Tagore’s, “Punishment” explores the detrimental consequences a woman faces in a time when society blatantly favored the opposite gender. The ethical issue that arises in the Tagore’s story is the huge gap between the equality of males and females. Tagore’s protagonist, Chidam, convinces his wife, Chandara, to take the blame for the murder of his sister-in-law in order to save his brother. “Chidam decided he would have to stick to the path he had chalked out for himself. The story he had given to Ramlochan Chakravarti had gone all round the village; who knew what would happen if another story was circulated? But he realized that if he kept to the story he would have to wrap it in five more stories if his wife was to be saved” (895). Chidam and his wife shared a very complex love, yet he was still willing to let her die to save his brother. It is imperative to take the setting of the story into consideration. The story is set in the Bengal countryside in the late nineteenth century, a time when men were superior to woman, no questions asked. Tagore’s story ultimately seeks to explore the ethical dilemmas having to do with “the Rashomon effect,” when a judge has to decide the fate of a case based soley on eyewitness accounts. In “Punishment”, the judge arrives at a decision that is blatantly bias based on gender, declaring Chandara guilty based on both dishonest and honest testimonies.
Assignment 7
October 30, 2015 Written by e.volynsky | 2 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
2 responses so far ↓
e.rospide // Oct 31st 2015 at 12:18 am
I really like this response. The short story, I believe is more about how we treat women in context of society. How little value the men in this society specifically place on the women in their lives. I think this still plagues society today, although women placement in society has risen, there are still reminisce of that old way of think, such as in pay. Which is women on average make less then men. So you are telling me, as a society, America doesn’t value my education, skills, and time as much as a male’s. Why is that? With all the advance in society, women are now on a level playing field with men. However, we are still treated like we are valued lass, just because we are women. Although this short story is the most extreme version how women are treated, it serves it’s purpose as being an importance piece of writing. It speaks to issues, that at time, weren’t often acknowledge by our male counterparts.
JMERLE // Oct 31st 2015 at 12:27 pm
Erika,
Yes, you have certainly hit on a large issue here, but you might try to focus this, somewhat. Yes, there is a gender gap, and yes, one should take into consideration the historical setting, but I think you can get much more specific on the type of inequality that is going on. Your mentioning the Rashomon effect is interesting, but actually brings up another issue (another ethical issue, as well, as how can we really know the truth?)
We’ll talk more about this in class.
8/10