Question- What do you think of the women characters in Kanthapura? What is their role in the action of the novel?

Answer - 

Though Moorthy is the central figure of Kanthapura, among the other characters, women have an equal role to play with their male counterparts. Since the narrator is Achakka, we get to know the story of the various happenings in and around Kanthapura, more from the point of view of women than from that of men. The woman take a prominent pact in all the religious gatherings and prayer meetings, and also in the political activities. They take care of the households, feed the men, and look after the children. At the same time they're the ones who are interested in maintaining the rituals and traditions. Jayaramachar's special Harikatha about Mahatma Gandhi fires their imagination to such an extent that they willingly become active volunteers in the Satyagraha Movement led by Moorthy.

The river bank is the regular meeting place of the village women and they gather there every morning. Besides attending to their bathing and washing, they also get a chance to exchange gossip and news of the latest happenings. Waterfall Venkamma has a vicious tongue, and she enjoys using it against everybody else. She is particularly vociferous against Moorthy and his mother, Narsamma, for the former's mixing with the pariahs. But in her heart of hearts, Venkamma is not so very bad. If one day she quarrels with Narsamma, the next day she makes it up.

Among the nobler women of the village there are Rangamma and Ratna. Both of them fight shoulder to shoulder with Moorthy, Range Gowda and others against the British oppression. When the Congress Committee is formed in the village, Moorthy says they need a woman on the Committee because the Congress is for the weak and the lowly. Everybody's choice is Rangamma, and she accepts the responsibility reclutantly on proper demand later, when Moorthy is arrested and taken away, Rangamma comes to the forefront and arranges for newspapers to be delivered from the city so that the villagers remain informed about the activities of the Congress in the rest of the country. When the news comes that Moorthy has been released and will return to his village, Rangamma organizes proper welcome for him. She also forms a special group of the women volunteers and names it 'Sevika Sangha' for their aim is to serve the community. However, men do not seem interested and keen in the group. But this doesn't discourage the women led by Rangamma from continuing on their chosen path. When she too is arrested, Ratna takes over the mantle of leadership from her.

During all the encounters with the police, women of Kanthapura do not stay at home but join the men in their defiant protest marches. They get beaten up with lathis and suffer broken bones, yet they do not give up the struggle. When most of the houses in Kanthapura are destroyed and the village is reduced to rubble, some of the men perish and others leaves their home to find shelter somewhere. The women to leave. The people of Kashipura, a neighbouring village welcome them. Achakka proudly says - "They hung garlands on our necks, and Called us the pilgrims of the Mahatma.'

...Prev | Next...