This document provides a summary and analysis of Shashi Deshpande's novel "That Long Silence". It discusses how the protagonist Jaya sacrifices her individuality and writing career after marriage to conform to her husband Mohan's desires and patriarchal family values. Over 17 years of marriage, Jaya descends into desolation and depression due to the expectation that wives remain silent and subordinate to husbands. Through introspection and the encouragement of her friend Kamat, Jaya decides to assert her independence by writing about her experience and rejecting the traditional roles of Indian wives. The document analyzes how the novel examines gender inequality, marital conflict, and a woman's struggle to find her voice and identity in Indian society.

1. Shashi Deshpande’s
That Long Silence
By
Rashmi Vajpayee
Assistant Professor, M.B.A, M.A(English Lit.),PH.D.
Scholar
From The State Of Desolation to
Self-Recognition in

3. Research Paper
Published By
DJ Publications, India
Year-2017

4.  Shashi Deshpande is a famous Indian novelist who has won
many awards for her magnificent writings. .She is one of the
most notable authors in Indian writing in English. Her
famous novels are -The Dark Holds No Terrors (1980), if I
Die Today (1982), Roots and Shadows (1983), Come Up and
Be Dead (1983), That Long Silence (1988), The Binding Vine
(1992), and A Matter of Time (1996). Her novel “Roots and
Shadows” has won a prize for the best Indian novel of 1982-
83. She is the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in
1990 for her novel That Long Silence. She has also won
‘Padma Shri’ (2009) for the novel ‘That Long Silence’. Her
leading ladies are married women and they are the true
reflection of Indian women. . Seeking for identity and self-
liberation have become the most important themes of the
contemporary novel.

5.  ‘That Long Silence’ (1988) is an expression of the Agony of
housewives. The Story revolves around ‘Jaya’ an educated
young woman lives with her husband Mohan and two
children Rahul and Rati. Jaya is a sufferer of gender
differentiation and patriarchy. After wedding she becomes
speechless in order to be a good cultural wife.
 The novel questions the tradition-bound Indian society that
treats women unkindly. That Long Silence is Deshpande's
perspective on marital friction. My aim is to highlight how
women are divided between traditional values of the society
and her individuality. The paper analyses how the
patriarchal domination and gender differentiation exist
within the family.
 Keywords: Desolation, Silence, Male-Chauvinism, Doll,
Individuality.

6.  Alice Walker says- “No person is your friend who
demands your silence, or denies your right to grow” (Pine
, 179).
 In western countries women give more preference to
liberalism and believe in rejecting the family structure but
Indian women have to struggle with male as well as female
members of their families for their identity. From 1950s to
1980s Indian Women were not allowed to express their
opinions or feelings. Mostly they were satisfied with their
'Sati-Savitri' image imposed on them by the Patriarchal
society; they were enjoying their role in household and
raising children etc. After 1980’s Women gradually became
more aware of their education, their rights and status in
the society.

7.  Shashi Deshpande’s novels express her thoughts on the
position of Indian women, their alienation and their
struggle to find their identity. Social laws have always been
more compulsory for women than men. ‘Jaya’ the
protagonist of the novel chooses to be quiet because in the
1980’s women of the middle class Marathi family were not
allowed to establish their own identity in the society. In
Jaya's silence every Indian woman may find her own
silence.
 ‘ That Long Silence’ is a woman’s journey from her state of
desolation to her self-recognition; that she is suffering due
to silence. In this paper I have made an attempt at
studying the Psyche of a housewife through the eyes of
‘Jaya’.The major themes of the novel are-

8.  Gender-inequality, marital conflict, male domination,
husband’s ill-treatment towards their wives and identity
crisis of woman. The novel is a story of the Protagonist
‘Jaya’, a middle class housewife. Though she is an educated
woman but not free from patriarchal domination, she
became silent to save her marriage. As Hindu tradition says
that wife should be like ‘Sita’ who was submissive to her
husband. Indian societies cast women as docile, silent and
submissive” (Sengupta, 33).
 ‘Jaya’ is the wife of ‘Mohan’, he is materialistic and a male-
chauvinist. Mohan is typically a workaholic man; his career
is more important thing than his family. He is ambitious,
fond of luxury and position in society, cares for money and
material objects. Mohan wants to consider himself as the
sole runner and the head of the family.

9.  He does not care about Jaya’s feelings and takes her
for granted. He imposed his thoughts on Jaya and
forces her not to write something which would
affect their relationship. He chooses Jaya not
because of her beauty but her excellent command
of English. After marriage he never allows her to
be herself and do what she wants. Despite having
many comforts, Jaya feels emptiness in her life
because she has sacrificed every trait of her
individuality after marriage. The novel focuses on
the inner turmoil of Jaya, after seventeen years of
her marital life in silence; she finds her marriage
as ‘Two bullocks yoked together” (TLS, 11).Her
frustration is shown here when she says-

10.  “Ever since I got married, I had done nothing but
wait, waiting for Mohan to come home, waiting for
the children to be born, for them to start school,
waiting for them to come home, waiting for the
milk, the servant, the lunch-carrier man” (TLS, 30).
 She goes into deep introspection of her life-
Conflicts with her husband, suffocation in their
seventeen years old marriage, dissatisfaction in her
children Rahul and Rati. In her state of desolation
Jaya decides to write down her story; in this
process she explores her self-existence.

11.  From her childhood Jaya had mould herself
completely according to the desires of her
family members. Lata Mangeshkar’s voice
fascinated her but since her father was a huge
fan of Palusker and Faiyaz khan, the film music
was banned in her home and her father taunts
on her choice “What poor taste you have Jaya”
(TLS, 3).That comment made her feel ashamed
of her selections, she had neither protest nor
justifies her own likes and that was the
beginning of her Silence.

12.  At the time of Jaya’s wedding, ‘Mohan’ her husband
had changed her name from ‘Jaya’ to ‘Suhasini’. She
didn't object just to keep him happy. The name
’Suhasini’ means a soft, smiling, placid, motherly
woman (Sree,72).Her new name indicates that now
she is going to be a typical cultured and devoted
housewife, whereas her old name ‘Jaya’ means
“Victory” it symbolizes courageous ,independent and
confident girl.

13.  Name is the identity of every human being, No one has a
right to tell that I don’t like your name and I will call you
by other name but just after her marriage she loses her
identity. She has changed her personality and life-styles
to please Mohan; she has cut her hair very short and
follows new fashion in dressing.
 Jaya wrote some stories and won first prize;
these stories also gets published in a magazine.
She is getting recognition as a writer; When
Mohan, Jaya’s husband expresses his wrath on
her theme. She wrote a story about a ‘man’ who
cannot connect to his wife except through her
body;

14.  Mohan thinks that a particular ‘man’ in the
story is himself. He says-“All those people who
read this and know us, they will know that
these two persons are us, they will think that I
am this kind of Man” (TLS, 143-44). After this
she quits writing and sacrificed her talent to
maintain their shallow relationship. Jaya had
learnt to control her anger as Mohan thought
that- anger made a woman ‘unwomanly.’(TLS,
83) .Mohan had squashed her literary career,
He had never appreciated her. Jaya’s talent is
being crushed and this leads her to a rebellion.

15.  It’s because of Mohan’s insensitivity; Jaya gets
attached to ‘Kamat’, a widower and her neighbour in
Dadar. Kamat lives alone in the home; he does not
feel awkward while cooking himself, because he
does not thinks that cooking is a woman's business.
She remembers an incident of her pregnancy when
Jaya asked Mohan to cook; Mohan says cooking is
not a man’s job. She had shared everything with
‘Kamat’, who was friendly and encourages her talent.
He tells her how she could make her stories more
forceful and hitting (TLS, 147).With ‘Kamat’ she feels
complete; unlike ‘Mohan’ he was free from male-
chauvinism. Kamat advises Jaya to be honest with
oneself .He says-

16.  “Spare me your complexes…“Women are the
victims” theory of yours. Take yourself
seriously, woman. Don't sulk behind a false
name. And work if you want others to take you
seriously”. (TLS, 148) .Kamat reminds her that
the truth behind her failure is her fear. Jaya
realises that she is not free to follow
her own will. Thus Kamat act as a Guide,
Mentor and Friend in Jaya’s life. After Kamat’s
death, she was deeply shattered and desolated.

17. ‘That Long Silence’ deals with the relationship between
husband and wife. In India everybody expect a ‘wife’ who is well
cultured and obedient. She should run the household efficiently
by satisfying the demands of family members. Wife acts as a
subordinate to her husband, all necessary decisions of the
family are taken by the husband. Cultured wife means a girl
who is submissive, who does not interrupt in the decisions of
her husband, who remains silent infront of male. After marriage
women do not enjoy the same freedom as men do. ‘Jaya’ is an
educated woman with good writing skills but none of her
excellence gave her a reputable place in the eyes of Mohan.

18.  She has suffered silently all because of her family and
traditional values she said-“Yes, I have been scared, scared of
breaking through that thin veneer of a happy family.”(TLS,
191) Mohan’s father was a Drunkard and Aggressive man
having patriarchal views. Mohan narrates an incident to Jaya-
his father wants fresh food to be served when he returns
home. One late night Mohan’s mother could not give fresh
chutney to him; his father found that chutney had not been
served with rice that makes him angry. He throws the plate
and walked off. The mother silently picks up the plate, cleaned
the floor and the wall of all the spattered food, and wiped it,
she once again cooked rice and prepared fresh chutney (TLS,
36).Mohan says about the matter-“God she was tough, women
in those days were tough” (TLS, 36)

19. That was not his mother’s ‘strength’, she has suffered
in silence as she was financially dependent on her
husband and she had no choice. Jaya says-“I saw a
struggle so bitter that silence was the only
weapon. Silence and surrender” (TLS, 36).
Another reason of her trauma was ‘traditional’ ;
our traditions taught us that- when you are
married; you have to accept your partner even
you don’t find compatibility with him .For
family’s reputation woman have to bear all
sufferings and still try to continue the wedlock
with patience and silence.

20. Other female characters in the novel performing ‘Vratas’ and
‘Pujas’ to ensure the longevity of their husbands and for their
successful married life. Mohan’s sister Vimla performs Mangala
– Gauri Puja hoping to get children so that she can fulfil her
role as a wife (TLS, 67). Vanita mami performs the Tulsi-Puja
regularly because she wants to free herself from the fear of
widowhood. She is saved from being a widow as she dies before
her husband’s death, a “fortunate” death with Sindur on her
forehead, but in her entire life she was suffering as a wife
silently until then. In the novel there is one more story of
enslavement of woman-Jaya’s maid ‘Jeeja’ beaten by her
drunkard husband regularly, she does not object when her
husband bring other woman at home because Jeeja has failed to
give him a child, she brings up their son after her ‘husband’ and
his ‘keep’ were dead. Despite of all her agonies and humiliations
Jeeja believes that a woman is nothing without her Sindur.

21.  Jaya had learnt in her childhood that husband is like a
sheltering tree, a shade, a security (TLS, 137). She
transforms herself into the traditional role of mother
and wife; she completes her responsibilities with full of
dedication such as washing dishes, cooking and caring
them without any complain. Because in our society it is
thought that all these are duties of a wife not a
husband.

22.  Jaya's mother always been partial to her son’s .Male
primacy is also seen when Jaya’s grand-uncle Ramu
Kaka portrays a family tree
 that mentions all the boys of the family- Sridhar, Janu,
Dinakar, Ravi but Jaya was missing. She notices that
she is not present in the family-tree; she questions
about it and Kaka said that-
 “You don’t belong to this family. You have no place
here”(TLS, 142-143). She gets hurt over such gender
differentiation; because Jaya was married she has no
place in her parental home.

23.  Mohan is found indulged in some corrupt practice in
his office and they shift into their small flat in Dadar.
Jaya is not willing to go into hiding with her husband
(Sharma, 42); unlike Sita she fails to support Mohan
into exile. At that time Rahul and Rati were away on a
long tour with their family friends. One day Mohan
accuses Jaya for his failure and for not being
supportive in the crisis. He says-“Do you think I
haven’t seen, how changed you are since we came here,
since I told you about my situation” (TLS, 12).

24.  After this Jaya begins to laugh hysterically;
that shows her frustration. Mohan gets
furious and leaves home. .Jaya is left all alone
in their Dadar flat. She is terribly depressed
in the absence of Mohan and realizes that for
so many years she lives like a ‘Doll’ with him.
She had done everything even leaves her
writing career too, to keep her married life
peaceful. After some days she gets a telegram
from Mohan that "All is well". Now she begins
to question herself and finds that she is
responsible for her sufferings not Mohan.

25.  In the process of her self-recognition; Jaya decides
to convey herself through her writings. She
chooses the part of ‘Maitreyi’ (From Upanishad)
who freely communicated with her husband. She
rejects the traditional role of Sita and Gandhari
who followed her husband’s orders silently and
blindly. She recalls the words of Lord Krishna-
“Do as you Desire” (TLS, 192). Jaya’s State of
Desolation proves beneficial for her and she
emerges as an individual. Jaya says- “I am not
afraid anymore, the panic has gone (TLS, 191).She
decides to speak and to do what she desire. The
novel ends with the reunion of family.

26.  Shashi Deshpande looks sharply into the problems of
married women. The Novel signifies the necessity to
speak and to establish individuality. Jaya in her
seventeen years of married life has tried to play the role
of traditional Indian woman and the epitome of
patience ; but in the end she become more self-
assertive woman .Mohan is at fault for hurting Jaya and
her existence, for being indulged in wrong practices but
Jaya realises that silence was the root cause of her
sufferings.

27.  Communication and mutual understanding is
necessary for healthy relationship. Silence can
puncture the relationship; it leads to depression
and desolation. Jaya’s autobiographical account
“That Long Silence” ends with a positive node-
But we can always hope. Without that, life would
be impossible. (TLS, 193)

28.  Deshpande, Shashi. That Long Silence. New Delhi:
Penguin Books, 1989. Print.
 Indra, Mohan T.M.J. Shashi Deshpande: A Critical
Spectrum. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Dist.,
2004. Print.
 Pandey, Mithilesh K. Writing the Female: Akademi
Awarded Novels in English. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons
Publishers, 2004. Print.
 Pine, Joslyn. Book of African-American Quotations,
Dover thrift editions. New York: Dover Publications
Inc.; Green edition, 2011.Print.
 Sengupta, Jayita. Refractions of Desire, Feminist
Perspectives in the Novels of Toni Morrison, Michele
Roberts and Anita Desai. New Delhi: Atlantic
Publishers and Distributors, 2006.Print.

29.  Sharma, Siddhartha .Shashi Deshpande's
Novels: A Feminist Study. New Delhi:
Atlantic Publishers and Distributors,
2011. Print.
 Sree, Prasanna, S. Woman in the Novels of
Shashi Deshpande: A Study. New Delhi
:Sarup and Sons, 2003.Print.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shashi_desh
pande.

30. Thank
You