The villagers' protest and refusal to pay the revenue ends in violence. People are beaten, even old women.... additional policemen are sent to the village, village leaders are taken away, the men are arrested.... wives are punished for their...
Moorthy's mother is angry because the Swami said he would excommunicate anyone in the village who was mixing with Pariahs. Moorthy is excommunicated and Narsamma pronounces the family shamed.
Women's roles in Kanthapura center on their significance in the nationalist struggle—they march, protest, passively resist, boycott, read newspapers, and more—and how that significance is undermined by the traditional domestic, inferior role they...