In Tagore’s short story, “Punishment”, one of the ethical problems is the fact that women are considered to be inferior to men and they have no say in how they want to live as they are under the control of their husbands. An example of this is when Chidam says, “If I lose my wife, I can get another, but if my brother is hanged, how I can I replace him” (895)? While both a wife and a brother are considered family, the brother is considered to be irreplaceable while the wife is not so the brother’s life – a man’s life is seen to be much more valuable than the life of another woman. Chidam was willing to sacrifice his wife’s life to save his brother’s life and the wife is so fed up with her husband’s uncaring attitude towards her that she chose to die rather than to remain married to her husband. She broke free of her husband’s oppression by choosing the path she wanted to take. In the end, when she is about to be hanged for a crime that she did not commit, she declared that she did not want to see her husband and her last words showed that because of her husband’s lack of compassion and respect for her, she had no regrets about her decision.
Assignment 7
October 31, 2015 Written by m.lee | 3 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
3 responses so far ↓
al158379 // Oct 31st 2015 at 9:03 am
I completely agree with your interpretation of the quote. A mans life is seen more valuable than a womans here as Chidam sees his brother as irreplaceable while his wife is. He can just trade his wife up for a newer better one as if she wasnt a meaningful person but an object. This disregard of Chandara’s life is what leads her to accept death willingly instead of living with a man that could get rid of her whenever he wanted.
y.kim // Oct 31st 2015 at 11:04 am
I agree with your analysis of the statement, “a man’s life is seen to be much more valuable than the life of another woman.” Because Chidam chooses his brother over his wife, Tagore seems to emphasizes not only the importance of brotherhood but also the power of men over women. Despite being married to Chandara, Chidam ultimately believes that “blood is thicker than water”. His immediate untruthful response when he is threatened shows that he is willing to protect his brother, while putting his wife, a woman, at risk. This also portrays Tagore’s views on a man’s life as his character Chidam throws a woman’s life in danger.
JMERLE // Oct 31st 2015 at 12:12 pm
Yes, Marvin, nicely analyzed and interpreted! Also, you make a strong connection to the ending. And yes, the brother is seen to be “worth” more than the wife, but this is a tricky issue, and is not simply a blatant case of anti-feminism, which we’ll discuss in class.
Nicely done.
10/10