Exploration of Immense Courage and Strength through Chetana: A Feministic Approach to Hangwoman : Everyone Loves a Good Hanging
by – Malavika Thayat & Shilpa S. Nair (introduction at the end of the paper), Issue.XXX Vol.III, July 2017
ABSTRACT
Hangwoman is the English translation of one of the famous contemporary Malayalam novels namely Arachar, written by K. R. Meera. The English translation was done by J. Devika and released by Arundathy Roy. The book has won numerous accolades: The Kendra Sahitya Academy Award, The Odakkuzhal Award, The Vayalar Award etc – The central theme of Hangwoman is feminism. The story depicts the life of the Grudha Mullick family; Mr Mullick possessed the job of public executioner, as a legacy for over hundred years. Chetana, the protagonist of the novel is a unique and exemplary character in the south Indian literature .She is a strong build and tenacious 22-year-old woman. Her father, Phanibhushan hung more than 450 convicts to death, during his tenure of Public Executioner. The novel begins with the rejection of the mercy petition sent by Jatindernath Banerjee to stay his death sentence. Phanibhushan Grudha Mullick, the 88-year-old hangman who has already sent 450 people to death is the one who will be Jatindernath Banerjee’s executioner. However, he demands that his daughter, the 22-year-old Chetana be given a government job if he has to carry out the execution. There it would have stayed. But Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, anchor of CNC channel takes it upon himself as a media stunt to advocate the cause of Chetana as Phanibhushan Grudha Mullick’s successor. Later Chetana is forced to inherit the role of the “Hangwoman”, in the absence of a male member of the family to continue the legacy. Thus, Chetana is appointed as the first lady public executioner in the country. The novel presents many shocking events including a murder within the family Grudha Mullick- a savage crime that could result in Chetana having to hang a member of her own family.
The novel covers various fears of life like love, sex, death, fate, life after death, and is full of profound philosophical thoughts. The background of the story is Kolkata and there is a perfect juxtaposition of history, myth, imagination with realism. This renders the novel unique and special .The very name of the novel is intriguing. The concept of a woman public executioner is alien to a typical Indian scenario and, this theme has not been dealt with so far in south Indian novels. While the novel is written in Malayalam, it is set in Calcutta about a Bengali family. Malalayalam language has really no role to play at all. This novel, which was written in an epic canvas, examines the place of women inside and outside their homes. Through the story of Chetana, Meera is hanging the male domination in the society and portrays Chetana as a sheer power in a male dominated society. Hangwoman has been short-listed for the South Asian Literary Award.
“That night I imagined that he was standing on the top of the platform of death; that I had covered his face with the death mask; that I pulled the lever in 727 ways.” Hangwoman is the English translation of one of the famous contemporary novels Arachar, written by K.R. Meera. The English translation was done by J. Devika and released by Arundhati Roy. The central theme of Hangwoman is feminism.
Feminism refers to any doctrine that seeks total equality in rights for women and people who self-identify as women. Feminism is rooted is the male domination over women. In Hangwoman, KR Meera portrays male domination at many levels. The story moves forward through the stream of consciousness of the main female protagonist of the novel, Chetana. K.R. Meera portrays the mental trauma of a twenty-two year old girl who is forced to be the first hangwoman of the country. The book has won numerous accolades: Kendra Sahitya Academy Award,The Odakkuzhal Award, The Vayalar Award etc.
Today in this post-modern era, woman, in general, is well aware of her rights. In spite of this awareness there exists a class of women who are yet to realize their potentials. This paper focuses that specific class of women.
The story depicts the life of the Grddha Mullick family which inherited the job of public executioner as a family legacy for over hundred years. Chetana, the protagonist of the novel is a unique and exemplary character in the south Indian literature. She is a strong-built, tenacious twenty-two year old woman, who has been forced to inherit the role of hangwoman in order to continue the legacy of male members of the family. Thus, Chetana is appointed as the first lady executioner of the country. Through the story of Chetana, K.R. Meera is set to end the male dominance in society. The novel also deals with the unethical influence on the public. She mocks this through the character of Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, the journalist of CNC channel. Hangwoman is written in an epic canvas. There are plenty of characters and events in the novel. Most of the characters are women.
The novel covers various aspects like love, sex, death, fate, life after death and so on. The novel is sombre in its ambience. There is a perfect blend of history, myth and imagination with realism. Even though the novel is written in Malayalam, the story of the novel, about a Bangali family, takes place in Kolkata. There is virtually no role for Malayalam in this novel. The very title of the novel is fascinating. The concept of the lady public executioner is alien to a typical Indian scenario and this theme has not been dealt with so far in South Indian novels.
The novel begins with the rejection of the mercy petition of Jatindranath Banarjee, who had raped and murdered a thirteen year old girl. Phanibhushan Grddha Mullick, the eighty-eight year old hangman, the father of the protagonist, has already done four-hundred and fifty-one hangings. He will be the one who hangs Jatindranath Banarjee. The old hangman demands a government job for his twenty-two year old daughter Chetana, if he has to carry out Mr. Banarjee’s execution.It would have stayed there. But Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, the journalist takes it upon himself to advocate the cause of Chetana being appointed as Phanisbhushan Grddha Mullick’s successor.
Jatindranath Banarjee is sentenced to death for the vicious crime of rape and murder of a teenage girl, is awaiting his final call. Now, Chetana is assigned to carry out the execution, quite unheard of for a woman’s role in Indian society. The fate of a person who has raped and murdered a young girl by is now to be hung by a young adult woman. It is not only the judgment of the court but also the verdict of the Almighty.
Many male characters pass through the life of Chetana. When the reader scans the novel he/ she will get an idea of Chetana as a symbol of sheer power in a male dominated society. But she never grew-up as a woman. She was molested and insulted by Maruti Prasad, at first,then came Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, who flirted with her and sexually harassed her. Even her father does not understand her. He forces her to undertake the execution of Jatindranath Banarjee which Chetana, who is steadfastly reluctant to carry out that task. As a twenty-two year old girl she has to pass through a lot of dreadful events. The media, under the influence of Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, has dealt with it as a sensational news. He starts a program on a contractual basis with Phanibhushan Grddha Mullick namely Hangwoman’s Diary. She cannot even express her views in that show. Her father teaches her how to talk in the show. Phanibhushan bargains with everyone to earn more by taking the present situation as a pretext. Sanjeev Kumar Mitra who needs exciting news, has taken it for granted. “Hey, we are planning the eve of the hanging show in a big way. We need your help and somehow must steal Grddha Da too. Look Chetu, this is a prestige for me.” says Sanjeev Kumar Mitra.
Hangwoman is an extra ordinary novel that enriched with the ambience of death, love and depression. The novel is bleak in its atmosphere and every line exudes the smell of despair or death. The reader gets a fascinating history of Kolkata through the story of Grddha Mullick’s Family. K.R.Meera ruthlessly and effectively attacks the heinous unprofessional behavior of contemporary media, the attitude of the society towards woman, the working class and the traditional system of India. The author concurrently handles issues that afflict contemporary Indian television and print media, through the character of Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, whose persona is left to be judged by Chetana. Almost all characters in the novel are viewed from the point of Chetana.
Chetana has never grown up to be an adult woman throughout the novel. She may have performed the execution, but nobody understands her during the course of the novel, except Manobendra Bose who gives her a job in Bhavishyath. He treats Chetana as his own daughter and she in turn, passionately calls him Manoda. “She is my daughter… Sole daughter” says Manoda to Sanjeev Kumar Mitra. Throughout the novel, Chetana’s true identity is never revealed. She passes through many shocking events including a murder within her family. The reader spots frequent changes in the character of Chetana. Chetana searches for her personal identity throughout the novel. Chetana too, cannot understand the other characters of this novel, including her father, Phanibhushan Grddha Mullick. Meera presents the detailed view of “Sonagachi” Nagar where woman are whoring. The male characters of this novel are daily visitors of Sonagachi. But they do not want their own women to be prostitutes. Phanisbhushan has killed his brother’s wife when he saw her in Sonagachi Nagar. His brother was also killed while resisting the murder. So in this scenario, Chetana has to hang Jatindranath Banarjee without the guidance of Phanibhushan Grddha Mullick. She has no other way. She feels emboldened to carry out the execution. She goes alone to meet the jail minister. The fact that she has never performed an execution earlier makes her very afraid. But she overcomes the situation and faces it very boldly. Her breasts have grown hard as stone, when she remembers the pain that she has felt when Maruti Prasad grabbed them from her rear; when Sanjeev Kumar wrung them, and the police officer touched them with his baton. She forgets her fear when she recalls all the above incidences. She has an urge to kill the male chauvinist and the urge has frothed at her finger tip. She has decided adamantly that finger tip to feel the last throb of his life’s breath.
The characters of this novel are judged by the protagonist, Chetana. Thakuma is one of the other characters of the novel, Hangwoman. She is the mother of Phanisbhushan Grddha Mullick and grandmother of Chetana. In Hangwoman, the history of Kolkata is depicted through Thakuma. She is a very strong woman,who supports her son for anything and everything. She encourages him even when he has killed his own brother,that is Thakuma’s second son. She neither finds any fault with Phanisbhushan nor has any regrets about it. She wants Jatindranath Banarjee to be hanged by the hands of Chetana. She dislikes Sanjeev Kumar’s marriage proposal to Chetana and his recurrent visits to their home. Even though she is not cruel, her character can be compared to that of Lady Macbeth, one of the most powerful Shakespearian lady characters. There is ‘manliness’ in her character. Even though she believed that “If a woman wants to be stand up straight, she should be willing to bend occasionally. Thakuma knows everything about Kolkata’s history and she narrates various stories about the city to Chetana. Thakuma is the mouthpiece of Meera’s own grandmother.
As a woman, Chetana was always marginalized by her father. Even if he desired for her to be his successor, he believes that she cannot do anything without his guidance. He is of the opinion that woman should seek shelter under men and, that a woman is nothing without a man. When Chetana expresses her decision to undertake the duty of the executioner alone, Phanibhushan says, “Huh! Listen to that! Haven’t I been doing it alone! I am a man whereas you are a mere woman!. Chetana’s self-identity has been suppressed by most of the characters in the novel.
K.R. Meera has portrayed the plight of women in contemporary India. The author has beautifully depicted even the simple features of Kolkata. Sonagachi, the red-street is depicted throughout the novel. Meera picturizes Trilokyadebi, Sanjeev Kumar’s Mother, as a prostitute. Phanibhushan has killed Chetana’s Kaki Ma because he has seen her in Sonagachi Nagar in a questionable situation. The typical Indian male always wants the females in his family to be pure, while man has no scruples by indulging himself in whoring frequently at places like Sonagachi. India is a country where women are worshipped as goddess and it is in the same country where woman are more suppressed under male dominance. Meera’s dazzling imaginative faculties have turned the story of Chetana’s life into an epic, and uphold the theme of feminism throughout the book. The author maintains perfect juxtaposition of history, myth and realism. The reader cannot easily accept events in the novel are fictitious. Chetana, at the end lives in the mind of the readers as the symbol of sheer power. Meera has not merely portrayed the story of a twenty-two year old woman, but it is a story that represents all modern women in India. The novel can be considered as a modern epic. The theme of the novel is so powerful that no one has dared to deal with such a topic, thus far. Her characters are well portrayed. Meera believes that a bad man gives the best story . She has depicted the politics and history of India, with a woman as the central character. Moreover Meera has hung violence, injustice and ego that prevailed in the country in her magnum opus. As KR Meera writes in her Acknowledgements page about women, “Those who did not seek them out would never know that they had indeed lived”. It is found out that once these women understand who they are and what they are capable of, they rise out of their own ashes and become epitomes of power and strength. Through Chetana, Meera is set to hang the male chauvinism in Indian society and portrays Chetana as an absolute power in a male dominated society.
Introduction to the Authors:
Malavika Thayat is a postgraduation student studying English Literature.
Shilpa . S. Nair is an assistant professor department of English, Amrita School of Arts and Sciences, Amritapuri, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amrita University India.
Works Cited
- Meera, K.R. Trans. J.Devika. .India: Penguin, 2014.Print
- “A writer is inherently a feminist, humanist, environmentalist and socialist”. The Telegraph. January 18, 2015. Web.
- Beauvoir, Simone De. The Second Sex. London: Vintage Books, 1949.