From A Voiceless to A Voiced Identity: A Study of the Journey of Jaya in That long Silence by Shashi Deshpande.

Abstract

That Long Silence by Shashi Deshpande, is a psychological study of struggles of Jaya, an educated, married woman, as she navigates societal expectations and her own desires for self-expression and independence. Women are supposed to bear the stamp of their family and a silence is imposed on them by the society literally as well as figuratively. This restriction on speech mars the independence, identity and confidence of the women converting them into voiceless beings who are to be silent spectators of the working of the family. They are like doormats who are supposed to cater to the needs of the family passively without offering any suggestion for the betterment of the family. That Long Silence is a feminist novel which critiques the patriarchal structures of Indian society and the silence imposed on women within it.  This paper attempts to study the silence imposed on women and the result of this silence on the lives and identities of women.