WORD CHOICE REVEALS STANCE OF THE WRITER: AN APPRAISAL ANALYSIS OF TARIQ RAHMAN’S CHARITY

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17100444

Abstract

The present study investigates Tariq Rahman’s short story Charity through the lens of Systemic Functional Linguistics and Appraisal Theory. It examines how Rahman’s word choices reveal evaluative stance on socio-economic disparity in Pakistan and how language influences readers’ perceptions of poverty and inequality. Employing a qualitative research design, key excerpts from the story were selected and coded for attitude, engagement, and graduation. The analysis shows that Rahman employs negative affect to portray the exhaustion and frustration of the masses, while simultaneously exposing elite detachment. He contrasts traditional and modern symbols to highlight arrogance and pride, and he uses vivid adjectives to evoke disgust and pity in depictions of poverty. Additional passages uncover how cultural continuity continues regardless of deprivation and how elite perspectives are ironically detached from common suffering. The findings confirm that Charity is not merely a thematic portrayal of hardship but a linguistically constructed critique of social inequality. The study contributes by providing a linguistic model for evaluating Pakistani fiction, presenting how appraisal categories systematically reveal stance. It also provides a practical approach for students and teachers who seek to move beyond general thematic readings to evidence-based analysis. Overall, the research shows the power of language to shape empathy, critique social structures, and call attention to the urgent realities of inequality.

Keywords: Socio-economic disparity, Appraisal framework, Stance.