The narrator

Outer characterization

The unnamed narrator appears in the outer story of “The Dutiful Daughter” by Saadat Hasan Manto. His outer characterization does not offer many details about his identity or his culture. 

However, the narrator seems critical of the partition of British India and its results: “Camps had been set up to give them temporary shelter, but they were so overcrowded that it seemed quite impossible to push another human being into them.” (p. 278, ll. 3-5). Furthermore, the unnamed narrator is given information by a man looking for abducted Pakistani women in India. Given their connection, this might suggest that the narrator is also Pakistani. 

Inner characterization

From the beginning, the narrator is reflective, as he analyzes the consequences of the partition of former British India. The narrator seems critical of the division and, th...