Two Stories

Analysis of “The Magic Chalk” and “Dhowli”

It is possible to use two stories to demonstrate how writers treat a particular subject in different ways. Any author’s bias is seen in the way they treat different subjects and present various themes. Analyzing Kobe Abe’s The Magic Chalk and Mahasweta Devi’s Dhowli shows that an individual’s culture and surroundings have an effect on how they treat a range of subjects.

Theme of Dissatisfaction with Social Circumstances

The dissatisfaction with social circumstances is a recurring theme in these two stories. The role of tradition, on the other hand, is explicitly portrayed in the authors’ diverse attitudes to women’s empowerment.

The Magic Chalk

The Magic Chalk is a story written by Kobo Abe where the protagonist - Argon is an artist who is so broke that he has to struggle to remain alive. He even went ahead and decided to catch leftover food using a sieve outside a restaurant. This was his life until a point where he found a red chalk which had the ability to bring to life anything he drew. He begins living a life of disillusionment drawing different objects and letting them come to life. As he continues living this life, he keeps wishing he could find a lover so that they can create a new world together. To him, the woman is more of a partner than anything else.

Dhowli

Mahasweta Devi is the author of the story Dhowli where life of the protagonist has been pre-determined by the caste system. Dhowli falls under a caste system where she is classified as ’an untouchable’. She is married off to a husband she does not love, but she agrees to live a pathetic life with him simply because culture forces her to do so. She later falls in love with a Misra boy after her husband’s death. However, culture does not allow them to get married and she if forced to bring up her child on her own. She survives through numerous odds even after being kicked out of the village by the Brahmans.

Analysis of Social Conditions and Frustration

In The Magic Chalk and Dhwoli, there is the aspect of social conditions as a source of frustration, and the emotions that it produces in individuals. In Dhowli, social standing is determined by the caste which one is born in while money determines the level of an individual in the society portrayed in The Magic Chalk. In both instances, the protagonists are poor but they have the zeal to want to live a better life. As compared to the other individuals around them, the protagonists in both stories suffered greatly due to their social standing. The ending in both stories portray the protagonists as individuals who suffered due to their disillusionment. Dhowli lost the Misra boy and she is chased out of the village while Argon ends up realizing that the world he lives in is a simple fantasy. The main difference between the two stories is in gender roles - women take over lesser societal roles in Dhowli (and are even prostitutes) and equality of women and men is established in The Magic Chalk.

Similarities in Social Conditions and Frustration

The main similarity between the stories The Magic Chalk and Dhowli is evident in the fact that social conditions are the reason behind the frustrations of the protagonists in both stories. Dhowli, the protagonist in Devi’s story is born in a lower caste and thus she cannot achieve anything in life including love. Similarly, Abe portrays his protagonist as one born in poverty until he obtains a magic chalk which he uses to create a disillusioned world. Just like Dhowli, he searches for a love that he cannot grasp. As a woman, Dhowli’s roles in society are limited unlike the world portrayed by Abe where women have rights.