Silence: A Behavioural, Social and Cultural Trait of Female Identity in That Long Silence by Shashi Deshpande

Abstract

Exploitation of woman potential in a male dominated society is much common in Indian society which Shashi Deshpande, a promising Indo-Anglian novelist, depicts in her novels through the psyche of representative female characters. Her That Long Silence brings out the tragic destiny of characters like Jaya, Jeeja, Kusum and Avva who accept their fate as such without protest in the name of mutual adjustment, fear, social norms or cultural practices and remain silent. They struggle hard with themselves only to weigh the burden of silence for long years. However, the writer is not without an answer and paves a path of self-assertion or speech for women. She perfectly suggests through the chief female protagonist Jaya that silence can never be the solution of any problem.