The Conformist

The Conformist is at once a gripping tale of a recent law graduate, and a clear message for today’s intellectuals. In the past, conformists reaped social rewards; the same ideology punished the non-conformists. Twenty first century thinkers, however, seem to contribute to the idea of universal humanism. To this end, they suffer from an internal contradiction, reflecting the external contradictions in the globalized world. On the one hand, having trained in the system, these intellectuals are conformists; on the other, they are victims of a particular humanism—the humanism entailed by the ideology of profit. Just as conformism turns them into slaves, non-conformism prompts them to reform the system. The challenge is how to be in the system and yet, raise the consciousness for reform.

Abhi Dutt, an orphan, conforms to his adopted mother’s wish and changes his faculty from philosophy to law. His trouble starts after graduating from law school; still unemployed, he gets into trouble while defending his friend, Smita, and ends up in a magistrate’s court accused of homicide. In the absence of witnesses, the jury finds him guilty—based on his confession to Inspector Basu, an officer he befriends, and the prosecutor’s argument citing common law. Why Abhi’s conformity to his mother’s wish, aunt’s advice, friends’ encouragement, neighbourhood’s witnesses, and his obedience to his own inner law were unable to save him? It is better to leave it for the reader to decide.