Themes and message

Chaos

In the first part of  “The Dutiful Daughter” by Saadat Hasan Manto, the first narrator analyzes how former British India has changed after its partition. Initially, he talks about chaotic refugee camps, where food is scarce and diseases spread easily. When the narrator states that the situation “didn’t bother anybody” (p. 278, l. 8), he refers to the lack of support from Indian and Pakistani officials. Then, he talks about abductions, rape, and other violence against women, which comes as a result of the partition. In the second part of the text, the second narrator mentions riots and compares the current situation of India and Pakistan to a “holocaust” (p. 280, l. 37) where “nothing has survived” (p. 280, ll. 37-38).

The short story presents a situation where people are traumatized by the violent and confusing events that happen around them. The initial narrator finds it difficult to think straight (p. 279, l. 32), while the second narrator compares India and Pakistan with “a vast asylum where nothing made any sense” (p. 2...