Kanthapura Lesson Plan

Chapter 17 is full of violence and destruction, mostly at the hands of the policemen. However, many of the villagers following Moorthy (and Gandhian ideas) are not fully adhering to the philosophy of nonviolent protest. For example, Pariah women burn down Bhatta’s house (221). Other village women are pleased at the thought of Bhatta’s house burning down, citing his vicious money-lending practices (222). Pariah Siddayya bangs a policeman’s head against a tree to get him off Puttamma (225). These are all forms of violence. What does this behavior say about them?

There are several lines of thinking students might respond with here. The most obvious is that the villagers...