"The Collector of Treasure": Exploring Selective Violence of Gandhi as a Narrative of Trauma

Sathi Sarkar, Dr. S. A. Thameemul Ansari

Abstract: This paper would focus on problematizing Dikeledi's climactic violent action of Bessie Head's The Collector of Treasure into a discursive framework merging Gandhian philosophy of non- violence with feminist and trauma theoretical paradigm. It would posit her act within the ethical dialectic between non-violence and necessary resistance interrogating the extent to which violence becomes an instrument of moral agency. Though Gandhi upholds the philosophy of non-violence still there are some specified circumstances where he posited violent means for women as a necessitated step than cowardice subjugation to oppression as a means to reclaiming selfhood when passive suffering is rendered ineffectual. This paper problematizes Dikeledi's action not merely as a retributive violence but as an articulation against the normalized invisible suffering of the patriarchal structure as both a refusal of domination and a testimony of self-assertion. Gerasego Mokopi's returning shows re-establishing his assertion of ownership showcasing the systematic oppression which precipitates Dikeledi into the ultimate crime challenging the notion of "grievalibility" of Judith Butler through reclaiming agency, exposing moral hypocrisy and by turning the violent act as a testimony of her perpetual suffering. This paper would take Cathy Caruth's concept of unassimilated trauma and Dori Laub's idea of "testimony" to contextualize the "acting out" of her unassimilated trauma. It would also highlight post-independent socio-political Africa to examine the socio-political landscape of post-independent Africa projecting colonial and patriarchal residues coalesce to perpetuate gendered violence. The prison space works as what Homi Bhabha terms as a "third space" - a liminal zone where women collectively "work through" trauma by reclaiming their agencies into cultural practices.

Keywords: Gandhian violence, systematic oppression, unassimilated trauma, gendered violence

How to Cite?: Sathi Sarkar, Dr. S. A. Thameemul Ansari, ""The Collector of Treasure": Exploring Selective Violence of Gandhi as a Narrative of Trauma", Volume 14 Issue 12, December 2025, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 666-669, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR251208202339, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR251208202339