Punishment

Tagore’s “Punishment” talks about the role of men and women in India at the time. In the story, a man, Dukhiram Rui kills his wife after his wife snaps back at him when he asks where his food is. Chidam, Dukhiram’s brother, plans to let his wife take the blame for the murder because to him, a wife can be easily replaced, whereas a brother cannot.

When Ramlochan went over to the Rui household and noticed something wrong at their house, the first thought that came to Chidam’s head was to lie to Ramlochan and blame his wife on the murder. When Chidam asked his wife Chandara to take the blame, I think Chandara realizes that she does not mean anything to Chidam and agrees to take the blame for Dukhiram.  I think this part showed the power that men had over women and how women were treated like a piece of property in India at the time. However, after Chidam told his wife, Chandara, what to say to the police, Chandara confessed to the murder but didn’t say the rest of the story. She instead said that there was no ill-will between them and was willing to accept all the blame. Chandara sticked to her own story and said nothing else. I think this showed how death to her would have been better than staying married to Chidam for the rest of her life.

After doing a bit of research on Tagore and what it was like in India at the time, I found that Tagore’s father was in a social reform group called the Brahmo Samaj who wanted to blend Western ideas with the Indian culture. I think this had a huge effect on Tagore’s writings and can be seen in this story. Right before Chandara was going to be hung, a doctor told her that her husband wants to see her and she says “To hell with him”. I think this showed the idea of women being freed from men.

Questions:

1. The title of the story is “Punishment” Who do you think is being punished in this story?

2. Do you think Chandara had power over Chidam when he broked down and swore that his wife was innocent and then blamed the murder on himself?