The old woman

Outer characterization

The old woman is another important character in “The Dutiful Daughter” by Saadat Hasan Manto. She is Pakistani, as indicated by the fact that she searches for her missing daughter, who has been abducted, in India. She is described by others as “raving mad” (p. 281, l. 2).

Her appearance is described through the eyes of the liaison officer, who notices her several times during his journeys through India: “She looked distracted, almost unaware of her surroundings. Her eyes had a desolate look, her clothes had turned to rags and her hair was coated with dust” (pp. 270-280, ll. 43-44, l. 1). When the liaison officer meets her the second time, the woman looks “much worse than she had the first time. Her lips were cracked and her hair looked matted” (p. 280, ll. 9-10). 

The third time the liaison officer meets her, she looks “very old and ragged. Her clothes were now so threadbare that they hardly covered her frail body” (p. 280, ll. 21-23). When he meets her again, the woman resembles “a bag of bones” (p. 280, ll....