Comparing and Contrasting “In Camera” by Nawal EL Saadawi and “Punishment” by Rabbindranath Tagore

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Between these two stories “In Camera” by Nawal EL Saadawi and “Punishment” by Rabbindranath Tagore, there are many similarities and differences. First, both of these two stories took place in the Middle East country, Arab and India, which Arab is a monarchical country and India is a post-monarchical country. Meanwhile, both stories reflected about how women were treated in different time, culture and country and how did the two protagonists fight against the injustice. What’s more, the women’s placement is also a important topic which I would like to compare with.
In the story “In Camera, Saadawi illustrated how women were treated by the legal system in Arabic country when they did something against the system. The protagonist, Leila Al-Fargani, who was a young woman on trial for calling the “mighty one”, which is a respective title for the President of their country, a stupid man. Moreover, during the time she was waiting for the court date, she was brutally beaten and raped by ten men who seem to be the guards. At the time she was in the court, she was still suffering from the pain both in physical and mental way, but she did not collapse. When the time the judge and those with him declared that ten men raped Leila and also her father’s honor got trampled. (This is the way we torture you women- by depriving you of the most valuable thing you possess”). For the response she said: “You fool! The most valuable thing I possess is not between my legs. You are all stupid. And the most stupid among you is the one who leads you.” In one hand, this quote completely showed that the man thought this sexual violence was totally right when the woman had committed a crime. In anther hand, it also showed that in the very deep of Leila, the...

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...octor, “ shall I call him?” To hell with him” said Chandara. According to these two quotes, the one who is really been punished is Chidam. It is Chandara’s husband who brings punishment down upon himself. He loses the only one he loved, even more; Chandara embraced death and refused to see her husband right before the execution.
Comparing to Leila, differences have been shown from how these two female characters stated themselves. Leila proved herself as a heroine by fighting back through a “visible” way, she shouted out her thoughts to the judges and everyone else in the courtroom. While Chandara she also proved herself as a heroine but in a different way- by keeping the silence. Chandara admitted the murder with no hesitation and regret. She left all of the pain to her husband. In spite of choosing to keep silence, Chandara still won the battle in her own way.

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