The Rape of Women in Draupadi, by Mahasweta Devi, and Open It, by Saadat Hasan

Manto

Where there is war, there is the rape and abuse of women. From the Trojan War to the
Middle East conflict, rape has been a tactic of war. Rape is commonly viewed by society as a
symbol of female degradation, female submission, and the stripping of honor and humanity.
In the stories Draupadi, by Mahasweta Devi, and Open It, by Saadat Hasan Manto,
the rape of women is a common theme. In Mantos Open It, a young girl, Sakina, is raped
by young men of her community, while in Devis Draupadi, a tribal rebel is raped by
authorities of the state. While the storylines of these pieces are rather similar, the portrayal of
the rape and the reactions of the young women are exceedingly different. Both authors use
the disrobing of garments to create a dramatic climax. However, the respective climaxes
convey contrasting ideas about the rape and degradation of women. In Draupadi, the
unveiling of garments reveals immense female power. In Open It, the disrobing of garments
reveals helpless female submission. Despite these differences, however, both acts of
disrobing result in a striking male reaction and symbolize the remarkable survival of these
battered and abused women.
The circumstances of the rape and the personalities of the rape victims are very different in
Open It and Draupadi. In Mantos story, a father is desperately looking for his daughter,
Sakina, in the midst of the chaos and disorder of Partition. He asks self appointed social
workers of the community to help him find Sakina. When Sakina is approached by these
men, her initial reaction is one of fright: The moment she heard the truck, she began to run
(Manto 360). She agrees to go along with the men, only after being repeatedly reassured
and treated kindly by them. Despite her reluctant compliance she still feels uncomfortable for
she tried to cover her breasts again and again with her hands (Manto 361). In this context,
Sakina sees her bareness as a weakness and a symbol of her submissiveness. The authors
initial presentation of Sakina as a terrified, hesitant young girl trying to cover herself in front
of intimidating men is dramatically contrasted with her behavior at the end of the story.
In the last scene of Open It, Manto presents an extremely powerful and climactic
conclusion. Sakina, only half conscious and barely alive, responds to the doctors command
(referring to the opening of a window), open it by unveiling herself: The girl on the stretcher
stirred a little. She moved her hand painfully towards the cord holding up her salwar (Manto
362). The youthful innocence and conservative, hesitant mannerisms that Sakina expressed
in the initial scene of the story is replaced by a shocking submissiveness. The horror and
abuse that Sakina experienced stripped her of her humanity and honor. The author implies

that the violent rape and abuse that she endured, transformed this once naive girl into a
robot expecting to be raped and ready to strip on command. Sakinas reaction to her rape
confirms the common conception that rape degrades women and strips them of their honor
and humanity.
In Devis Draupadi, the main character Dopdi is presented from the beginning of the story
as a woman of strong mind and will. When she realizes that she has been caught by the
authorities her reaction is bold and daring: Now Dopdi spreads her arms, raises her face to
the sky, turns toward the forest, and ululates with the force of her entire being. Once, twice,
three times (Devi 195). This extremely loud and desperate reaction to her impending
situation is very different from Sakinas shy and hesitant behavior when she is approached
by the men. In the also dramatic and climactic conclusion of Devis story, Dopdis character,
unlike Sakinas, is strengthened rather than weakened: Draupadi stands up. She pours the
water down on the ground. Tears her piece of cloth with her teeth..Senanayak walks out
surprised and sees Draupadi, naked, walking toward him in the bright sunshine with her
head high (Devi 196). When the astonished general questions Dopdis unusual behavior,
the empowered woman answers, You asked them to make me up, dont you want to see
how they made me? (Devi 196) Unlike Sakina, Dopdi uses her feminine nakedness as a
weapon against her enemy. She unveils herself to turn the violence that she endured, upon
the man responsible for the violence against her. Dopdis reaction to her rape is completely
contradictory to that of Sakinas and to societys view of rape. Instead of letting this abhorrent
act strip her of her humanity and honor, she is empowered by the rape.
In both stories the disrobing of garments stimulates powerful male reactions. In Open It,
The doctor broke into a cold sweat (Manto 362). The meaning of this reaction is debatable.
Many interpret the doctors sweat as a reaction to Sirajuddins ignorance of and naivet to
the violence and rape that his daughter experienced. However, the doctors cold sweat could
be a reaction to Sakinas horrifying submissiveness, symbolized by her opening her
garments. Unlike Sakina, who unintentionally instigates a reaction from the doctor, Dopdi
forces a reaction out of Senanayak by using her body as a weapon: Draupadi pushes
Senanayak with her two mangled breasts and for the first time Senanayak is afraid to stand
before an unarmed target, terribly afraid (Devi 196). Both men have dramatic reactions
when the unmistakable brutality of rape is directly in their faces. Neither man is able to
regard rape as a political war tactic anymore. The doctor, realizing the gravity of the situation,
breaks into a cold sweat while the supposedly fearless general is terrified when faced with
the reality of rape. Their respective reactions demonstrate the intense horror and actuality of
a woman being raped.

Although Dopdi and Sakina react to their rapes in very different ways, both women survive.
The disrobing of their garments is most importantly a symbol of their remarkable survival.
Although society will always have preconceptions of rape and how a woman should and will
react to being raped, it is apparent through Draupadi and Open It that being raped is a
very personal experience. It is an experience unique to women that can yield very different
reactions. Rape can make a woman, like it did Dopdi, or it can break a woman like it did
Sakina. Because being raped is such a personal experience, a womans reaction to such a
trauma should not and can not be judged. Whether a woman is strengthened or weakened
through rape, it does not matter. What matters is that she survives.
Works Cited
Devi, Mahasweta. Draupadi. In Other Worlds. Ed. Chakravorty Spriak. New York and
London: Routledge, 1987.