Bholi

It symbolises that fear and self-doubt — not a physical limitation — were the real barriers in Bholi's life, and education had removed them.

Step 1: Throughout the story, Bholi's stammer is associated with fear, low self-esteem, and social ridicule. Step 2: The teacher had told her early on: 'Put the fear out of your heart and you will be able to speak like everyone else.' Step 3: When Bholi speaks without stammering at the wedding, it confirms the teacher's belief — courage and confidence are the cure. Step 4: This is a powerful literary device — the physical stammer is a metaphor for internal weakness, and its disappearance marks true empowerment. Step 5: Option A is factually incorrect (no medical treatment is mentioned). Option

It reveals that Bishamber was calculatingly greedy — he had deliberately exploited the wedding situation to extract money from a desperate father.

Step 1: The gambling metaphor — 'gambled and won' — implies a deliberate strategy, not a spontaneous reaction. Step 2: Bishamber saw an opportunity: a vulnerable bride, a desperate father, and a public setting where shame could be weaponised. Step 3: His 'triumphant smile' is not the smile of a groom who is happy about the marriage, but of a schemer who has achieved a selfish financial goal. Step 4: This makes Bishamber a morally corrupt character — he uses the institution of marriage as a tool for greed. Step 5: Option A romanticises his behaviour. Option C is plausible but does not capture t

It is ironic because it shows how deeply internalised patriarchal values can make even oppressed individuals perpetuate the same system that oppresses them.

Step 1: Irony occurs when something is the opposite of what is expected. Step 2: We expect women to sympathise with other women's struggles, especially regarding marriage and education. Step 3: Instead, Bholi's mother actively works against her daughter's interests — she dismisses Bholi's consent and opposes girls' education. Step 4: This is because she has so thoroughly internalised the patriarchal values of her society that she genuinely believes this is normal and correct. Step 5: The author uses this to make a deeper social point — oppression is most entrenched when even the oppressed defe

Bholi was deeply afraid that going to school meant being abandoned or disposed of by her family, just like an unwanted animal.

Step 1: The comparison to Lakshmi being sold is a powerful simile that reveals Bholi's internal fear. Step 2: Bholi, as a neglected child who received hand-me-down clothes and was never specially cared for, had low self-worth. Step 3: She naturally feared that being 'taken away' meant she was being discarded — like the cow who was no longer useful. Step 4: This simile shows that Bholi had been made to feel unwanted and disposable by her own family environment. Step 5: Option A ignores the fear and replaces it with excitement that is not in the text. Options C and D are unsupported guesses not