pauses and silences- Bismillah

The story of Bismillah is punctuated with long, awkward silences and pauses that Manto uses effectively to heighten dramatic tension. In the earlier stories, we were given access into the inner workings of Saugandhi’s and Sultana’s minds, both of whom had dialogues and conversations through which we could gauge their mental/emotional states. However this is not the case with Bismillah who is mute for the most part:

“Saeed ko dukh hota tha keh wo achi baatien karna kyun nahi jaanti” (pg 49) and 

”Isko iski khaamoshi barri buri maalum hoti” (pg 50).

The silences are successful in creating an air of very real discomfort and unease in the story.

The placement of the silences is an extremely important structural tool. By taking away Bismillah’s voice, Manto underscores the intensity of the ‘unspoken’ suffering that she is made to undergo.  Additionally, the lack of dialogue compels us to pay greater attention to Bismillah’s clumsy physical appearance, her ungraceful movements and her general listlessness. The picture of Bismilliah, with her “bari bari , udaas aankhein” is vividly etched in the minds of both the reader of the story and in the mind of Saeed  “wo aankhein….ab bhi saeed ka peecha karti rehti” (pg 52). Manto could possibly have crafted his story in this particular manner in order to underscore the futility of language and words in situations where they can serve no real purpose.

The silence of Bismillah is also reminiscent of the ending lines of Sahab e Karamat, and Kali Shalwar. Silence is typically a symptom of a wronged/betrayed/exploited woman. Jenna and her mother, victims of the fraud Maulvi; Sultana, in a way betrayed by her “friend”  and lastly, Bismillah, a victim of the very event of partition . Silence, therefore, is not simply a lack of conversation, but a response in itself.