Individual oral Presentation

Authors Avatar

IOP

In this presentation I will be looking at how paranoia and loss of rationality, which led to the suffering and displacement of the common people, is portrayed in the short stories by Saadat Manto. I will be focusing on The Dog of Titwal although these themes are also brought out in Colder Than Ice and Toba Tek Singh. In Colder Than Ice Manto shows paranoia through Ishwar Singh’s violent and sadistic behaviour towards Kulwant Kaur, and in Toba Tek Singh this same state of mind is brought out by the behaviour of the inmates of the lunatic asylum who ironically show greater rational judgement than the supposedly sane politicians who decided to divide the area. In The Dog of Titwal however Manto uses a combination of irony, imagery and symbolism to depict this state of mind.

The use of imagery during the opening lines of the story serve to contrast between what life was like in the Indian Sub-continent before partition and how it all drastically changed as a result of partition. The surroundings described by Manto start off “pleasant” “ with a scent of flowers and nature” a place with a languorous and peaceful atmosphere. The “bees buzzed about lazily” showing that life was free of social stresses and other struggles of human society. It was a place where “summer and winter had made their peace” emphasizing that nature was harmonious and free of conflict. The personification of the land “quite unmindful of the soldiers hiding behind the rocks” shows again that people were content with their lives, this can be likened to Train to Pakistan by Kushwant singh where the village of Mano Majra was a peaceful place before people from outside began to come in. However this peaceful state is altered when “as if a musician struck a jarring note” the soldiers come. The “birds got startled” signifying how the sudden decision to split up the land which forced them to leave their ancestral homes came as a shock and surprise to most people. Further disruptions to the serene and picturesque landscape emerge as Manto describes the stream as be “zigzagged furiously on its stony bed like a snake”. This description paints a totally different picture and represents the tension, confusion and chaos that had developed between people and as they moved from India to Pakistan and vice-versa. The stony bed could represent the obstacles and challenges people faced as they tried to cross the border and the simile of the snake, a feared and deadly animal, is used to show the violence and danger partition had brought about. The snake also has a forked tongue which could be a reference to the double speak or deliberate distorting words of politicians and religious leaders, who have created this state of fear and paranoia by instigating violence. Furthermore the phrase that precedes this description of the stream “Down below in the valley” is significant as it implies that these violent changes and traumas were experienced by the common people and not by those higher up the power hierarchy. From these opening lines we can see the changes and problems  

Join now!

Manto first refers to the opposing armies as one entity to draw attention to their similarities and then describes them separately but ironically the juxtaposition of the armies just highlights their resemblance. To begin with the camps were at the same height, which could show how neither side was any less responsible for partition but also that no one had any advantages. Everyone was as vulnerable   The daily routines in the camps were identical “at night they would light huge fires and hear each other’s voices echoing through the hills” Manto uses this to show how   there was ...

This is a preview of the whole essay