02 Violence and Silence: Sufferings of a Female Subaltern

Abstract

The present paper investigates the causes and effects of the sufferings of a female subaltern character in Bano Qudsia’s short story Anter Howat Udasi. Spivak’s concept of the silencing of the female subaltern in Indian society is used as theoretical framework to uncover the psychological and physical violence and the ensuing silence of a female fictional character. The study sheds light on the treatment of women and their delicate and weak social standing in Pakistani society and the patriarchal structure of the society where women cannot express their thoughts and feelings even if they are given a chance to speak. An in-depth study of Hajra’s, the protagonist of the story, plight reveals that women of the South Asian societies are both physically and psychologically oppressed and are subject to an domineering patriarchal system and a “systematic silencing” by the society which has deprived them of raising voice against the violence.