A Coward - Premchand

 A Coward - Premchand

In the story, a coward, Premchand shows how cultural difference within a conflict creates problem among the people who live in the same society. Basically the Hindu cast system has created problems among the people in case of marriage. Moreover, the gap between a traditional mind and the modern mind devide the people clearly in to opposite pose. Most of the people still stick to their conservative beliefs due to which the gap has always remained unfulfilled. In the story, Keshav a Brahmin boy falls in love with Prema a girl from Banya caste. In the beginning Keshav seems to be very strong because he is ready to undergo any hardships that might come on his way. He convinced Prema to be bold and fight against the conservative mind. Prema, who is loyal to her parents, doesn’t close to against them. However she doesn’t share to live her life without Keshav as Prema goes home. She thinks about Keshav and collects her strength to tell her relationship with Keshav to her parents. In the beginning her parents rejects it strongly but they agreed when she put her life at stake. Prema’s father went to talk with Keshav’s  father, who reacted very rudely to him. However he tolerated being the father of a girl. Then Prema wrote a letter to Keshav informing him that she was ready to undergo to any shorts of difficulties if he was ready to accept her as his life partner. She also wrote that her parents were eager to meet him and he was called for dinner. Prema waits for Keshav impatiently but neither he nor his letter comes only the next morning Prema gets the letter of Keshav in which she finds him unexpectedly coward and disloyal. Her parents ask her about his response but she tells them nothing she hides her pain the whole day and the next morning she commits suicide.

          In this way this story shows the cultural problems of the same society due to the conservative feelings of the people. The lover like Prema and Keshav are very much frequent in our society too and they are killing themselves due to the fear of social parts which are almost impossible for them to cross.