Manto Intro

Saadat Hasan Manto was born on the 11th of may 1912 in Samrala, which is a village in the
Ludhiana district in Punjab. This was of course during the British Raj of india. He was a
muslim and born into a Kashmiri family and was very proud of his roots. His family was
settled in Amritsar and his father was a judge in a local court. Before his storywriting career,
he used to translate Russian and French stories to Urdu. He went on to write about many of
the issues and topics he saw around him. This included the jaliawala bagh massacre for
which he wrote stories like tamasha and the crazy poet, the partition, for which he wrote
toba tek singh, khol do and the dog of teetwal among many, as well as taboos like the
objectification of women, for which some examples include Thanda ghosht and kaali salwar.
His radical and controversials views and vocal style of writing got him in trouble with both
the british india as well as Pakistani courts. In his fifth trial,, he was banned by the court of
Lahore frm writing anymore short stories, otherwise he would face jail time. This restriction
saw him lose his purpose in life, and he went into a downward spiral of depression and
drinking. He passed away on 18th march 1955 in Lahore. His cause of death was ruled as
alcoholism.

Story Intro
The Crazy Poet is a short story about a man’s recollection of a horrible experience and
encounter with a polarising stranger in a garden from his childhood. The character is one
that experiences a flashback while walking through a garden and is horrified by his thoughts.
After a struggle to control himself, he encounters a stranger with whom he has a
conversation that calls for introspection in his own life. His interaction with a mystical voice
that is speaking to him causes his uncontrollable feeling of guilt and anguish as he struggles
to cope with his experience of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, allowing the reader to get
insight into the mental health implications of such a violent act, and how PTSD manifests
itself in the mind of a victim.

Purpose of the story

The story’s main purpose is public representation and acknowledgement of an under-

Manto also employs certain techniques to further bring out the meaning in his text, creating
a theme of trauma and ptsd. Though these various techniques of writing, he is able to create
a lexical field of both violence and trauma.
References to the Jalianwalan bhag massacre

There are several references to the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919. They are
highlighted in red. Manto uses these real-life references to emphasize his depiction of
people struggling from ptsd and mental health problems due to violence. He has used the
context of a historical event to make readers further relate to the problems he is trying to
represent, as the event was still impactful and sensitive to many Indian readers at the time
of publishing. This event’s effects are also normalized at the time of writing of the story,
which is not significantly later to the event. The narrator talks about the bullets and the
screams of the people, and without giving any moment to this thought, he changes to his
own feelings, as if the event has been readily accepted by society. Another example of such
normalization is when he talks about the remains of the victims, and then quickly is able to
move onto his own actions. Manto is criticizing the fact that acts of violence, especially
against Indians by the British colonists, are become too normal and are unacceptable and
outrageous.
Another important style of his writing here is the use of first person

The entire story is narrated in the perspective of this man. Some examples are highlighted in
yellow. This has several uses. Firstly, it gives a natural credibility to the narrator, as he
shares his raw unfiltered emotions firsthand, as well as shows the reader his actions and
reactions throughout the extract. Credibility is important when discussing such a sensitive
topic, as any narrator will want the readers to know that they know what they are talking
about. It is kind of like a counsellor or psychiatrist informing their clients of their education
before they begin any session to gain their trust and confidentiality. Moving onto another
use of first-person view, which is to limit the readers’ knowledge. Unlike third person or
omnipresent perspectives, an author is able to control the curiosity of his readers and make
them observe exactly what he wants them to notice. This adds to the intrigue in the story
and creates some degree of mystery. Lastly, the first-person view is essential to give
firsthand accounts of the feelings and emotions of the character. It allows Manto to build
the image of a character with PTSD and trauma due to the violent occurrence with ease. The
thoughts and feelings coming directly from the narrator seem authentic, and a third person
view telling us what he is feeling would have seemed unnatural and forced. Manto is also
able to achieve another technique thanks to the first-person view, which is showing the
reader how PTSD has impacted the character.

PTSD uncontrollable nature and loss of identity

Manto uses erratic transitions in thoughts and a small attention span as a major
characteristic in the narrator. This is used to show the reader exactly what effects PTSD,
which in this case is in the context of violence, has on the victim. These shifts of focus that
the narrator has, which are depicted in green, mirror how uncontrollable PTSD is, and how
miserable it might make someone. The narrator changes his focus from one observation to
another constantly, and has voices and poems stuck inside his head. He does not have full
control over his brain and his fears and voices keep haunting him, skipping from one place
to another. It is also mentioned that when the gardener is digging the earth, the narrator is
searching for it. While the thing he was searching for was the origin of the song, this can
also be interpreted as an example of a loss of identity. The narrator is disillusioned and is
searching for his purpose and is unsure of what his life is. Therefore, he is searching for the
earth. Through such techniques, Manto us able to deliver a convincing portrayal about the
effects of mass violence and atrocities on mental health and PTSD.

Non literary
For non literary body of work, I have chosen 3 photos by the famous don mccullin, a war
photographer. The photos give us a perspective on the impact of violence and effects like
PTSD through the perspective of both soldiers involved in the conflict, as well as innocent
victims.
Sir Don McCullin was born in St Pancras, London, on the 9th of October 1935. He started his
National Service in 1956 during the Suez crisis, and served as the assistant to a
photographer, as he had failed his written test to become one himself. He eventually signed
on with the Sunday Times Magazine as a photographer and became known as Britain’s war
photographer.
McCullin believes it’s important to fix our gaze on what makes us uncomfortable. “You have
to bear witness. You cannot just look away,” he is quoted in the exhibition. And he doesn’t
aim to take sides. His images of US marines in Vietnam offer a disturbing record of PTSD at a
time before it had been fully recognized.
McCullin himself suffers from severe PTSD because of his lengthy career in battlefields and
war zones, witnessing the atrocities and crimes committed against the innocent.

Shell shock US marine. 1968 tet offensive battle of hue (pronounced हुए)
 Photo in portrait aspect ratio, which is used to highlight the subject
 Small background is also blurred, bringing full attention to the soldier, emphasizing
that despite whatever setting, the human is the most affected and significant part
 Black and white picture emphasizes the coldness of depression and PTSD. He could
have chosen to have a colour photo, but did not.
 Gaze is towards nothing in particular. The soldier is disillusioned by the constant
bombardment of projectiles, and this violence has clearly changed him as he looks to
be pondering like the character in “The Crazy Poet”

Turkish women mourning her husbands death in cyprus 1964 Cyprus conflict is an ongoing
conflict between turkey and Greece about cyprus

 Black and white photo sets the mood of sadness, agony and death
 The woman is in a clear state of trauma, and her expression of pain, agony,
disappointment and confusion is a perfect representation of the emotions of trauma
victims.
 Background establishes a setting of the consequences of violence and the adverse
effects it is having on people. A scene of collective despair is created here as the
different families mourn together along with own individual losses.
 Expression of survivor’s guilt. Questioning why him, why not me?

US marine taking a brief pause during the fighting in the battle of hue 1968

 There is no background. This can be interpreted as the loneliness this soldier must be
feeling, even though there are thousands around him fighting. It is as if everything
around him is blurred and muted, and he is lost in his thoughts.
 His leaning on the wall is representative of both the physical and mental support he
needs because of the experiences he has gone through. He needs physical support,
as he looks tired of the conflict. The need for mental support delves deeper into the
heavy head he must be carrying, burdened with emotions and thoughts.
 The soldier has a tired but determined gaze, supposedly towards the ongoing
conflict. It is a combination of his body and mind being worn-out because of the
violence, but ideals and training forcing him to continue fighting for what he is told is
right.