Major 14-Study of drama and short story
NAME - KHUSHI VEDANI
PAPER - MAJOR 14 - STUDY OF DRAMA AND SHORTS STORYS
SEMESTER - 6 TYB.A ENGLISH
TEACHER - AMMENA MAM
CLASS ASSIGNMENT - THE LONG SILENCE BY SHASHI DESHPANDE
HOME ASSIGNMENT - TOBA TEK SINGH BY SAADAT HASAN MANTO
ESSAY- THE NIGHT OF THE FULL MOON
( CLASS ASSIGNMENT )
👉🏻 Introduction
That Long Silence is a significant Indian English novel by Shashi Deshpande that explores the inner world of a middle-class Indian woman trapped within social expectations and marital silence. Published in 1988, the novel presents the psychological journey of its protagonist, Jaya, as she reflects on her life, identity, and suppressed voice. It is regarded as an important feminist text in Indian literature because it highlights how patriarchy operates not only through open domination but also through quiet emotional control and internalized obedience.
The narrative unfolds during a period when Jaya and her husband Mohan temporarily move into a small apartment due to a professional crisis. This physical relocation becomes symbolic: away from routine social life, Jaya confronts her past and recognizes the long silence she has maintained throughout her marriage.
👉🏻 Plot Overview
The story is less event-driven and more introspective. Jaya, a writer who once had aspirations and opinions, has gradually suppressed her individuality to maintain marital harmony. Her husband Mohan expects her to be a “good wife” — supportive, agreeable, and non-confrontational. Over time, she learns to remain silent even when she disagrees or feels hurt.
The crisis begins when Mohan faces allegations of corruption at work. To avoid social embarrassment, he moves with Jaya to their old flat in Dadar. In this confined space, memories surface: their early marriage, her abandoned writing career, strained relations with relatives, and the emotional distance between them.
Jaya realizes that her silence was not merely imposed by society but also chosen by her out of fear — fear of conflict, abandonment, and social judgment. By the end, she decides to break this silence and reclaim her voice, suggesting the possibility of change rather than a dramatic resolution.
👉🏻 Major Themes
1. Silence and Communication
The central theme is silence within marriage. Jaya’s silence symbolizes emotional suppression. She avoids expressing anger or dissatisfaction to preserve the image of a stable marriage. This silence becomes destructive because it prevents genuine intimacy.
The novel suggests that silence in patriarchal settings is often mistaken for virtue. Women are praised for tolerance and adjustment, but such qualities can erase individuality.
2. Patriarchy and Gender Roles
The novel portrays everyday patriarchy rather than extreme oppression. Mohan is not cruel; he is conventional. He expects admiration and compliance because society has taught him that a wife’s role is supportive.
Jaya internalizes these expectations. She abandons her writing ambitions after Mohan disapproves of her bold story. Thus, patriarchy operates subtly — through approval, disappointment, and emotional pressure rather than force.
3. Identity and Self-Realization
Jaya’s journey is essentially about self-recognition. She realizes she has lived as multiple roles — wife, mother, daughter-in-law — but not as herself. Her true self has been hidden beneath social masks.
The apartment setting becomes a space of reflection where she examines her life choices. Her decision to speak at the end represents the beginning of reclaiming identity.
4. Marriage and Emotional Distance
The novel questions the assumption that marriage automatically creates companionship. Jaya and Mohan share years of life but lack emotional openness. Their relationship is built more on duty than understanding.
This portrayal reflects many traditional marriages where harmony is maintained externally while inner dissatisfaction remains unspoken.
5. Writing as Voice
Jaya’s suppressed writing symbolizes her suppressed self. Earlier she wrote humorous domestic columns under a pseudonym to please readers and family expectations. But her serious writing — which expressed truth — was discouraged.
By the end, she recognizes that writing honestly is an act of self-expression. Breaking silence means reclaiming both speech and authorship.
👉🏻 Character Analysis
Jaya
Jaya is introspective, sensitive, and intelligent but conditioned to be submissive. Her transformation is psychological rather than external. She moves from passive acceptance to self-awareness.
Her realization is important: she sees that silence was partly her own choice. This insight makes her growth authentic and believable.
👉🏻 Mohan
Mohan represents the respectable middle-class patriarch. He values order, reputation, and conformity. He is not intentionally oppressive, but he expects emotional compliance. His inability to understand Jaya’s inner life reflects how patriarchy normalizes male authority without self-questioning.
👉🏻 Other Characters
Figures like Kamat, Jeeja, and Jaya’s relatives act as contrasts showing alternative ways of living or consequences of social expectations. They help Jaya evaluate her own life decisions.
Symbolism
The Apartment – Isolation and introspection; a space where illusions collapse.
Silence – Emotional suppression and social conditioning.
Writing – Individual voice and truth.
Sea imagery – Turbulent inner emotions beneath calm surface.
Narrative Style
The novel uses first-person narration with stream-of-consciousness elements. Past and present blend through memories, reflecting how identity is shaped by accumulated experiences. The reflective tone creates psychological depth rather than dramatic action.
( Main Character )
Jaya is the central and most importan
She is an educated, sensitive woman who once had ambitions of becoming a serious writer. However, after marriage, she gradually abandons her individuality to fit the expectations of a traditional wife. She changes her writing style to please her husband and avoids expressing opinions that might create conflict.
Jaya’s character represents many Indian women who live within patriarchal structures—obedient outwardly but internally conflicted. Her journey in the novel is not physical but psychological: from silence to self-awareness.
(Key traits of Jaya:)
👉🏻Intelligent and observant
👉🏻Emotionally restrained
👉🏻Self-questioning and reflective
👉🏻Dutiful wife and mother
👉🏻Suppressed creative identity
💡 Feminist Perspective
The novel presents feminism rooted in everyday life. It does not reject marriage or family but questions inequality within them. It shows how women themselves participate in maintaining silence due to fear and social training.
Jaya’s final decision to speak suggests empowerment through awareness, not rebellion. This makes the novel realistic and culturally grounded.
Significance of the Title
The title refers to the prolonged emotional silence Jaya has maintained in her marriage and life. It also represents the collective silence of many women conditioned to endure without protest. The “long silence” is therefore personal, marital, and societal.
🌸 Conclusion
That Long Silence is a profound exploration of a woman’s inner life within traditional Indian marriage. Through Jaya’s reflections, the novel exposes how silence, fear, and social expectations shape female identity. It demonstrates that oppression can exist without violence — through habits, roles, and emotional conditioning.
The novel ultimately offers hope: awareness can lead to change. Jaya’s decision to break her silence suggests the possibility of honest communication and self-definition. For this reason, the work remains a powerful and relevant contribution to Indian feminist literature.
(HOME ASSIGNMENT)
Toba Tek Singh is one of the most famous short stories by Saadat Hasan Manto, written after the Partition of India in 1947. The story presents the tragic and absurd consequences of political division through the lives of mentally ill patients in a lunatic asylum. With irony and dark humor, Manto questions the logic of borders, nationalism, and identity.
🌸 Plot Summary
After Partition, the governments of India and Pakistan decide to exchange mentally ill patients according to religion, just as they had exchanged prisoners and refugees. Muslim patients in Indian asylums are to be sent to Pakistan, and Hindu and Sikh patients in Pakistani asylums are to be sent to India.
Among them is Bishan Singh, a Sikh inmate known as “Toba Tek Singh,” named after his hometown. He constantly mutters meaningless phrases and refuses to lie down. When he learns that his village Toba Tek Singh may now be in Pakistan rather than India, he becomes deeply disturbed. No one — doctors, officials, or other inmates — can clearly tell him where his
🌸 home belongs.
During the exchange at the border, when officials try to move him to India, Bishan Singh refuses because he cannot accept being separated from his land. In the end, he collapses and dies in the strip of land between India and Pakistan — belonging to neither country. The narrator states that Toba Tek Singh lay in “no man’s land.”
🌸 Themes
Partition and Absurdity:
The story shows how political decisions appear meaningless and cruel when seen from a human perspective. The madness of borders is contrasted with the innocence of the asylum inmates.
🌸 Identity and Belonging:
Bishan Singh’s confusion about his homeland reflects the identity crisis faced by millions displaced during Partition. His attachment to Toba Tek Singh symbolizes emotional belonging beyond political lines.
🌸 Madness vs. Sanity:
Ironically, the lunatics often speak more truth than the authorities. The so-called sane officials act irrationally, while Bishan Singh’s refusal expresses moral clarity.
🌸 Character: Bishan Singh
Bishan Singh represents the common people who suffered because of Partition. Though labeled insane, he shows deep attachment to land and identity. His death in no man’s land symbolizes the loss of home, nation, and self experienced by refugees.
👉🏻 Significance
The story powerfully criticizes the violence and displacement caused by Partition. By setting the narrative in a mental asylum, Manto suggests that the real madness lies in political division, not in the inmates. Toba Tek Singh remains one of the most moving literary portrayals of Partition’s human tragedy.
( Essay )
🌛 The Night of the Full Moon
The night of the full moon has always held a special charm for human beings. Unlike ordinary nights, it appears bright, calm, and almost magical. The silver light of the full moon spreads across the sky and gently touches the earth, transforming even familiar surroundings into something beautiful and mysterious. Such a night inspires peace, imagination, and quiet reflection.
When the full moon rises, darkness does not feel heavy or frightening. Instead, the soft moonlight creates a gentle glow over fields, rivers, rooftops, and trees. Shadows become delicate rather than harsh. The sky appears vast and clear, often filled with faint stars around the radiant circle of the moon. The air seems cooler and calmer, and nature itself appears to pause in admiration.
For many people, a full moon night brings emotional stillness. Sitting under the open sky, one feels connected to something timeless. The moon has watched generations pass, civilizations grow, and countless human stories unfold. Its steady presence reminds us of continuity in a changing world. This sense of permanence often brings comfort and quiet joy.
The night of the full moon also awakens imagination. Poets and artists across cultures have described moonlight as romantic and dreamy. Lovers have shared confidences beneath it, travelers have walked guided by it, and storytellers have woven myths around it. The moon seems to encourage reflection — about life, memories, hopes, and the future.
In rural areas especially, the beauty of a full moon night becomes even more vivid. Without artificial lights, the landscape shines in natural brightness. Paths are visible, water surfaces sparkle, and distant hills appear outlined in silver. Even ordinary activities such as walking, talking, or resting outdoors feel special under such light.
There is also a quiet spiritual feeling associated with the full moon. Many traditions consider it a symbol of completeness and harmony. Observing it can create a sense of inner balance, as if nature itself is at its fullest expression. The calm silence of the night invites contemplation and gratitude.
In conclusion, the night of the full moon is not merely an astronomical event but an experience of beauty and serenity. Its gentle light softens the world and the human heart alike. In the busy pace of modern life, such nights remind us to pause, observe, and feel the quiet wonder of existence. The full moon continues to enchant humanity just as it has since ancient times.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
