A Corpse in the Well by Shankarrao Kharat

By King Meera -
http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/well-english.pdf
http://www.ijells.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/April-Issue-IJELLS.pdf
http://literarism.blogspot.in/2013/11/dalit-literature.html
http://ccrss.org/dalitautobio.htm

These links should help if you want to read up on A Corpse in the Well by yourself; I will post notes soon.

And here they are:

Page 136: About the Author and the Extract: "The above extract serves to emphasize the difference in power that exists in villages, and how the Mahars, or Dalits, who loyally served their village, were not respected and treated the way they deserved. The unfair manner in which they are bossed around, and the bravery and sense of duty exhibited by Anna, serve to highlight a broken system and ideology."

Possible question: Describe the theme of injustice that runs through the story.
Answer:
  • dangerous duty, "father was crushed flat by (it)"
  • near-fatal experience
  • in this situation, duty was to guard the corpse
  • must wait empty-stomach until constable and head constable arrive, finish dining and drinking, the corpse is fetched out of the well and they finish the inquest (Anna and the Ramoshi have been waiting all night, the next morning and now it's afternoon)
  • funny business with village duty - page 132 - "At this Anna said rather vehemently ... That's our doom!"
  • perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but even the head constable's horse's needs are taken care of - he is provided water and fresh green maize shoots. Meanwhile Anna and the Ramoshi haven't had dinner, breakfast or lunch
  • "awkward" well - upper steps buried in soil, lower steps slipped into water, abandoned, old, upper part collapsed, big long stones scattered around, "yard-long dried grass", shrubbery visible, so also green moss and rotten foliage
  • removing corpse from such a well difficult
  • secretive discussion - then constable addressed Anna as "Mahar!" and told him to take the corpse out and not waste the head constable's time
  • Anna seen here as expendable. There is no value for his life - a very hazardous and unwarranted task is demanded of him.
  • problem of untouchability - can't even touch the corpse
  • oppressive power and prestige of head constable -"Against this power, a Mahar was a mere wisp of straw."
  • curses, threats, shouting - rank injustice
  • "only crime was being the Mahar of the village"
  • when he calls the constable out on his unjustified abuse of his father, his father tells him to shut up because he will have to deal with the consequences of his son's actions
  • obvious danger to Anna's life brushed under the carpet - snake called a reptile
  • drama, drama, drama, then when narrator volunteers to go in place of his father for the family's sake, father declares himself a martyr, essentially, and futilely challenges the circumstances to let the village, the government - the whole world know that this Mahar died of a snakebite; "Died while removing a corpse from a ruined well, while he was supposed to be doing his village duty"
  • father safe in the end. Son grows up to become an advocate and finds out about the injustice of Mahar Watan

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