Question

Discuss the point that private letters and autobiographies tell us about a great deal of information about an individual?

Answer 1

Private letters and autobiographies are an important source of an individual’s life and views. Many of our freedom struggle leaders wrote autobiographies and letters, and today they are our great record of them and history too.

1. Private Letters: Many letters are written to individuals and are therefore personal, but they are also meant for the public. The language of the letters is often shaped by the awareness that they may one day be published. They give us a glimpse of the private thoughts of an individual. In letters, we see people expressing their anger and pain, their dismay and anxiety, their hopes and frustrations, in a way in which they may not express themselves in public statements. Gandhiji regularly published in his journal Harijan letters written to him by others during the national movements. Nehru edited a collection of letters written to him during the national movement and published A Bunch of Old Letters.
2. Autobiographies: Autotrophies are a very important source to reconstruct the history. They give us an account of the past, i.e., rich in human detail. Autobiographies are retrospective accounts written very often from memory. They tell us what the author would be able to recollect, what he or she saw as important, or was recounting, or how a person wanted his or her life to be viewed by others. The autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, i.e., My Experiments with Truth, gives us a glimpse of the life of Mahatma Gandhi.