Mahatma Gandhi

During the early to mid 1900s, world conflicts led to a rise in nationalism. As imperialism and World War I reeked havoc over the world, India was being led by Mohandas Gandhi and Indian nationalists to become free from British rule. Taking on this extremely difficulty endeavor, Gandhi was faced with many hardships and obstacles. Throughout his life, as portrayed in the movie Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough, Gandhi was a stubborn man in both his professional and personal life.

Being stubborn is an objective trait to posses. Some may say it is negative while others may say it is positive. In the movie Gandhi the opening scene portrays a young Gandhi in South Africa aboard a train, sitting in first class. At the time South Africa was apartheid, which was an extreme system of racial segregation. All colored people were forced to wear passes that showed that they were not of white descent. Colored people were not allowed to ride first class on trains, but were forced to sit in the third class section. Gandhi, who was a prestigious lawyer was shocked when he was asked to move to third class and refused to give up his seat in first class. Being the stubborn man that he was, Gandhi was literally thrown off the train. In another scene Gandhi orchestrated a protest for Indians where he planned to burn the identification passes. He was repeatedly beaten by the police, but did not relent. He was later arrested, but before being released he was sent to General Smuts office. When General Smuts offered him a drink Gandhi responded, "I dined at the prison", and when Gandhi was offered to be escorted out he replied, "I can find my own way out." Both of these quotes display his stubborn personality. After the progress he made in South Africa, Gandhi was determined to explore his motherland India.

After traveling for some time, Gandhi was asked to join the Indian Nationalist Party. He worked alongside Indian Nationalist Patel and the Muslim League leader, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Gandhi’s mission was now to free India from British imperialist rule peacefully. Mahatma also made sure that Indians alone would free India. After reaching India Gandhi decided to dress and live as any other Indian would, therefore he lived in poverty with his wife. Gandhi started a string of non-violence movements. Even when police beat crowds Gandhi insisted they not fight back, because of this Gandhi adopted the name Stubborn Man From Champara.

Another way that Gandhi gained his nickname was through his call for passive resistance movements. His first call for action was when Britain placed the Rowlett Acts on India which limited their freedom which allowed unfair treatment. Gandhi was outraged and called for a day of "fasting and prayer" which would conveniently allow every Indian worker to take the day off at the same time, leaving India cut off from the world have showing Britain how powerful the Indian workers really were. India depended was dependant upon Britain, because they controlled most of their raw materials. To fight this Gandhi refused to buy cloth from the British and began to spin his own cloth. In one scene of the movie Gandhi calls everyone to bring cloth that they bought from the British and to burn it. Because of his large influence over India, the British found any reason just to arrest him. Once he was arrested the Indian people turned to violence as an answer. When Gandhi heard this he immediately went on a hunger strike and put himself in critical health until the fighting stopped. The Indian people loved Gandhi so much they stopped fighting to save their beloved and stubborn Gandhigi.

After Gandhi restored his heath