A Question of DowrySIEW YUE KILLINGLEY

PISMP BAHASA INGGERIS SK (1) January Intake 2013

TSL 3102 Literature In English

Nur Alia binti Harun28345

Ahmad Aizat bin Hasnullah

28445

SUMMARY• The youngest daughter of the Ramachandran family, Sivasothie is

getting married to Thiruchelvam, a young doctor of her family's choice.

• For the wedding, the Ramachandrans has promised to give twenty thousand dollars of cash as the dowry for the groom's family.

• The conflict starts when the land which they planned to sell of to gain money for the dowry is now devalued, due to overflowing of water into the land. No one would want to buy a sodden land.

• When Thiruchelvam hears this, he calls the wedding off immediately, because the Ramachandrans is not able to give the dowry as promised.

LITERARY CRITICISM

CULTURAL THEORY

FEMINISM THEORY

FEMINISM THEORY

Feminism theory Feminism can be defined as gender inequalities and strives for equal

rights for woman.

Man is on top of the family pyramid

In Indian beliefs, a marriage is arranged by the father and if he died

his role will be taken by a girl’s brothers instead of the mother.

In general, man insists that a women’s place is only at home and she

is satisfied by serving her family and fulfilling the needs of her

household members.

play a major role in choosing the bridegroom

“‘Sivasothie, you are a very lucky girl. You’ll have

a doctor for your husband”. Pg.33

young women in Indian society are also mistreated due to dowry.

“Unless we were to drain it, no one would buy it

at out sum”.pg.32

• The short story itself contains a lot of examples on man’s power ruling

over women’s.

• It is the women who are responsible for the household and take as an

example, in this story, Mrs Ramachandran has worked hard for the

festive and preparation for the engagement.

• E: “Mrs Ramachandran flew here and there, as fast as her

160 pounds would allow her, and helped with her

commanding suggestions.”

• It is very important for the women to obey the men in Indian’s

tradition.

• Mrs Ramachandran has been mentioned to be a respectful and

obedient wife.

• E: “She went out dutifully, for she managed her husband

well – obeying him in the little things with such readiness

that he thought himself as lord of everything as well.

• Even if it is not her willingness to call-off the wedding, she still

respects her husband, Mr Ramachandran’s decision.

• E: “Well,’ commented Mrs Ramachandran stoically, ‘there’s

more than one doctor in our community, and it’s up to

you, Ramachandran, to do your duty as a father.”

CULTURAL THEORY

In A Question of Dowry…• Focuses in the Indian culture

• Two cultural issues present◦ Dowry◦ Arranged Marriage

Dowry• “an amount of property or money brought by a bride to her husband

on their marriage” – Oxford Dictionary

• Dowry first started as a wedding gift among the upper caste (upper class) families

• Later on, it is given to help with the marriage expenses to the groom’s family

• It is also given as a form of insurance in the case that her in-laws would mistreat her

• Although dowry is legally prohibited in 1961 under Indian Civil Law, but it is still largely practised among the people

• Some of the common items asked by the groom’s family for the dowry includes jewelleries, large sum of money, farm animals and furniture.

In the story… Thiruchelvam’s (the groom) family demanded twenty thousand dollars

as the dowry from the Ramachandran’s (the bride) family

“Twenty thousand dollars is not to be scoffed at – that’s more than I can say for what Thangathurai gave his

daughter when our son married her…” – pg 31, paragraph 2, line 4

• Unfortunately, the Ramachandrans could not afford to pay both the dowry and the necklace. The piece of land which they had planned to sell off to get money for the dowry (the cash and the necklace) is now disvalued and they could not get the amount of money they wanted.

“Come now, wife! ... Don’t you remember? We have only one piece of land left from your dowry – we sold the

other two for our third and fourth sons’ weddings.” – pg 32, paragraph 3, line 1

“About the land, I’m afraid it is impossible to sell it at a quarter of its former price. You see, water has been

seeping out from some well for about ten years and so the land is now too marshy for house-holding. Unless we were to drain it, no one would buy it at our sum” – pg 32,

paragraph 5, line 1

• When Thiruchelvam hears the news, he called off the wedding – as the bride could not give the dowry as they previously agreed

“Thiruchelvam, having less faith in Mrs Ramachandran’s father, believed the news about the devalued land.” – pg

34, paragraph 3, line 5“After Thiruchelvam had left for his dispensary, Mr Ramachandran had to let his wife and daughter know

about the changed situation.” – pg 34, paragraph 4, line 1

Arranged Marriage• Arranged marriages have been part of the Indian culture since the

fourth century

• In the Hindu faith, marriage is a sacramental union – one is considered incomplete and unholy if they do not marry

• Because of this beliefs, many families begin the preparations for the marriage of their children well in advance

• The male’s family are usually responsible in arranging the marriage. – find the match (with the help of matchmakers), arrange a meeting with the girl’s family to discuss the dowry, time and location of the wedding.

In the story…• It is not stated in the story that the marriage is an arranged marriage.

But logically the readers could sense that the bride and the groom barely knows each other.

◦ “Well, a man had to have a wife, so why not have one with a reasonable dowry?” – pg 34, paragraph 2, line 4

• In this extract, it is obvious that Thiruchelvam’s family chose Sivasothie to be his wife because the family offers the best price for their dowry

• It only makes sense that Thiruchelvam calls off the wedding just because the Ramachandrans could not give them the dowry they had agreed on previously.

THE END