Another Woman – Imtiaz Dharker (A Detailed Analysis)
- Wife/Daughter-in-Law = Servant
- DOWRY
- Importance/Significance of the Male compared to the Female
- Could relate to any ‘Indian’ Woman (rural areas of the
Indian Subcontinent)
- Domestic Violence
- Born on 1954, Lahore, Pakistan
- Moved to Glasgow with her parents when she was less
than a year old
- 5 books of poetry, all self illustrated
- Seen as one of the most inspirational contemporary
poets of Britain
- Awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry
The Poet – in a Nutshell
Ø Purdah (1989)
Ø Postcards from God
(1997) – including Purdah
Ø I Speak for the Devil
(2001)
Ø Terrorists at My
Table (2006)
Ø Leaving Fingerprints
(2009)
Ø Over the Moon (2014)
The Poem – A detailed Summary:
The poem starts off with the Protagonist buying her usual
grocery for her family. She buys ‘methi’, choosing the freshest bunch
available. After that, she picks up a radish, imagining the sweet and sharp
sensations that it would create in her mouth when she would eat it. But then
again, she steps back into reality and keeps the radish aside because the money
she has, it is not her money. It is considered as her ‘husband’s family’s money’
and she would not be allowed to spend it the way she liked. There could be no
extravagant spending on her part. So, after carefully counting her coins and
tying them in a bundle into her sari, she left for home.
When
she reaches home, the first thing she faces is her Mother-in-Law’s dark looks.
Looks that contained not just anger but hatred of the deepest kind. Without any
response, the Protagonist goes on with her work. She cut the ‘methi’ that she
had bought and chopped them, turning her hands yellow in the process due to the
juice. She finely cut an onion and cooked the whole thing in a pot with salt
and cumin seeds on the stove, shielding her face from the heat.
In
the first paragraph we find that the lady, although she is the
wife/Daughter-in-Law, she has to live life there with a very servile attitude.
Maybe even servants were treated better than she was. At least they would not
have to face the dark looks from their masters when they return after buying
groceries for their masters. The lady’s life in her husband’s house has no
value. She is treated as an object that cleans, cooks, does all the household
chores and also as an object on which the other family members can take out
their frustration on.
The
Mother-in-Law comes in again and piles up her usual scolding on the
Protagonist. She scolds her for spending the money and for countless other
reasons which she is not even responsible for. She curses the lady’s parents
for giving birth to her and more so for marrying this lady to her son. She feels
the Protagonist is a bad omen and due to her presence, the home is darkened.
In
the second paragraph, we find the Mother-in-Law scolding and cursing the
Protagonist. The main and the only reason behind this is because the
Protagonist’s father/family has not been able to pay the required amount of
Dowry.
As
usual, she crouches on the floor and continues with her work. Her husband comes
home and she does not even have the usual liberty of a normal wife to talk to
her husband about their day and their problems. The unpaid Dowry stole her
every single liberty, even vocal liberties.
The
third paragraph shows us that the unpaid dowry has caused a failure not just in
the lady’s in-laws’ family but also in her marriage, the relationship that only
she and her husband shared. She cannot even look him in the eye, forget about
talking to him. Their marriage is not even like a marriage. It is more like a
failed business deal.
She
now helplessly watches the flame glow and touch the cheap old pot, “a wing of
brightness against its blackened cheek”.
She
thinks about her life. About the man with whom she was forced to marry, the
house she was forcefully sent to and the future that awaited her, that is, the
life which she had to spend there.
Paragraph
four and five is all about the lady’s thoughts and her contemplation about her
own life. As she watches the flame rise up and touches the cheap old pot, she
even contemplates this very view. The fire gives a kind of brightness to the
pot when it touches the pot and yet, it is the same fire which in the long run
blackens the ‘cheek’ of the pot. She can totally relate this view to her life
as marriage being the fire and her life being the pot. The marriage gives her
the status of a respectable woman in the society but it is the same marriage
which is the reason for most of the unhappy things in her life.
After
much pain and contemplation, she threw the kerosene on herself. For her, it was
the only escape. It was the only choice she ever had.
The
last paragraph depicts the helplessness of the protagonist. For her, death is
the only relief from this lifelong journey of pain and torture. This was the
only way she could get peace and she went for it, losing her life in the
bargain
The
last three lines are the strongest lines in the poem. It depicts that she
immolates herself in search for peace and escape from torture.
“Another
torch, blazing in the dark
Another
woman
We
shield our faces from the heat”
Those
three lines are like a separate Nanotale by itself. It talks about ‘another’
woman setting herself on fire, giving light in the dark.
‘Another’
depicts that it is a very common thing in the land. This incident could take
place with any woman because the treatment is almost the same.
The
last line shows the failure, the failure of her family, her in-Laws’ family, her
husband and also the society, her family’s failure by not looking for good
husband and household for her daughter and also for not paying the Dowry. Her
in-Laws’ failed by treating her as an object and torturing her throughout. Her
husband failed by not giving her the status, respect and treatment that a wife
deserves and lastly, the society’s failure. Even after knowing everything, they
just keep quiet and do not seem to bother about it, just like “shielding the
faces from the heat”
Afterthoughts:
The title of the poem is very aptly chosen as it is a very
prevalent and common thing, at least in the rural areas of the Indian
Subcontinent, where these customs are followed. Mrs. Dharker, being a British
citizen, has written a very effective and factual poem on the customs prevalent
in her land of birth and the nations around it. The title, in my opinion, is
the most effective one because this treatment and this incident can happen to
any woman. Any other woman. Maybe not in the western countries but here, the
Indian Subcontinent, especially rural areas, any married woman can/could relate
to this poem.
This
poem is like the song which plays in every married woman’s head but she is
scared to sing it out, due to the fear that it might just become a reality for
her and in that way her very life would be at stake.
Thanks
to Sri Rohan
Pradhan
Another Woman – Imtiaz Dharker (A Detailed Analysis)
- Wife/Daughter-in-Law = Servant
- DOWRY
- Importance/Significance of the Male compared to the Female
- Could relate to any ‘Indian’ Woman (rural areas of the
Indian Subcontinent)
- Domestic Violence
- Born on 1954, Lahore, Pakistan
- Moved to Glasgow with her parents when she was less
than a year old
- 5 books of poetry, all self illustrated
- Seen as one of the most inspirational contemporary
poets of Britain
- Awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry
The Poet – in a Nutshell
Ø Purdah (1989)
Ø Postcards from God
(1997) – including Purdah
Ø I Speak for the Devil
(2001)
Ø Terrorists at My
Table (2006)
Ø Leaving Fingerprints
(2009)
Ø Over the Moon (2014)
The Poem – A detailed Summary:
The poem starts off with the Protagonist buying her usual
grocery for her family. She buys ‘methi’, choosing the freshest bunch
available. After that, she picks up a radish, imagining the sweet and sharp
sensations that it would create in her mouth when she would eat it. But then
again, she steps back into reality and keeps the radish aside because the money
she has, it is not her money. It is considered as her ‘husband’s family’s money’
and she would not be allowed to spend it the way she liked. There could be no
extravagant spending on her part. So, after carefully counting her coins and
tying them in a bundle into her sari, she left for home.
When
she reaches home, the first thing she faces is her Mother-in-Law’s dark looks.
Looks that contained not just anger but hatred of the deepest kind. Without any
response, the Protagonist goes on with her work. She cut the ‘methi’ that she
had bought and chopped them, turning her hands yellow in the process due to the
juice. She finely cut an onion and cooked the whole thing in a pot with salt
and cumin seeds on the stove, shielding her face from the heat.
In
the first paragraph we find that the lady, although she is the
wife/Daughter-in-Law, she has to live life there with a very servile attitude.
Maybe even servants were treated better than she was. At least they would not
have to face the dark looks from their masters when they return after buying
groceries for their masters. The lady’s life in her husband’s house has no
value. She is treated as an object that cleans, cooks, does all the household
chores and also as an object on which the other family members can take out
their frustration on.
The
Mother-in-Law comes in again and piles up her usual scolding on the
Protagonist. She scolds her for spending the money and for countless other
reasons which she is not even responsible for. She curses the lady’s parents
for giving birth to her and more so for marrying this lady to her son. She feels
the Protagonist is a bad omen and due to her presence, the home is darkened.
In
the second paragraph, we find the Mother-in-Law scolding and cursing the
Protagonist. The main and the only reason behind this is because the
Protagonist’s father/family has not been able to pay the required amount of
Dowry.
As
usual, she crouches on the floor and continues with her work. Her husband comes
home and she does not even have the usual liberty of a normal wife to talk to
her husband about their day and their problems. The unpaid Dowry stole her
every single liberty, even vocal liberties.
The
third paragraph shows us that the unpaid dowry has caused a failure not just in
the lady’s in-laws’ family but also in her marriage, the relationship that only
she and her husband shared. She cannot even look him in the eye, forget about
talking to him. Their marriage is not even like a marriage. It is more like a
failed business deal.
She
now helplessly watches the flame glow and touch the cheap old pot, “a wing of
brightness against its blackened cheek”.
She
thinks about her life. About the man with whom she was forced to marry, the
house she was forcefully sent to and the future that awaited her, that is, the
life which she had to spend there.
Paragraph
four and five is all about the lady’s thoughts and her contemplation about her
own life. As she watches the flame rise up and touches the cheap old pot, she
even contemplates this very view. The fire gives a kind of brightness to the
pot when it touches the pot and yet, it is the same fire which in the long run
blackens the ‘cheek’ of the pot. She can totally relate this view to her life
as marriage being the fire and her life being the pot. The marriage gives her
the status of a respectable woman in the society but it is the same marriage
which is the reason for most of the unhappy things in her life.
After
much pain and contemplation, she threw the kerosene on herself. For her, it was
the only escape. It was the only choice she ever had.
The
last paragraph depicts the helplessness of the protagonist. For her, death is
the only relief from this lifelong journey of pain and torture. This was the
only way she could get peace and she went for it, losing her life in the
bargain
The
last three lines are the strongest lines in the poem. It depicts that she
immolates herself in search for peace and escape from torture.
“Another
torch, blazing in the dark
Another
woman
We
shield our faces from the heat”
Those
three lines are like a separate Nanotale by itself. It talks about ‘another’
woman setting herself on fire, giving light in the dark.
‘Another’
depicts that it is a very common thing in the land. This incident could take
place with any woman because the treatment is almost the same.
The
last line shows the failure, the failure of her family, her in-Laws’ family, her
husband and also the society, her family’s failure by not looking for good
husband and household for her daughter and also for not paying the Dowry. Her
in-Laws’ failed by treating her as an object and torturing her throughout. Her
husband failed by not giving her the status, respect and treatment that a wife
deserves and lastly, the society’s failure. Even after knowing everything, they
just keep quiet and do not seem to bother about it, just like “shielding the
faces from the heat”
Afterthoughts:
The title of the poem is very aptly chosen as it is a very
prevalent and common thing, at least in the rural areas of the Indian
Subcontinent, where these customs are followed. Mrs. Dharker, being a British
citizen, has written a very effective and factual poem on the customs prevalent
in her land of birth and the nations around it. The title, in my opinion, is
the most effective one because this treatment and this incident can happen to
any woman. Any other woman. Maybe not in the western countries but here, the
Indian Subcontinent, especially rural areas, any married woman can/could relate
to this poem.
This
poem is like the song which plays in every married woman’s head but she is
scared to sing it out, due to the fear that it might just become a reality for
her and in that way her very life would be at stake.
Thanks
to Sri Rohan
Pradhan
