The Tragedy of Ignorance and Tyranny: A Feminist Analysis of Dr Humera Ishfaq’s کتبوں کے درمیان(Among the Gravestones)

Abstract

The article in hand is a feminist analysis of Dr Humera Ishfaq’sکتبوں کے درمیان (Among the Gravestones). Feminism as a literary theory helps researchers analyse literary works to explore inequality, power relationships, unspoken rules, and the unfathomable forces that control women in various cultures. Analysis of the mentioned short story aims at glancing into a social graveyard that is full of gravestones wailing elegiacally on brutality against women. Women’s insubordination and boldness are associated with sexuality and resultantly they are treated harshly and in an authoritarian way. The brutal handling of such conditions in extreme cases may end up with a woman’s murder. The textual analysis of the short story reveals various motives behind femicide in patriarchal societies. Four tragic events, narrated in the short story and the characters are symbolic in the sense that each character reveals a motif of honour killing which is one of the bleeding spots of our society.