Great Works of Literature II

Setting = Foreshadowing

After reading “Punishment,” many conclusions can be drawn as to the theme of the story. One can discuss the landlords exploitation of the peasants (higher class v. lower class); role of man and woman in Indian society; or the need for reform in Indian society. While all of them are important topics of discussion, I will be focusing on how Tagore uses the setting to foreshadow the tragedy that happens within the story.

So we have four characters: Dukhiram, Radha, Chidam, and Chandara. For starters, the sister-in-laws (Chandara and Radha) are continuously bickering on a regular basis as their husbands are off working the fields. The verbal fighting was so common that even the villagers “when they heard the shrill of the screams of the women, they would say ‘They’re at it again’… no one asks why… [and] no one was at all curious to investigate the cause.” (Tagore 1693) One day when the brothers return  from a hard day at work, they find that Radha (Dukhiram’s wife) hasn’t prepared the meal. Dukhiram in a fit of rage “like a furious tiger…without thinking, plunged his knife into [Radha’s] head.” (Tagore 1694)

The murder (tragedy) is clearly foreshadowed through the setting. As the brothers are on their way “wading through mud and water” to get home, Tagore gives a detailed description of the environment. Readers can feel a sense of uneasiness with the Padma looking “flat and sinister under the mounting clouds. It had flooded most of the grain-fields, and had come close to the houses.” (Tagore 1693) This clearly shows the doom lurking outside the brother’s houses.

Tagore’s usage of setting to foreshadow the events in his story is similar to Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants.” In the story Hemingway uses the setting to describe the current pregnant state of the girl and the state she would be in after having an abortion. It is never quite implied if the girl indeed goes through with the abortion, but the cloud that passes over the side of the mountain where there is fertility and vegetation can foreshadow the abortion.