Comprehension
Q1]The woman thought of buying a white radish but later on decided against it thinking
it an extravagance. Do you think it is an extravagance? Support your answer.
A]I don’t think it is an extravagance for a normal woman. But for the woman in the poem
who doesn’t have any freedom to spend money, it is an extravagance.
The woman counts her coins carefully and ties them in a small bundle into her sari
at the waist. This shows us her poverty. Her mother-in-law curses her for spending
money. Hence, it is an extravagance for her.
Q2]What does the phrase ‘mother-in-law’s dark looks’ suggest?
A]The phrase ‘mother-in-law’s dark books’ suggests that the mother-in-law is always angry
with her daughter-in-law. The mother-in-law treats her as her enemy. She develops
negative sense against her. She doesn’t consider her daughter-in-law as one of the
members of their family.
Q3]”The usual words came and beat … ” (line 19). Where did the words come from?
Why?
A]The words were of the woman’s mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law cursed her for
spending money and also rebuked her parents for sending her to their house to spoil
their fortunes.
Q4]Why did the woman crouch on the floor ? (line 24)
A]The woman crouched on the floor to make her mother-in-law know that she bore all
her cursing her and her parents without protesting. She wanted to say that she was
very humble and was ready to bear any kind of suffering. She crouched to make her
mother-in-law’s anger less. In that way she wished for a less intensity in her mother-in-
law’s words. Her crouching shows us that she was frightened of her mother-in-law.
Q5]Why do you think the woman bent her back a little more when her husband came
home? Was her husband helpful? Support your answer quoting from the poem.
A] When her husband came home, the woman bent her back a little more as she was very
frightened of him. She wanted to show him that she was always loyal to him. Her husband was not at all helpful. He didn’t show any concern for her even though he listened to the harsh speech of his mother. “She did not look into his face nor raise her head,” tells us that she didn’t have any faith and confidence in her husband. She didn’t believe that he would save her.
Q6]What does the phrase ‘as usual’ suggest ?
A]The phrase ‘as usual’ suggests that listening to her mother-in-law’s cursing her and
her parents is a common thing to her. She is ready to bear all her sufferings silently.
Q7]The last line of the first stanza talks about the woman shielding her face from the
heat whereas the last line of the poem talks about people shielding their faces from
the heat. How are they different?
A]the heat. How are they different?
“The woman shielding her face from heat” means that she tries to protect her face
from the heat. “People shielding their faces from the heat” means that people are turning
their faces from the harsh realities of the society. Though the people know that women
are getting killed and oppressed, they don’t want to take any action against it. Thus
they are different.
Q8]”So when the kerosene was thrown … ” Who threw the kerosene? Why? Support
your answer quoting from the poem.
A]”So when the kerosene was thrown
It was the only choice
that she had ever known.”
These lines of the poem tells us that the woman herself threw the kerosene. She
performed all her duties in the family by listening to the cursing against her and her
parents. But she never made a complaint against her mother-in-law. She was not given
any right to speak. She couldn’t bear her sufferings anymore. Hence, she committed
suicide finally to get rid of domestic violence.
Q9]What does the title suggest ?
A]The title “Another Woman” suggests that there are so many women who are ending
their lives because of the domestic violence. It is not limited to a single woman. It is a
huge social problem that takes away the lives of a number of women.
