Analysis Of That Long Silence

MALE-FEMALE RELATIONSHIP PORTRAYAL BY DIVERSE WOMEN WRITERS

Writing by women has given a new dimension to the Indian literature. In the 20th century, women’s writing has been considered a powerful medium of modernism and feminist statements. The last two decades have witnessed phenomenal success in feminist writings of Indian English literature. Women writers comprise a sizeable segment of Indo-English writers. They present the age-old problems of Indian womanhood. As Indo-English literature has absorbed the new trends from the western literature, its theoretical foundation ranges between Greco-Roman theories of literature and Marxist, existentialist, psycho-analytic and other avant-garde movements in the world literature. The English language

The neglected women as characters in their novel attempt for better way of life mentally and physically. Today’s Novels act as a mirror reflecting the protest and the outburst of the suppressed feelings of women which has never been taken care for ages. Shashi Despande’s novel That Long Silence begins with the sentence “To achieve anything, you’ve got to be ruthless.” Despande's That Long Silence revolves around the ongoing problems and predicament of the middle class house hold. Her writings are like case studies of women full of reality. Her women are real flesh and blood characters from whom one cannot take one’s eyes of. One can visualize with clarity, the struggle and trauma they go through in their relationships pertaining to their surroundings, their society, their families, their children and especially with their men. In That Long Silence Despande has depicted the Character of Jaya as an educated typical middle class house wife with lots of love and affection for her children who is dutiful and respectful to her husband and in-laws but neglected when it comes to her feelings and emotions. Her sincerity, honesty and dedication are not recognized by anyone who ultimately sinks her into silence. Her silence is symbolic to most women in the

Deshpande is not unconcerned about Indian reality in respect of the lot of women, but she is not a strident and militant kind of feminist who sees the male as the sole cause of all her problems. Her concern, in fact, is nothing less than the human predicament. As a chronicler of human relationships she is superb. The interplay between tradition and modernity and tensions generated by it has been faithfully presented. Deshpande does not offer readymade solutions, for she believes, in literary writing “one does not pose a problem and present a solution. It’s not maths. The value based fabric of life that she projects are of great significance.” (Literature and Gender