সমাজ এবং একটি মেয়ের জীবনসংগ্রাম ও জীবনভোগের খণ্ডচিত্র : বিভূতিভূষণের ‘বিপদ’

Abstract

Bibhutibhushan's writing is marked by a holistic appreciation of Nature in her affectionate pesonage and her relationship with the intricacies of human mind. Experiences enrich the mind of the men of letters. Their writings drink deep from both the wells of these experiences and their imagination. Bibhutibhushan created some dreamy and surreal settings for his works where his protagonists live in close proximity of Nature. Their friendship and harmony with Nature are unquestionable. His works dwell on the simple, daily, apparently insignificant experiences of common people. Many of his short stories focus on the lives of simple villagers amidst the lush flora and fauna of rural Bengal. These writings calm the mind of the reader. But he also, as a conscious observer of human condition, portrays the ambiguities of the social life of rural Bengal.

              Bibhutibhushan has narrated in this story of a teenage married girl, who is also a mother, grown up amidst Nature, who is forced to take on the life of a prostitute under dire circumstances.

This paper questions whether is it normal for a girl to accept prostitution as a job biding adeu to her past life? Can prostitution ever be a voluntary choice as a profession?

Or, can morality have a place where the very physical existence is minimized to abject penury?

This paper intends to create a space of discourse relating to these questions with a close analysis of Bibhutibhushan's short story "Bipod".