – the identity of an Englishman. In order for Gandhi to pursue his studies of becoming a lawyer, he had traveled to England, a place that was foreign to him, in which he attempted to fit into the culture and his surroundings, however, his attempts were unsuccessful. This chapter is based around the theme of identity in which a man cannot change their identity even if they are doing it for the sake of adjusting to a new environment.
Gandhi displays his struggles with building his identity in England using various different stylistic techniques. Through the use of a sarcastic tone, Gandhi presents the absurdity of his actions trying to play the Englishman. For instance, he ‘wasted ten minutes every day before a huge mirror, watching [himself] arranging [his] tie and parting [his] hair in the correct fashion’. The use of a sarcastic tone displays that his efforts trying to look like Englishman to adjust to the ‘English Society’ was quite meaningless since he was still unable to fit in after wasting ten minutes. Additionally, ‘while in India, the mirror had been a luxury…here [he] wasted ten minutes every day before a huge mirror’. The use of the mirror allows Gandhi to reflect the cultural differences between England and India as well as the luxurious lifestyle he led as a student compared to the life he used to live in India. Gandhi also relates himself to ‘all philosophers and prophets, from Pythagoras and Jesus down to those of the present age’ because they ‘were vegetarians’. Gandhi alludes to his future actions as a freedom fighter after leaving England through the reference of vegetarianism. These philosophers and prophets are quite well-known for their revolutionary work and just like them, Gandhi has also accomplished a lot through his work as a freedom fighter who successfully brought India to Independence.
Throughout this chapter, Gandhi describes his struggle to fit in where he went to certain extremes such as taking ‘lessons in dancing, French, elocution’ and music in order to live an English life. However, Gandhi realizes that he is living a lie and that he is not only fooling himself, but he is also denying the fact that he is an Indian and not an Englishman. Therefore, providing a life lesson that the truth of our identities cannot change and one’s identity is crucial for living an enjoyable and meaningful life.