The fuss over a new biography of Mohandas Gandhi only reinforces the extent to which admirers and critics alike have put the Indian independence leader on a pedestal. In his book “Great Soul,’’ journalist Joseph Lelyveld recounts how Gandhi’s frustration about attitudes toward Indians in South Africa evolved into a broader notion of equality and human dignity everywhere. But the book also explores Gandhi’s inconsistencies and political missteps and — more controversially — makes mention of an ambiguous personal relationship between Gandhi and a German man.
The book has been greeted with great relish in some circles. In a review published in the Wall Street Journal, conservative historian Andrew Roberts asserts that “Great Soul’’ reveals Gandhi as a “political incompetent and a fanatical faddist.’’ The more salacious reviews (to which Lelyveld has objected, it should be noted) have prompted the Indian state of Maharashtra to consider banning the book.
While Lelyveld’s book complicates the standard picture of Gandhi, it doesn’t undercut Gandhi’s achievements. If anything, it’s more inspiring when highly fallible individuals accomplish great things. As anti-government revolutions play out in Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt, many Americans nervously scan the scene, hoping for Gandhi-like leaders who can rise above the temptations, prejudices, and petty disputes that bedevil every country. It’s reassuring to know that, in his own time, Gandhi himself — despite his accomplishments — might not have satisfied that standard.
