A Study of Women on the Margins in That Long Silence

Abstract

Shashi Deshpande's narratives are chiefly centered to the lives of women in the social and domestic circumstances. Shashi Deshpande's denial of being a feminist writer does not primarily coincide with the thematic content of her novels, which are packed with female characters, who are struggling their way out in the highly traditional setup of Indian society. However, Shashi Deshpande's dislike for the word feminism suggests that she does not write being deliberately guided by any ideology rather she presents the truth of female existence as it is. The present paper revolves around a number of women whom Shashi Deshpande has introduced in her novel That Long Silence. Coming from different class, caste and culture- all of them put light on some or the other challenges that women have to face in this world. The nature of their struggle may be different, but at the core of it, every woman is helpless.