–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?
How do you understand the title of the story?
In the story “Punishment” Tagore focuses on talking about morality, and societal norms. Dukhiram ending up forgiving his wife after what she did to him is something not many people would ever do and Dukhiram chose to ending with a forgiveness and showing that forgiving people heals you. The title suggests that there will be a come on consequences for Dukhiram’s actions and that the story explores the themes of accountability of ones actions with societal norms and justice systems. In the story Dukhiram is with his guilt and accepts his fate that the punishment is inevitable for what he as already done.
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?
The details of their marriage gave us insights on their personalities and the power dynamic between the young couple. We see that Chandara has a really strong personality and in no way submissive to her husband. She is outspoken and able to do whatever she wants to. This placed her on an equal playing field with Chidam, which he wasn’t content with. We also see that he says he’d rather she be dead, and he’ll finally get peace. He loves her to the point he’ll only be at ease if she were dead, instead of thinking about other men. We can imply that he can’t stand being jealous and having his ego hurt by it. Thus, when an opportunity presented itself at his door, he immediately threw her under the bus. I think it was hypocritical how he thought she was easy to replace but then was so adamant to save her at the end. Although I was very sad Chandara died at the end, I was very glad she refused to meet him and said “Death to him.”
How does justice work in the world of “Punishment”? What happens when one tells the truth? What happens when one lies?
Whether someone is guilty or not was based on the stories witnesses told, and if they matched up. When Chandra agreed she was guilty and her husband tried to save her, it was too late. They already decided her husbands story was too similar to a fake story, so they decided he was lying to save her. It is based on her confession, which is not completely far off from justice here today. It was lacking any kind of investigation, but it was not as needed with her confession. In the end, when you lie, someone else gets punished. When you tell the truth, they don’t believe you after your lies.
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?
In my understanding she is just mad when she says ,”to hell with him,”, because in reality she does love her husband. As we know from our personal experiences, love is one of the most complex emotions we feel and sometimes we can also express anger toward a person even though we might love them. In Chandara’s case too, she expressed anger, frustration, or disappointment because she is fed up with her husband. However, she couldn’t stop loving him even when things took a bad turn such as her husband “forcing” her to take the blame for the killing of her sister in law.
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?
Chandaras choice to take responsibility for the death of her sister-in-law makes her a hero. Chandaras death is now a choice that she makes for herself. In Punishment, the central characters are all victims to a caste system of their time and region. When we look into the dynamics of their home life, there is a supposed power dynamic that should exist, but does not. The wives are not submissive to their husbands as the husbands would expect, but because of the time period they must tend to the home while the husbands labor all day. Between the two wives Chandara is younger and is expected to follow or go along with her sister in laws way of running the home, but Chandara herself is not exactly the go along kind of young lady. Chandara has a mind and will of her own and is described as elusive. Unfortunately even being elusive does not save Chandara from being the lowest on the totem pole of this family she has married into. She is made out to be the murderer and is a victim of her husbands lie.
What makes her a hero is that she takes back a little control of herself when confessing to the murder of her sister in law. She does not go along with the lie her husband has cooked up, she finds a way to rebel. Chandara stays true to who she is by telling a lie even if it means dying. Chandara is forever elusive.
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 it is hard for me to see Chandara as anything other than a victim.
It wasn’t Chandaras choice but rather an implied suggestion from her husband. I don’t think taking the blame for a crime you did not commit simply because your husband came up with the grand idea is heroic in any way.
However, I do feel sorry for her and do believe her to be the victim. During her interrogation, her answers were short and dry. I felt that at that point Chandara had accepted her fate and wanted nothing other than to be free of a life and marriage with him. In addition to that, I also believe that she was exhausted, not physically but mentally. So when allowed the chance to be free of that she grabbed onto it and never let go. On the contrary, I do still believe she loved her husband. I just think that she was so unhappy in her marriage that it almost felt like she was trapped and could not longer take it.
–How does justice work in the world of “Punishment”? What happens when one tells the truth? What happens when one lies?
In “Punishment,” Tagore makes us understand how a lie carried too long can lead to more problems. Their lies start from the beginning of the story, but I think they could have admitted the mistake and tried to fix the situation in more than one situation. Obviously, the main consequence of lies is therefore the loss of trust towards them, which can sometimes lead to even heavier feelings of suspicion or uncertainty, and this is precisely what penalizes Chandra and her husband at the time of the decision.
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 it is obvious that Chandara is not only a victim from the whole situation, but also a victim of the society she lives in. Women were clearly not respected as much as men, and the violent acts from her husband which caused the murder of her sister shows how powerless they were. Even with the mess of a situation caused from her husband, and being pretty much lied to that she can be saved from him, she still loved him. I think this shows how much power men had in this society and shows how her husband could be manipulative. Eventually, it was the victim that received all the punishment, and was a clear representation of society in Tagore’s view.