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Unit 9: The Shroud by Munshi Premchand

readers from the conversations of the two men? Also, if Ghisu and Madhav are poor and Notes
oppressed, Budhiya is doubly so. Drawing on evidence from the text, analyse how her
situation is infinitely worse than that of her men folk.
4. Why do you think this story is entitled The Shroud’? How is this article significant? Is
the shroud referred to only the actual piece of doth used to cover the dead or is there
a more symbolic shroud within the text? (The symbolic shroud could be the
poverty which covers over the ‘humanity’ of Madhav and Ghisu, or the social structures
which render man unfeeling to both his fellow men and women.) Analyse the story to
see the varieties of shrouds that are visible.
5. This story gains its effect from the tone and the mood created by Premchand as much
as from the plot itself. How does the author evoke a mood of despair and helplessness
while also focusing on the sly resourcefulness of the poor? Think in terms of the reader’s
feeling of helplessness: is the despair only the result of the acute poverty of the father
and son which is central to the story or does Premchand by focussing on their reluctance
to work, their willingness to be hungry, poor and dependant on others, increase the
feeling of hopelessness?

Answers: Self Assessment

1. (c) 2. (a) 3. (b) 4. (c)

9.6 Further Readings

Books Madan Gopal, The shroud and 20 other stories—Premchand, Sagar Publications, 1972

Online links www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/style/phrases_clauses.html

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