Jagannath is thematically linked with the Chinese story “The True Story of AhQ” by Lu Xun. The dramatist adapts it to the Indian scene and sets the story in the period before Independence when terrorists were fighting against British rulers.
Jagannath portrays the life and tragic fate of a poor village odd-jobsman. The feudal lords tyrannies over him and the villagers laugh at him. Even the revolutionaries are no kin to him.
Jagannath lacks the courage and the conviction needed to act in a positive manner. But in his own inimitable style he compensates in his mind for his inability. He works out lavish fantasies of success against tormentors and remains content with ‘moral victories’.
Jagannath is haunted by the memory of a terrible incident of his childhood – his mother and little brothers were killed by his father and somehow, he was spared.
Jagannath is too shy to express his feeling of love and the priest’s daughter, with all her charm and youthfulness, fails to arouse his passion.
Jagannath is ordered to be hanged by the British. He cries and pleads for mercy. Yet he stands upon the platform of the gallows with a smile on his lips and recollects the favorites song of his childhood. Jagannath dies a martyr’s death.