Silencing Women: A Textual Analysis of Honor Killing in Awais Khan’s No Honour (2021)

Abstract

This paper aims to explores the phenomenon of Honor Killing and investigate the main reasons of honor killing. Also, the researcher aims to highlights the traumas faced by the protagonist due to honor killing and explain how the main character destabilizes the hierarchal structure of the patriarchy in Awais Khan’s No Honour (2021). Honor Killing remains one of the main social issues in Pakistan. In 2021, over 470 cases of honor killing were reported in Pakistan, but it is estimated that around 1000 women are killed in the name of honor every year in Pakistan. Awais Khan’s No Honour (2021) is the portrayal of a misogynistic society, a society where age-old rules are obeyed, and women are suppressed through different social practices. The papers employ Paul Churchill’s notion of understanding and ending of Honor killing to examine how the protagonist escapes from the prejudice and patriarchal society. This study uses textual analysis as a methodological framework to interpret dialogues, paragraphs, symbols to understand the phenomenon of honor killing. Conclusion: The study maintains that there are several social practices that leads to the honor killing. This study also shows the physical, psychological and sexual impacts of honor killing in the selected text of Honor killing. The study further concludes that honor killing is rooted especially in the honor of women in Pakistan. The researcher recommends that other novels or literary texts may also be explored to understand the notion of Honor Killing.