Perspectives
Literary period
The short story “The Dutiful Daughter” by Saadat Hasan Manto is a postcolonial literary work, the term referring to literature written by people belonging to formerly colonized countries, in this case former British India.
The partition of British India into Hindu-dominant India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan was the final political act of the British Empire in India. This partition had devastating human consequences and touched countless lives, which is what Manto tries to show in this short story.
Moreover, although the most dramatic thing about the partition was the extreme violence that occurred in the immediate process, Manto is mainly trying to expose the long-term effects of thousands of people joining a completely different culture ei...