Friday August 6th 2021

Good morning, my name is Rhea. The global issue I have chosen to talk about is communal violence and Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The extract I’ll be looking at is from ACT 1 Scene 1 from ‘Blood Wedding’
by Federico Garcia Lorca. The play opens with the bridegroom and his mother engaging in a conversation as the
bridegroom leaves for work to the vineyard. Here, we see the bridegroom’s mother, overreacting at the mere
mention of a ‘knife’ that the bridegroom requires for cutting his grapes.

Having grown up in a conventional Indian society, communal violence has been one of the most defining
features of post-independence Indian politics. Be it the 1984 anti-sikh riots in the country’s capital Delhi, or the
anti-muslim pogroms in the indian state of Gujarat, 2002; the impact of communal violence is one that has
scarred hundreds and thousands of lives. Deaths, starvation, displacement, and torture are some of the key acts
of human rights violations that are inevitable consequences faced by innumerable communities of people in
India at different points in time. An often overlooked consequence of inter-communal clashes, that I'm
interested to explore further through this commentary, is its psychological effect on the people who’ve suffered,
survived, and experienced it.

This commentary will begin by understanding the aftereffects of violence with specific emphasis on Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) through the character of the bridegroom’s mother, by analysing her
reactions, that’re reflective about her past experiences of trauma and the wounds she carries with her till date.

This commentary will first analyse the Mother’s unanticipated reaction to her son’s mention of a knife; it will
then interpret her wounded state of mind as she talks about her memories of her dead husband and son.

The commentary will argue that through this

Friday August 6th 2021

4 or 5 quotations from your extract

2 double cycles
Long quote - consider a single cycle
You should be able to talk about 2 or 3 technical features in each quotation
Throughout her speech, the Mother uses expressions such as “blah”, “blah blah”, and “blah blah”.