The Rape of Women in Draupadi, by Mahasweta Devi, and Open It,”by Saad

The baffle of Women in Draupadi, by Mahasweta Devi, and Open It, by Saadat Hasan MantoWhere there is war, there is the scotch and abuse of women. From the fifth column War to the Middle East conflict, rape has been a tactic of war. Rape is commonly viewed by society as a symbol of young-bearing(prenominal) 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 alliance, while in Devis Draupadi, a tribal rebel is raped by administration 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 diametric. Both authors use the disrobing of garments to create a dramatic climax. However, the various(prenominal) climaxes convey contrasting ideas about the rape and degradation of women. I n Draupadi, the creation 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 truly 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 partitioning. 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 excite The moment she heard the truck, she began to run (Manto 360). ... ...r remarkable survival. Although society will endlessly have preconceptions of rape and how a woman should and will react to cosmos 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 good deal 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 much(prenominal) a personal experience, a womans reaction to much(prenominal) 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. working CitedDevi, Mahasweta. Draupadi. In Other Worlds. Ed. Chakravorty Spriak. New York and London Routledge, 1987. Manto Hasan, Saadat. Open It. Stories about the Partition of India. Ed. Alok Bhalla. New Delhi Harper Collins, 1999.