Punishment by Tagore and The Conscience of the Court by Huston - Essay Example

“Punishment” by Tagore and “The Conscience of the Court” by Huston Introduction There are two culturally diverse stories which have been chosen for this comparative analysis. The first story is “Punishment” which has been originally written by Rabindranath Tagore and the second story is “The Conscience of the Court” which has been written by Zora Neale Huston. Both of the authors are well known for their writings in the social domain. Both writers illuminate significant social problems in different cultural and societal settings, in which gender is the most highlighted issue. Huston is an African American writer which is significantly highlighted in her story; on the other hand, Tagore is an Indian writer who has illuminated the problem of conservative village life. Both of the stories are significantly diverse in their origins and authors, however, there are certain similarities which can be easily found among these two stories. Despite similarities, both stories do contain some of the differences which will also be addressed in the following paper. This paper is aimed to compare and contrast Tagore’s “Punishment” with Huston’s “The Conscience of the Court” on the bases of its major characters, themes, use of symbolism and settings of both stories. Themes Themes are the essential part of storytelling which highlights the context of the story. However, in these stories, themes are significantly similar which entail similar conception of loyalty and feminism. The first theme which is most prominent among these two stories is loyalty[Fre66]. In Tagore’s story, the character of Chandara is represented as the idol of loyalty for which she becomes agreed to for the capital punishment. In the story, Chandara is blamed as guilty for the murder of her sister in law, Radha, who was actually murdered by Radha’s own husband Dukhiram. Chandara’s husband, Chidam, poses the blame on his own wife for the sake of his brother. Chandara becomes immensely upset due to this, but remains silent about the truth; in fact, she affirms the blame of murder which is a representation of loyalty[Rab09]. On the other hand, in Huston’s story, the character of Laura Lee is the depiction of loyalty. Laura is presented as a maid, serving Mrs. Clairborne for her entire life. Her devotion to her employer becomes highlighted when she confronts a violent man, Clement Beasley, in the absence of Mrs. Clairborne to protect her property. Her suffering due to this incident is the representation of loyalty [The50]. This illuminates the correspondence of both stories as a disclosure of loyalty. Another important concept which is highlighted in both of the stories is the suffering for women in the society. The suffering for women in the conventional society is one of the most crucial elements which hatched the principles of feminism [KKR90]. In the story of Tagore, the suffering character is Chandara who becomes sentenced to death for a crime in which she was not involved. Chandara’s suffering is portrayed in the manner which prominently describes the gender inequality in the society [Rab09]. Similarly, the character of Laura, who is also a woman, becomes charged with the guilt of violence on a white man, Beasley, which is a representation of female suffering in the male dominant society. However, the story of Hurston also contain the depiction of racial inequality as a reason for Laura’s suffering, as she is an African American, whereas Beasley is a white American man[The50]. The feminist influence in society against the repression of women is significantly highlighted in Tagore’s story; however, glimpses of this influences is disclosed in the African American story by Hurston. Protagonists The feminist influence of these stories is also illuminated in the portrayal of protagonists. Both stories revolve around the female characters and their sufferings which highlights the feminist stance [KKR90]. In Tagore’s Story, Chandara is the protagonist of the story who suffers for the crime which is not even conceived by her. Chandara is portrayed as a nonconventional rural woman, with high self esteem. Chandara does not hesitate to take any stand against her sister in law which often turns into quarrels. She does not let her husband control her life, which depicts herself actualization as an independent and distinct existence. This self actualization of Chandara is also illuminated in her intentional acceptance of capital punishment. She does not beg her husband to save her life; instead she realizes her actual status for her husband for which she chooses to die. This can be illuminated by the last line of the story in which Chandara says about her wife, “to hell with him” [Rab09]. It can be interpreted as loyalty because she does not disclose the reality of the event because of her husband’s love for his brother [Rab09]. Similarly in the story written by Hurston, the whole plot revolves around the maid, Laura, and her actions. Laura is presented as a devoted and loyal employee, who is serving Mrs. Clairborne, since she was born. Laura is not only a maid for Clairborne, but her love and devotion can be compared to motherly love. Laura is not an educated woman, but she is bold, outspoken, loving, caring and, most importantly, determined. These characteristics signify her presence in the story as the protagonist. Despite her humble attributes, she is also contained with a strong sense of self. Laura’s self actualization and determination helps her to secure the property from Beasley and fight against the false blame in the court [The50]. However, both stories exhibit a contrasting relationship in its endings. In Tagore’s story the protagonist falls in the materialistic sense and in the other story, the protagonist remains victorious. However, the fall of Chandara does not entirely represent her defeat, but her victory over the societal barriers on her existence. She chooses to die with her own will and intention which represents her liberty in her choices against the society [Mar02]. Symbolism Both authors have acquired the literary technique of symbolism which is prominent in stories. The court is represented as the symbol of justice in both stories which represents the persistence of law and its significance in both contexts [Swi86]. However, in Tagore’s story the persistence of actual justice is absence which cannot be attributed to the corruption of courts [Rab09]. This symbolization of judicial system is not utilized in a critical sense, but political and social structures having influence of courts is highlighted in the comparison of these two stories [Ken74]. Another acquisition of symbols is prominent in the portrayal of antagonist in both stories. The conventional society has always remained the male dominant society in which women have suffered in many ways [Blo58]. Antagonists in both stories are male who causes the suffering for the female protagonists. However, this intensity of man causing suffering for woman is not, comparably, intense in Hurston’s story [The50]. The depiction of male antagonist is immensely intense in Tagore’s story because the antagonist is in close relationship with the protagonist which illuminates both sides of humanity[KKR90]. Settings The setting of these stories is entirely contrary to each other due to the cultural, social and political variations in the origins of both authors. Tagore has acquired the setting of a rural area where he has placed the protagonist with the sense of self actualization[Mar02]. Tagore has represented the village in India which is significantly related to his origin. The rural areas of India were immensely conservative and male dominant where the exploitation of women is as normal as has been presented in the story. The acquisition of rural area in the setting of the story is providing the story of Tagore, a historic and humanistic significance [Rab09]. On the other hand, Hurston is an African American writer for which the acquisition of setting is urban, but the protagonist is also an African American. The historic issue of racial discrimination against African Americans can only be illuminated with the representation of urban setting with black protagonist [The50]. The distinction of settings in these stories represents the regional influence on the expressions of both authors, despite the central ideas of these stories which highlights the feminist influence [KKR90]. Conclusion This paper has provided the similarities and dissimilarities in “Punishment” written by Rabindranath Tagore and “The Conscience of the Court” by Zora Neale Huston in terms of themes, main characters, symbolism and the acquisition of settings. These two stories have numerous factors common, despite the difference in the setting which has been used by both authors. Works Cited Fre66: , (Bowers 56-61), Rab09: , (Tagore 843-846), The50: , (Hurston 22-23), KKR90: , (Ruthven 37-41), Rab09: , (Tagore 844-845), The50: , (Hurston 22-23), KKR90: , (Ruthven 21-22), Rab09: , (Tagore 846), Rab09: , (Tagore 841-845), Mar02: , (McLaren 3-11), Swi86: , (Swidler 276-277), Ken74: , (Burke 174-180), Blo58: , (Bloomfield 78-80), The50: , (Hurston 23), KKR90: , (Ruthven 34-37), Mar02: , (McLaren 91-93), Rab09: , (Tagore 840-846), KKR90: , (Ruthven 3-9), Read More