Week 17 Analysis: A Literary Analysis

Mahasweta Devi, “Giribala” (1147-1165)

            In “Giribala” by Mahasweta Devi, the character Giribala is average looking, had lovely eyes, and “nobody ever imagined that she could think on her own, let alone act on her own thought” (1149). She is stuck in this desperate world with this awful, deceitful husband that she must fully adjust to. I feel that the theme of this story is feminism because of the many struggles this woman must face against the social standards of women.  For example, She knew that although the groom had to pay a bride-price in their community, still a girl was only a girl. She had heard so many times the old saying ‘A daughter born, to husband or death, She’s already gone.’ She realized that her life in her home and village was over, and her life of suffering was going to begin” (1151). Women of this time were basically involved in this “transaction” of marriage where the groom pays the bride’s family and this was traditional in the West Bengal region.  There is a huge emphasis on woman in this story, where woman are to be obedient to their husbands. We see hints of feminism in this woman’s journey and adjustment to new lifestyles (or a suffering lifestyle).  We see a look into the north-central region of West Bengal in this story where we see many looks into the cultural practices like arranged marriages, bride-price, and the deceit and viciousness required to survive in a resource-suffering society. We see an example of this viciousness and deceit in the husband when he lies about his living condition and more. The cultural practices seem to be a reoccurring presence in this story. For example, “What kind of woman would leave her husband of many years just like that? Now, they all felt certain that the really bad one was not Aulchand, but Giribala. And arriving at this conclusion seemed to produce some kind of relief for their troubled minds” (1164). We see the social standards of women in West Bengal again. Therefore, the emphasis of feminism is in Giribala’s fight against social standards and bad living conditions with a terrible husband.