For me, Manto’s short story “Bismillah” is unique for two reasons: A) the plotline regarding Zaheer’s film frames the story with several techniques of drama and theatre that can be used to penetrate its characters; and B) the impenetrable character of Bismillah herself. Now I know this “impenetrability” of character can be explained away by the fact that the story is not from her perspective at all, but from the perspective of Saeed who’s moreover a male, but I’d like to argue that there is yet a certain depth that Manto gives to Bismillah which goes beyond the importance that Saeed himself attaches to her.
For one thing, Saeed’s “male gaze”, as objectifying as it is because of his lust for Bismillah, is also compelled to be this objectifying because of the lack of information that he can gather from Bismillah’s behavior about her personality. To prove this, consider that his initial attraction towards her was because of the sadness in her eyes, and because one’s eyes are supposed to be the mirror to one’s soul, we can maybe ascertain that had she been more open in her behavior around Saeed, she might have progressed beyond simply the object of his desires to something perhaps more deeper than just skin-deep.
Therefore, assuming that there’s more than meets the eye (sorry, lame joke) with Bismillah, it’s worth considering that since this wall that she’s constructed between herself and Saeed is obviously deliberate, that this deliberation hints to a certain agency in her character. To penetrate her character (or at least some part of it), I think the use of dramatic tropes within the story would be useful. Not that I claim to be an expert in drama, but shedding one’s own identity (that of a Hindu girl) in order to assume another (Bismillah the prostitute-wife) can of course be very earth-shattering, but taken another way it could also be considered liberating. Moreover, the story is punctuated by a lot of emphasis on silence, small movements, gestures and short (almost monosyllabic) lines. This deliberation on these elements dramatizes Bismillah’s character, especially considering all this deliberation originates from her. It makes me wonder if her face--immovable and expressionless that it is despite her speaking eyes (okay, last joke I swear)--is a mask that she’s fixed on herself and now presents to the world. This casts an ambiguous shade on all of her actions in the story. Why does she finally let Saeed into the house after not inviting him in so many times before? Is it really because Zaheer is expected back shortly? Saeed himself thinks that “koi au aurat hoti tou foran samajh jati ke mein usse kin aankhon se dekh raha hun… lekin shaid samajh gai ho… shaid na bhi”. Then if she does indeed understand the intent in his eyes, why does she insist that he keep sitting when he finally gets up to leave, and then in one dismissive word “chale” negate her previous sentence when he complains that she isn’t talking. In fact, why does she without any warning fall ASLEEP in his presence (a fact which completely took me by surprise)?! Falling asleep in front of someone who physically desires her not only makes her defenseless, but arguably very stupid, which I believe her character is not. This leads me to suppose that for some reason or the other, she is exercising some agency by indulging in some form of sexual power play with Saeed. That’s the end and conclusion of my incoherent babbling, sorry for the long post! :P
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