Murder
The most recurrent motif in the stories is murder. The people were killed brutally during the partition irrespective of their creed, color or religion. The Muslims slaughtered the Hindus and the Sikhs and Hindus violently killed the Muslims. Sirajuddin’s family was slaughtered by the Hindus and Sikhs during migration and his daughter was raped by the social workers. In the black sketch, ‘Tidiness’, one of the men says about killing an innocent human being, ‘Slash his throat,’ suggested one of the men holding the lances. ‘Are you crazy!’ screamed his friend. ‘You want to mess up this nice carriage? Slaughter him on the platform. This motif is also present in ‘Thanda Gosht’, when Eesher murders six persons of a family.
Religion
Manto has employed the motif of religion in his stories but he has not specifically alluded towards any particular religion. For example, in the black margin, ‘Mishtake’, after ripping the belly cleanly the murderer ripped the cord of the man’s pajamas and he says, ‘Oh no! ….. Mishtake.’ This utterance depicts that the person who was killed was not intended to be killed by the murderer. This ambiguity of religion is present throughout the stories of Manto and specifically his sketches. The characters are anonymous in the black margins and their religions are not specified but it has been reiterated that they have murdered, looted or raped the wrong person by giving some idea of religious names, rituals or beliefs.
Dupatta
Dupatta symbolizes respect and self-esteem in the religion of both Muslims and Hindus. In the story, ‘khol Do’, Sakina’s dupatta symbolizes her virginity and respect. After getting raped by the social workers, she lost her dupatta and she was lying in the hospital without her dupatta wrapped around her. She tries to find it but there was none. This symbol is also present in other writings of Manto where its absence shows that the girl has been raped or lost her virginity and its presence shows that she still holds self-esteem.
