Vagueness in Literature Pertaining to the Indo-Pak Partition: Interpreting Human Foolhardiness through Dark Humor and Reader Response Criticism in Saadat Hassan Mnato’s Short Stories

Abstract

This research paper has highlighted the issues of migrants, religious fanaticism and moral bankruptcy during partition of the Indian sub-continent through dark humor while the researcher has gone through Saadat Hassan Manto’s short stories which reveal the social senselessness, destructive tendencies of human nature and absence of national narratives in the Muslim and Hindu communities. The resettlement of the refugees in India and Pakistan, recovery of missing persons, rehabilitation of women, non-availability of support and guidance were the spatial and temporal issues of migrants in the aftermath of the Partition. Manto has revealed moral bankruptcy and essential evil tendencies of human nature like greed, revenge, looting and ego ridiculing the people who were being displaced through dark humor in his short stories. Sometimes, he has mocked individuals and sometimes he has ridiculed the whole society. Lack of National Narratives triggered the social and moral senselessness which in return formed the shape of communal chaos during partition to add to the misery of the people who were migrating from Pakistan to India and from India to Pakistan. The researcher has pointed out that Manto has disclosed the cultural, moral and social crisis during the partition of the Indian subcontinent. The English translation of Manto's short stories is interested because hatred, love, compassion, virtue, evil, harmony, conflict, precision, immorality, purity and impurity can be vividly seen in them. This study has aimed to point out the scene of the division and how Manto has presented dark humor in his short stories to show the harsh aspects in a hilarious way. Women from both sides became an easy victim of religious extremity. They were raped, kidnapped and killed. Recovered women were not accepted by their families. During the partition democracy violated, economics hampered, emotions became static and ideology got vanished. Innocent people murdered, riots broke out, women raped, properties looted and destroyed, and these happenings made people displaced but those who anyhow could save their lives became insane forever. The researcher has accomplished this study using the Reader Response Theory and textual analysis of Manto's stories. Different articles of Manto's critics have also been helpful for the researcher in the completion of this work. The researcher has finally observed that Manto's representation of partition of the Indian subcontinent is based on the devastating facts. Religion, nationalism, politics, social differences and imperialism are all such factors which forced the people of the Indian subcontinent to toil for the separate countries and the British had to leave India not before dividing it into two separate countries to create killing, looting, lawlessness, abduction and violence which have no parallels in the history of the Indian subcontinent. This study can be helpful for future research to highlight the issues of partition presented by Manto in his short stories and can guide dividing nations not to go insane.