–How does justice work in the world of “Punishment”? What happens when one tells the truth? What happens when one lies?
–What do we make of Chandara’s choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law? Do you see her as a hero or as a victim?
–Explain the significance of the details Tagore offers about the marriage between Chandara and Chidam. How do they help us understand the events of the story?
–How do you understand the title of the story?
–As she approaches death, Chandara both says, “to hell with him,” and maintains that she loves her husband. How do you reconcile these two apparently contradictory statements?
What do we make of Chandara’s choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law? Do you see her as a hero or as a victim?
I think Chandara was stunned by the approach made by her husband for saving his brother. Although they have some differences before the incident occurred. The fact is the time of the story situated was very unfair to women. They had to follow their husbands order, weather the husband are right or wrong. It was imposed on Chandara to take the blame of killing her sister in law. I find her as a victim rather than a hero.
–Explain the significance of the details Tagore offers about the marriage between Chandara and Chidam. How do they help us understand the events of the story?
Chandara and Chidam loves each other. Once Chandara had noticed that her husband works for two days and brought no extra earning. she goes down to river and talk about other man. Chidam tries to lock her in the room,but she runs away. Chidam can only beg her to come back. Chandara is not afraid of violence. whatever he did, she will do the same same a revenge. That makes Chidam could not settle his attention on his work, sometimes he hope she disappears. His distrust of his wife led to development of the story.
–Explain the significance of the details Tagore offers about the marriage between Chandara and Chidam. How do they help us understand the events of the story?
When Chidam is first approached by Ramlochan following the murder, he almost instinctively blames his innocent wife. It seems that he may have been hung up in regards to their last argument, when she passively questioned his fidelity by “talking rather too much about Kashi Majumdar’s middle son.” Fed up with her antics, he threatens her to stay away from the ghat or he will break her bones. To this very lethal threat, she simply quips “bones will mend again.” Yet again, when he locks her in her room, she defies him and escapes to her uncle’s house villages away. After this, he realized he could not make abusive threats anymore because “she always slipped through his fingers.”
This relationship is made up of two very combative people in which one desperately wants control over the other, but neither wants to submit. Therefore, I believe that while she had to succumb to her husband’s accusation of her killing Radha, Chandara took it even further and fully committed to “confessing” to this murder. In a way, she was doing this to spite her husband for even proposing that she take the blame in the first place. She seemed to believe that the gallows was more deserving of her youth than her husband.
–Explain the significance of the details Tagore offers about the marriage between Chandara and Chidam. How do they help us understand the events of the story?
it helps us understand a reason as to why Chandara is willing to take blame for the murder. it lets us know that possibly Chandara would rather be put to death then continue on in her marriage with Chidam.
What do we make of Chandara’s choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law? Do you see her as a hero or as a victim?
I think Chandara is playing the role of a victim here. It seems like after her husband was willing to give her up, she didn’t care to live anymore. She says she loved him but she also said to hell with him. I don’t think their love was true and this showed it. If he truly loved her he wouldn’t of put the blame on her and she saw that as an insult. She took it as, he wanted me to die at one point he must not love me, now it is too late.
How do you understand the title of the story?
I understand the title as what the husband of chandra should be feeling after she confess to the murder of her sister-in-law even though she did not commit the crime. the husband was punishment for blaming the murder on his wife and the wife decide to retaliate for the choice he made and confessed to the crime. In which resulted in her death and the husband being left only with his brother.
How does justice work in the world of “Punishment”? What happens when one tells the truth? What happens when one lies?
Justice works in the forms of lessons, operates as ineffective when the truth does come out, and is ultimately unmet in the world of “Punishment.” When one lies, the truth is rejected, twisted into a lie, it’s validity is tarnished, and it’s effect is mitigated. Then when the truth finally comes out, it’s dismissed, doubted, or lost in a web of lies. In “Punishment,” this incident is applied. Chidam lied about what happened so justice was not served. However, the truth eventually came out, but by this point the judge or executor and the people had fallen for the lie. Again, this meant that justice was not served, making justice ineffective in this case.
–What do we make of Chandara’s choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law? Do you see her as a hero or as a victim?
I feel like Chandara did not care about taking the responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law. It is as if she wanted to her life to come to an end. She saw how her husband would do anything to keep his brother in his life. She was tired of being around him and walked into her death sentence. I see Chandara as a victim.
–How does justice work in the world of “Punishment”? What happens when one tells the truth? What happens when one lies?
I think “appearing reasonable” is justice in the world of “Punishment”. Even someone tells the truth, if it causes more trouble, it will be ignored. However, even someone tells a lie, if it seems reasonable, it will be considered the truth. I still believe that justice may be late, but it will never be absent.
What do we make of Chandara’s choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law? Do you see her as a hero or as a victim?
Chandara choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law shows that punishment is a greater reward than being with her husband. Being punished is worth it because it allows her to be away from her husband. Chandara is a hero to herself, her husband and to her brother-in-law. Chandara is saving her brother-in-law’s life which is keeping her husband brother alive. She also rewarding herself by putting an end to the misery of her marriage. She attempted to run away but it was unsuccessful. Being punished for this crime would perminently seperate her from her husband. Her husband cannot reunite with her after death.
–What do we make of Chandara’s choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law? Do you see her as a hero or as a victim?
Initially it is confusing to see Chandara take the blame for the murderer of her sister-in-law. At first, she is shocked at the idea of taking the blame for it, then refuses to go ahead with the plan made by her husband to escape the punishment of the crime. So why was Chandara shocked if it wasn’t about facing the consequence? And why did she not follow through with the plan to escape the death penalty?
Chandara’s relationship with her husband has been quite shaky and we are told that this has caused a rift in the relationship. This rift can be seen as the motive behind chandaras decision to oppose her husband’s wishes. In court she had the opportunity to tell the truth, that the brother-in-law committed the crime or she could have gone with the plan and said that it was an act of self-defense. Chandara choose to make her final act one of defiance against her husband and one that would teach him a lesson. She was not going to be something used by her husband. She was going to be her own person and was going to make her own decision for how things played out.
I guess in her defiance against society and of her husband she chooses the path of a hero. The act of taking charge of her own life, and of leaving her husband that had planned to use her to relief her brother.
What do we make of Chandara’s choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law? Do you see her as a hero or as a victim?
As I see, she is both a hero and a victim. Chandara is a hero because she has the courage to admit criminals and never regrets her choice. Her brave is worth our admiration. She is also a victim which make me sympathy her very much. She could not have admitted the crime but she did and refuse to defend herself. Maybe she is desperate for her husband so she choose die rather than stay with him any more.