A Feministic Approach to Hangwoman by K R Meera

Hangwoman is the English translation of one of the famous contemporary Malayalam novels
namely Arachar, written by K. R. Meera. The English translation was done by J. Devika and released
by Arundathy Roy. The book has won numerous accolades: The Kendra Sahitya Academy Award, The
Odakkuzhal Award, The Vayalar Award etc – The central theme of Hangwoman is feminism. The story
depicts the life of the Grudha Mullick family; Mr Mullick possessed the job of public executioner, as a
legacy for over hundred years. Chetana, the protagonist of the novel is a unique and exemplary
character in the south Indian literature .She is a strong build and tenacious 22-year-old woman. Her
father, Phanibhushan hung more than 450 convicts to death, during his tenure of Public Executioner.
The novel begins with the rejection of the mercy petition sent by Jatindernath Banerjee to stay his
death sentence. Phanibhushan Grudha Mullick, the 88-year-old hangman who has already sent 450
people to death is the one who will be Jatindernath Banerjee’s executioner. However, he demands
that his daughter, the 22-year-old Chetana be given a government job if he has to carry out the
execution. There it would have stayed. But Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, anchor of CNC channel takes it
upon himself as a media stunt to advocate the cause of Chetana as Phanibhushan Grudha Mullick’s
successor. Later Chetana is forced to inherit the role of the “Hangwoman”, in the absence of a male
member of the family to continue the legacy. Thus, Chetana is appointed as the first lady public
executioner in the country. The novel presents many shocking events including a murder within the
family Grudha Mullick- a savage crime that could result in Chetana having to hang a member of her
own family.

The novel covers various fears of life like love, sex, death, fate, life after death, and is full of profound
philosophical thoughts. The background of the story is Kolkata and there is a perfect juxtaposition of
history, myth, imagination with realism. This renders the novel unique and special .The very name of
the novel is intriguing. The concept of a woman public executioner is alien to a typical Indian
scenario and, this theme has not been dealt with so far in south Indian novels. While the novel is
written in Malayalam, it is set in Calcutta about a Bengali family. Malalayalam language has really no
role to play at all. This novel, which was written in an epic canvas, examines the place of women
inside and outside their homes. Through the story of Chetana, Meera is hanging the male
domination in the society and portrays Chetana as a sheer power in a male dominated
society. Hangwoman has been short-listed for the South Asian Literary Award.

“That night I imagined that he was standing on the top of the platform of death; that I had covered
his face with the death mask; that I pulled the lever in 727 ways.” Hangwoman is the English
translation of one of the famous contemporary novels Arachar, written by K.R. Meera. The English
translation was done by J. Devika and released by Arundhati Roy. The central theme
of Hangwoman is feminism.

Feminism refers to any doctrine that seeks total equality in rights for women and people who self-
identify as women. Feminism is rooted is the male domination over women. In Hangwoman, KR
Meera portrays male domination at many levels. The story moves forward through the stream of
consciousness of the main female protagonist of the novel, Chetana. K.R. Meera portrays the mental
trauma of a twenty-two year old girl who is forced to be the first hangwoman of the country. The
book has won numerous accolades: Kendra Sahitya Academy Award,The Odakkuzhal Award, The
Vayalar Award etc.

Today in this post-modern era, woman, in general, is well aware of her rights. In spite of this
awareness there exists a class of women who are yet to realize their potentials. This paper focuses
that specific class of women.

The story depicts the life of the Grddha Mullick family which inherited the job of public executioner
as a family legacy for over hundred years. Chetana, the protagonist of the novel is a unique and
exemplary character in the south Indian literature. She is a strong-built, tenacious twenty-two year
old woman, who has been forced to inherit the role of hangwoman in order to continue the legacy of
male members of the family. Thus, Chetana is appointed as the first lady executioner of the country.
Through the story of Chetana, K.R. Meera is set to end the male dominance in society. The novel also
deals with the unethical influence on the public. She mocks this through the character of Sanjeev
Kumar Mitra, the journalist of CNC channel. Hangwoman is written in an epic canvas. There are
plenty of characters and events in the novel. Most of the characters are women.

The novel covers various aspects like love, sex, death, fate, life after death and so on. The novel is
sombre in its ambience. There is a perfect blend of history, myth and imagination with realism. Even
though the novel is written in Malayalam, the story of the novel, about a Bangali family, takes place
in Kolkata. There is virtually no role for Malayalam in this novel. The very title of the novel is
fascinating. The concept of the lady public executioner is alien to a typical Indian scenario and this
theme has not been dealt with so far in South Indian novels.

The novel begins with the rejection of the mercy petition of Jatindranath Banarjee, who had raped
and murdered a thirteen year old girl. Phanibhushan Grddha Mullick, the eighty-eight year old
hangman, the father of the protagonist, has already done four-hundred and fifty-one hangings. He
will be the one who hangs Jatindranath Banarjee. The old hangman demands a government job for
his twenty-two year old daughter Chetana, if he has to carry out Mr. Banarjee’s execution.It would
have stayed there. But Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, the journalist takes it upon himself to advocate the
cause of Chetana being appointed as Phanisbhushan Grddha Mullick’s successor.

Jatindranath Banarjee is sentenced to death for the vicious crime of rape and murder of a teenage
girl, is awaiting his final call. Now, Chetana is assigned to carry out the execution, quite unheard of
for a woman’s role in Indian society. The fate of a person who has raped and murdered a young girl
by is now to be hung by a young adult woman. It is not only the judgment of the court but also the
verdict of the Almighty.

Many male characters pass through the life of Chetana. When the reader scans the novel he/ she will
get an idea of Chetana as a symbol of sheer power in a male dominated society. But she never grew-
up as a woman. She was molested and insulted by Maruti Prasad, at first,then came Sanjeev Kumar
Mitra, who flirted with her and sexually harassed her. Even her father does not understand her. He
forces her to undertake the execution of Jatindranath Banarjee which Chetana, who is steadfastly
reluctant to carry out that task. As a twenty-two year old girl she has to pass through a lot of dreadful
events. The media, under the influence of Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, has dealt with it as a sensational
news. He starts a program on a contractual basis with Phanibhushan Grddha Mullick namely
Hangwoman’s Diary. She cannot even express her views in that show. Her father teaches her how to
talk in the show. Phanibhushan bargains with everyone to earn more by taking the present situation
as a pretext. Sanjeev Kumar Mitra who needs exciting news, has taken it for granted. “Hey, we are
planning the eve of the hanging show in a big way. We need your help and somehow must steal
Grddha Da too. Look Chetu, this is a prestige for me.” says Sanjeev Kumar Mitra.

Hangwoman is an extra ordinary novel that enriched with the ambience of death, love and
depression. The novel is bleak in its atmosphere and every line exudes the smell of despair or death.
The reader gets a fascinating history of Kolkata through the story of Grddha Mullick’s Family.
K.R.Meera ruthlessly and effectively attacks the heinous unprofessional behavior of contemporary
media, the attitude of the society towards woman, the working class and the traditional system of
India. The author concurrently handles issues that afflict contemporary Indian television and print
media, through the character of Sanjeev Kumar Mitra, whose persona is left to be judged by
Chetana. Almost all characters in the novel are viewed from the point of Chetana.

Chetana has never grown up to be an adult woman throughout the novel. She may have performed
the execution, but nobody understands her during the course of the novel, except Manobendra Bose
who gives her a job in Bhavishyath. He treats Chetana as his own daughter and she in turn,
passionately calls him Manoda. “She is my daughter… Sole daughter” says Manoda to Sanjeev Kumar
Mitra. Throughout the novel, Chetana’s true identity is never revealed. She passes through many
shocking events including a murder within her family. The reader spots frequent changes in the
character of Chetana. Chetana searches for her personal identity throughout the novel. Chetana too,
cannot understand the other characters of this novel, including her father, Phanibhushan Grddha
Mullick. Meera presents the detailed view of “Sonagachi” Nagar where woman are whoring. The
male characters of this novel are daily visitors of Sonagachi. But they do not want their own women
to be prostitutes. Phanisbhushan has killed his brother’s wife when he saw her in Sonagachi Nagar.
His brother was also killed while resisting the murder. So in this scenario, Chetana has to hang
Jatindranath Banarjee without the guidance of Phanibhushan Grddha Mullick. She has no other way.
She feels emboldened to carry out the execution. She goes alone to meet the jail minister. The fact
that she has never performed an execution earlier makes her very afraid. But she overcomes the
situation and faces it very boldly. Her breasts have grown hard as stone, when she remembers the
pain that she has felt when Maruti Prasad grabbed them from her rear; when Sanjeev Kumar wrung
them, and the police officer touched them with his baton. She forgets her fear when she recalls all
the above incidences. She has an urge to kill the male chauvinist and the urge has frothed at her
finger tip. She has decided adamantly that finger tip to feel the last throb of his life’s breath.

The characters of this novel are judged by the protagonist, Chetana. Thakuma is one of the other
characters of the novel, Hangwoman. She is the mother of Phanisbhushan Grddha Mullick and
grandmother of Chetana. In Hangwoman, the history of Kolkata is depicted through Thakuma. She is
a very strong woman,who supports her son for anything and everything. She encourages him even
when he has killed his own brother,that is Thakuma’s second son. She neither finds any fault with
Phanisbhushan nor has any regrets about it. She wants Jatindranath Banarjee to be hanged by the
hands of Chetana. She dislikes Sanjeev Kumar’s marriage proposal to Chetana and his recurrent visits
to their home. Even though she is not cruel, her character can be compared to that of Lady Macbeth,
one of the most powerful Shakespearian lady characters. There is ‘manliness’ in her character. Even
though she believed that “If a woman wants to be stand up straight, she should be willing to bend
occasionally. Thakuma knows everything about Kolkata’s history and she narrates various stories
about the city to Chetana. Thakuma is the mouthpiece of Meera’s own grandmother.

As a woman, Chetana was always marginalized by her father. Even if he desired for her to be his
successor, he believes that she cannot do anything without his guidance. He is of the opinion that
woman should seek shelter under men and, that a woman is nothing without a man. When Chetana
expresses her decision to undertake the duty of the executioner alone, Phanibhushan says, “Huh!
Listen to that! Haven’t I been doing it alone! I am a man whereas you are a mere woman!. Chetana’s
self-identity has been suppressed by most of the characters in the novel.

K.R. Meera has portrayed the plight of women in contemporary India. The author has beautifully
depicted even the simple features of Kolkata. Sonagachi, the red-street is depicted throughout the
novel. Meera picturizes Trilokyadebi, Sanjeev Kumar’s Mother, as a prostitute. Phanibhushan has
killed Chetana’s Kaki Ma because he has seen her in Sonagachi Nagar in a questionable situation. The
typical Indian male always wants the females in his family to be pure, while man has no scruples by
indulging himself in whoring frequently at places like Sonagachi. India is a country where women are
worshipped as goddess and it is in the same country where woman are more suppressed under male
dominance. Meera’s dazzling imaginative faculties have turned the story of Chetana’s life into an
epic, and uphold the theme of feminism throughout the book. The author maintains perfect
juxtaposition of history, myth and realism. The reader cannot easily accept events in the novel are
fictitious. Chetana, at the end lives in the mind of the readers as the symbol of sheer power. Meera
has not merely portrayed the story of a twenty-two year old woman, but it is a story that represents
all modern women in India. The novel can be considered as a modern epic. The theme of the novel is
so powerful that no one has dared to deal with such a topic, thus far. Her characters are well
portrayed. Meera believes that a bad man gives the best story . She has depicted the politics and
history of India, with a woman as the central character. Moreover Meera has hung violence, injustice
and ego that prevailed in the country in her magnum opus. As KR Meera writes in her
Acknowledgements page about women, “Those who did not seek them out would never know that
they had indeed lived”. It is found out that once these women understand who they are and what
they are capable of, they rise out of their own ashes and become epitomes of power and strength.
Through Chetana, Meera is set to hang the male chauvinism in Indian society and portrays Chetana
as an absolute power in a male dominated society.