Indian Culture in Punishment by Rabindranath Tagore
Punishment, by Rabindranath Tagore, is a short story involving Indian culture and a dilemma for two brothers. Dukhiram and Chidam slaved in the fields all day, as their wives would fight and scream at each other at the house. One day the brothers came home to their wives with no food awaiting them. Dukhiram, furious and enraged, asked his wife where the food was. Radha, his wife, said sarcastically," Where is the food? You didn't give me anything to cook. Must I earn the money myself to buy it?" (Punishment, pg.1451) After a hard days work, Dukhiram couldn't handle the sarcasim. So he stabbed Radha in the head with his knife. In the mean while, Ramlochan, the pillar of the village, came to collect rent from the brothers. He walked in the house and witnessed Dukhiram sobbing in the corner. Chidam rushed over and explained the recent events to the Ramlochan. Since Ramlochan was the man who took care of legal matters, he decided to help Chidam. They both decided it would be best to place the blame on Chidam's wife, Chandara. Chidam did not wish to lose his brother, and he felt he could make up a story to clear his wife from the charges anyways. Word of the murder spread around town and soon the police came to question Chandara. Chidam had instructed her to say that Radha attacked her with a slicer, and she reacted in self-defense. However, Chandara told the police the opposite. She said that Radha didn't attack her in any way. Chidam, absolutely shocked, couldn't believe what his wife had said. She continued to confess her guilt to all who questioned her. The case then went to trial, where once again she pronounced her actions of murder. Chidam was que...
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... wives were in Indian culture, for Chidam was willing to lose his wife in order to keep his brother alive.
In conclusion, it is interesting to observe the cultural significance this story has. Tagore wrote this story based on his cultural experience in India. Little pieces of the story point to the way of Indian life and values. Coming from another culture, it wasn't too hard to figure out what Indian customs were like after reading this book. So Tagore, in my opinion, did an excellent job of providing the reader with a basic understanding of how relationships between men and women existed during his time.
Bibliography:
Family Customs in India. www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/india/pro-family_customs.htm. Asianinfo.org, 2000.
Social Issues in India. www.indiagov.org/social/menu.htm. Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, 2001.
As Author, Amitava Kumar, shares an unusual story that tells of a law that is
This novel uttered this through the reoccurring theme of mateship between the two main characters. Throughout the novel, the author has expressed no one will be able to overcome stress and mishaps in life, without a hold of mateship with one another. The relationships with people are interesting as many people in society go through the same thing. The author wrote this for the reason that it is the way humanity was born. No matter if ones cheat or get someone pregnant, people can always related and help you.
In “The Death Penalty” (1985), David Bruck argues that the death penalty is injustice and that it is fury rather than justice that compels others to “demand that murderers be punished” by death. Bruck relies on varies cases of death row inmates to persuade the readers against capital punishment. His purpose is to persuade readers against the death penalty in order for them to realize that it is inhuman, irrational, and that “neither justice nor self-preservation demands that we kill men whom we have already imprisoned.” Bruck does not employ an array of devices but he does employ some such as juxtaposition, rhetorical questions, and appeals to strengthen his argument. He establishes an informal relationship with his audience of supporters of capital punishment such as Mayor Koch.
Between these two stories “In Camera” by Nawal EL Saadawi and “Punishment” by Rabbindranath Tagore, there are many similarities and differences. First, both of these two stories took place in the Middle East country, Arab and India, which Arab is a monarchical country and India is a post-monarchical country. Meanwhile, both stories reflected about how women were treated in different time, culture and country and how did the two protagonists fight against the injustice. What’s more, the women’s placement is also a important topic which I would like to compare with.
The main character is Mrs. Das whom is flirtatious, careless, and needy. She and her husband take their family to see the country India for the first time. The tour guide Mr.Kapsi whom is curious, understanding, and quite aware. He sees something unusual at the beginning of the trip, but does not say anything. As the children continue their site seeing, the husband takes picture with his camera as if he lost in his own world. Meanwhile the wife gets to know the driver instead of site seeing. Mr.Kapsi is aware that the family is not like most Indians which lead him to be attracted to Mrs.Das. It states, “The family looked Indian but dressed as foreigners did, the children in stiff, brightly colored clothing and caps with translucent visors (29). This quote shows the difference in cultural clash as well the difficulty of communication. Mr.Kapsi tells Mrs. Das that he is an interpreter for a doctor which makes her believe she can discuss her personal business without him telling anyone. It states, “He decided to begin with the most obvious question, to get to the heart of the matter, and so he asked, “Is it really pain you feel, Mrs. Das, or is it guilt?”(39) Made the wife realized what she was truly feeling about her mistakes. After the conversation Mr.Kapsi did not look at the Mrs.Das the same way. The unusual
Roy asserts that people’s fears of upsetting the power balance based in the caste system often leads to a blind acceptance of the status quo and a continuous sense of self-deprecation by individuals at the bottom of the hierarchy. When Velutha’s father fears that his son’s affair with a Touchable will have potentially disastrous consequences for him, he serves his own self-interest and is willing to endanger is son. He exposes the affair to the grandmother of the woman his son is having an affair with, revealing the extreme degree to which caste and conforming to societal norms drive the behaviors of individuals in Indian society; “So Vellya Paapen had come to tell Mamamachi himself. As a Paravan and a man with mortgaged body parts he considered it his duty…they had made the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible really happen…Offering to kill his son. To tear him limb from limb” (242). His fear of disrupting the status quo (i.e. the Indian social hierarchy) is so great that he is willing to sacrifice his own son’s life to protect his own. Rather than considering the genuine...
The author wanted to provide a realistic view of life in this era and also wanted to bring to life what everyday women felt like then. The subject and writing style could be seen as plain but that is to let you (the reader) be able to feel yourself in the time and place and thus be able to feel the emotional context of the events that happen to the charcters.
Her realization that she is not alone in her oppression brings her a sense of freedom. It validates her emerging thoughts of wanting to rise up and shine a light on injustice. Her worries about not wanting to grow up because of the harsh life that awaits her is a common thought among others besides the people in her community. As she makes friends with other Indians in other communities she realizes the common bonds they share, even down to the most basic such as what they eat, which comforts her and allows her to empathize with them.
The story can be analyzed using feminist criticism perspective. Feminist criticism is “" the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women"” (Brizee & Tompkins). When reading a text one can find how women were treated in contemporary times. It can be expressed in many areas listed by Brizee & Tompkins. Moreover, Delahoyde also gave more details on the subject when he said “Feminist criticism concern itself with stereotypical representations of genders. It also may trace the history of relatively unknown or undervalued women writers, potentially earning them their rightful place within the literary canon, and helps create a climate in which women's creativity may be fully realized and appreciate.” Women had been undervalued and taken for granted. Many things they do are not as...
In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, the theme of duality and the conflict between personal desires and morals is present throughout much of the novel. There are dual conflicts: one external between a disillusioned individual and his world, and the other internal between an isolated soul and his inner thoughts. It is the internal conflict in the main character, Raskolnikov, that is the focused on for much of the novel. The first of Rodya’s two sides is his intellectual side. This side of rodya is inhumane, and exhibiting extreme self-will and power. This is the side of him that comes up with his theory. The crime was a result of his theory that some people possess extraordinary abilities while others have no ability. It's this intellectual side of him that caused him to conceive and execute his murder. Through the authors use of setting tone, diction, and allusion, the readers get a better understand if what type of character, rodya is.
Although the story bounces between these two main "insinuations", it is never clear to me what or who the story is about and I found this to be an unfulfilling reading. In retrospect my previous readings of literature have been more of the atypical writing style. One that leaves you comfortable and secure and without guesswork "The Indian Uprising" avoids this style at all cost. The author's intent on writing in the style of a collage, although fascinating, is very confusing. I will be the first to admit I'm not the most avid of readers, but having to read a story two or even three times and still not fully perceiving its meaning made it an even more arduous read.
Having recently completed several Books by Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” the “Idiot” and the Possessed. The complicated nature of his writings, much of which admittedly present some difficulty in one’s understanding of them. Discussing the material certainly helps expand one’s thinking of these subjects not before given much thought. Politics of the time, religion and social awareness are some of the issues so detailed by the author make me want to read more. The following paragraphs briefly describe the Novels read. Between the years 1866 and 1880, Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky completed several well-read novels, including Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Possessed plus a long list of other outstanding works.
...director did not limit the film to its historical context but extended the same to romance and fantasy. From a different angle of view, the director made use of the theme to communicate with the viewers and the fictional characters can be considered as his tools. Besides, ample importance is given to historical and fictional characters. In short, the amalgamation of history, fantasy and romance constituted much to the film’s importance as a historical/fictional masterpiece.
The story I have chosen for my assignment is `Everything's Arranged' by Siew Yue Killingley. It is about arranged marriages practised by the Indian communities.The story is centered around Rukumani, a young maiden from the Ceylonese Tamil community whose family has settled in Malaya. Probably her father or grandfather was brought to this land by the British those days. Though Rukumani, is sent to study in the university (`MU' as stated in the story ), the thinking of her parents is just like how it was back in their motherland, Sri Lanka. The Ceylonese, however educated, still hold to their tradition, beliefs and family values so adamantly. Education failed to change their thinking. Social life is a taboo for their young sons what more for a daughter.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy tells the story of the communist state of Kerala and the forbidden love between two castes, which changes the lives of everyone. In the novel an ‘Untouchable’, Velutha is a carpenter and works at Paradise Pickles and Preserves for much less than he deserves because of his status as an Untouchable in the caste system. Velutha falls into a forbidden love with a divorced woman, Ammu who is associated with an upper caste Syrian Christian Ipe family. Marriage was the only way that Ammu could have escaped this life, but she lost the chance when marrying the wrong man, as he was an alcoholic and this resulted in them getting a divorce. Ammu breaks the laws that state ‘who should be loved, and how and how much’, as their affair threatens the ‘caste system’ in India, which is a hierarchal structure and social practice in India in which your position in society is determined and can’t be changed. Arhundati Roy portrays the theme of forbidden love within the caste systems and shows how they are t...